Prague and Vienna: Viva La Bohemia

The search for Sisi. Elizabeth Empress of Austria

Prague :

Let the towers of fire burn the stress away

If it rains, dance with it as it sways

Feel the reverberation of sound waves

Don’t let shame, fear, embarrassment

Keep you from dancing

drums pound the angst into oblivion

this is my shadow integration work

It has been a while since I've been to a stadium concert. An out of my comfort zone moment. 80,000 complete strangers in an airfield for Rammstein. Then there was me. Dancing my little heart away with so much energy my boots made dents in the mud. As if I were a shaolin monk. Known to break the brick floors they practice on every day. Drums, guitar, fire, rain. Undeniable catharsis. The energy coming out of me felt almost primal. A night I will never forget! Then there is the old town in Prague. History frozen in time. A library with original books from the 1600's. An astronomy tower where in times of old they watched the stars glitter brightly after sunset. The same way we do today. Wonder. Space and time. Ever fascinating, never fading from our imaginations.

Vienna:

A few days later the journey continued to Vienna. Where I designed a day in a life of an

empress, my personal adventure. Visiting the incredible, awe-inspiring Vienna Hofburg. Home to Empress Elisabeth or Sisi as she was referred to. An intriguing character. Her beauty, workout routine was out of the ordinary for a royal. She was looked down upon for wanting to be herself. A poet, an expert horse rider, polyglot. A force of a woman. Yet she also suffered from severe depression. Vulnerability, sorrow, melancholy. Accompanied her everywhere as if those things were all her ladies in waiting. She kept to herself. Taking any opportunity to be alone with her thoughts, her books, her plants. I connect with her that way. Reminding of my favorite heroine, Jane Eyre. When she said: “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”

An adventure I will certainly repeat again. There is still a lot to experience. Many more treats to savor and buildings to admire. Feeling incredible grateful, I return home with a smile in my heart. Free. Free to be whoever I decide to be.