We Might Be Giants

There seems to be a trend of miniaturization that has swept over Vienna of late. Either that, or I, as well as the people and things around me have all grown to such gigantic proportions so as to makes others appear diminutive in stature.

After a great afternoon at the Albertina (imagine if the MoMA was housed in a 17th century palace) on Trinity's dime, Matt and I explored the surrounding area. The Albertina is right in the middle of the city so it was an interesting place to see when we got away from the incredible touristy area; an area the we started calling "Vegas" around the time we saw the 4th or 5th Mozart memorabilia store. But it was in Vegas that we saw a miniature horse being held by a panhandler you could pay to pet his tiny tiny pet, at least thats what i'm assuming the german sign said. This guy actually wasn't the first person we saw with that gimmick either. Miniature #1

On the subway back from the innerstadt (the central district) we saw the second miniature. He was probably about 10 years old and normal size for his age but would better be described as a miniature adult than a kid. He stepped on a few steps in front of the woman I gathered to be his mother wearing what I've already seen dozens of 20 somethings wearing in the city. Black jeans, simple jacket, Palestinian solidarity scarf wrapped appropriately and black and red sneakers. He even carried himself like a little adult. But the thing that brought it all home was the cell phone call. When he answered his phone (side note: there is great cell reception in the subway tunnels) I couldn't tell if was talking about his new playstation game with his playdate or brokering a merger. Miniature #2

The rest of the day elicited stories too but I'll save those for later.