Austria is a city filled with the memories of an imposing past, one whose buildings nearly vibrate with importance, even as the world seems intent on passing by with little more than a glance. In 2021, I visit with a partner, there are few out of town tourists, we are in the midst of covid and lockdowns are occurring sporadically.

We go to the opera and see L'incoronazione di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi on October 9th, a sunday. It is a modern set and filled with massive gestures.

“Everything is what it is, that's all. If we keep attaching meanings and mysteries to everything we perceive, everything we see that is, and to everything that goes on inside us, we are bound to go crazy sooner or later, I thought.

Correction

Thomas Bernhard