It was like summer today in the town - everyone outside in the sunshine, eating their lunch in pavement cafes, picnicking on the grass, or perched on the low wall surrounding the Cathedral green in the centre of Exeter. Me too - sitting on the wall talking with two lovely women after our big plates of frittata and salad at Plant - the best veggie/vegan cafe in the city.
Later we sat in the dark of the cinema nibbling on pumpkin seeds, seaweed crackers and dark mint chocolate watching the amazing Helen Mirren in Woman in Gold - the story of an Austrian woman, Maria Altmann, trying to reclaim a picture of her aunt painted by Klimt - which belonged to her family and was stolen by the Nazis during the war. I found it quite harrowing - the flashbacks of the persecution of the jews in Vienna at that time - but also very moving - the story of her courage and the
determination of her young lawyer friend to put something right and to heal in the process.
We visited the Klimt museum in Vienna many years ago and have several copies of his pictures in the house including a huge blown up one of The Kiss in the bedroom. They look different to me now I know more of the story....of the world he lived in when they were painted.
I feel so grateful that I live now...my country, although full of unhappiness, is at peace......and the most dangerous place for me is the continent of my mind where I need to be vigilant....on the look out for the tendency to think of myself as a victim......and then to shower that one with love.
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