Something Unexpected

I bet you did not expect me to report from a ... church! Last saturday we got up early, it was my nephew's confirmation. The mass took 2 hours, long 2 hours, but everybody was holding up bravely. Dusty Pink is a colour you find in the church, flower brooches and marble

It was a perfect day, blue skies, the inside of the church came to light:

Can you spot the dusty pink above the altar to the right?

The preacher kept on preaching ...
After the mass I had Lyle Lovett's song Church on my mind.

I would love love love to post more these days but the disbalance of work/life wont let me. I find myself reading during every dinner/lunch-break since I need to prepare myself for some tasks ahead. pfouh, Don't like it that way but it's they way I chose.

The bean has been around my neck for the last days and everybody sees something different in it: heart, kidney, bean, ...

Big Hair and Polished Beans

I am getting ready for my birthday. Of which more later.

The light as seen above is the harsh morning sunlight. I grew up facing west and have been facing east for the last 16 years which means morning sun. But for only 1 year we have been accompagnied by these marvellous curtains:

No wonder, silhouettes have been fascinatung all cultures over centuries – they are too cute.

I initially bought the curtains because I did not want the workers to see me in the morning.
Truth is: the curtains do not only block scenes like this one above, but also turn the harsh light into a super-pleasant airy atmosphere. win-win.

No, win-win-win, now that I discovered the shilouettes.

This stool, completing the dressing-table setting, has been on my wish-list for a long long time, ever since I bought the dressing table, 1 year ago.

Stools are hard to find these days, probably because dressing-tables are out of fashion?

Dressing tables work wonders. They make you create big hair:

You have to believe me - no, my hair does NOT stay like this. Not even for 10 minutes.
Um, the big hair is what I actually want, and not something I am afraid of.

Lets stay in the bedroom a bit longer. At night, before turning the lights off, I like to read. Well, I don't like to read, I HAVE to ... for example the programme of a play we saw earlier this week.

After reading a few lines on Chekhov's (now that was difficult to spell) youth, the programme slipped right off my hands. Sweet dreams. Knowing, the blue box awaits me the next morning.

Back to where I began, et voila, I make it short, tada: the bean.

Happy almost-birthday to me!
It is very shiny, very light, very me.

I wonder if the endings of essays at school had been my weak spot? It seems as if I am not very good at endings. Here it is, today's ending:

The moment I leave the house, I never know what to expect. A tractor would be considered being a less expected sight.

Have a wonderful weekend and never forget your sun-screen! I don't want to see any sunburns when we meet again,

Groupies at any Age

I normally would not consider myself being a groupie but when it comes to Marta and Dieter I lose my decency. Marta and Dieter are architects. Since the 1980's they've been building amazing buildings mostly in the western part of Austria. Over the last years, they finally set foot in Vienna.
Here you can see Marta guiding a group in Vienna. I guess she is the most charming, beautiful and funny woman I know. Even when she speaks about unpleasant experiences - which are part of her job as an architect - she remains calm and warm. You must be born as such a person.

Oh Marta.

Next year it will be 30 years since Mara and Dieter have founded their studio.

On to other styles of architecture.

This is part of the the entrance to the house I live in. The frame lists all the people/families who live here. I like this frame. It is analogue, appartments are still wearing names and not only numbers (you can't take this for granted nowadays)

The day someone moves out, the old name gets replaced by a new name, typed on a typewriter.

Just a street in Vienna. Typical scenerey, you might enjoy.

Oh, and this is not my desk. In this room is another desk which gets cleared every evening.
I can not imagine working side by side with a messy. The pile looks so slippery already!

Here you can witness my herbs-failure

Jamie Oliver, it is NOT like you say "yay, go and get herbs. You can keep them on your windowshelf, inside, outside, it does not metter. They grow everywhere". After 3 weeks sitting inside, on my window shelf in the kitchen, they are miserable. Lice. And other insects, one with green poo (First I thought it was the essential oil of the rosmary around the pot until my brother-in-law informed me that it was actually poo from insects. I had to dismiss all my herbs on a cure. Coriander was the worst. Very bad behaviour.

Good news: the Vienna Design Week's kick off is going to happe soon. Some of your might remember what a good time I had during last year's design week. This year the Design Week will start September 30. It's a very inspiring event, even for non-designers. I guess I am a Vienna Design Week groupie as well.

Where to Go?

Photo taken by Mr Paula on his way to his sister who lives in Ireland.

Where to go? I have been contemplating on this question throughout the day. Now is the time of the year, when everyone at work starts planning the holiday-absences, mainly to fix the holiday replacements in time, so noone can leave while they are gone. harhar.

I could leave work and travel on my own any time of the year. The situation is as follows: I end up with a lot of vacation since Mr Paula spends a lot of his vacation on his hobby which excludes me. I am quite surprised, since there is no motor inside me, driving me to places abroad.

Maybe it's due to the catastrophies that happened earlier this year in Japan – originally we planned on visiting Japan for our 2nd time in October. Plans have been cancelled. I would have visited Hokkaido, Okinawa and Kyushu - all far away from Tokyo. But Mr Paula does not like the idea at all and he is probably right.

Maybe it's a reaction to all the stress I went through when my mother was very ill earlier this year. Somehow I feel glued to the homebase in 2011.

Maybe it's the extra years that add up o my shoulders ... do we want to leave home less often, the older we get?

Maybe it's the genes? My parents have been visiting the same 2 places (one place in spring and fall, the other in summer) for years. Help! I don't see myself like that, not at age 38!

What a Pleasant Weekend

I am one of those, who like to reward themselves from time to time. And guess what, luxury detergents work great as rewards. Actually this is really clever: turning laundry into a task de luxe, since you have to anyway, but you turn it into something you look forward too, thanks to the heavenly scent.

The following photo is NOT out of focus, you might need to take a closer look:

The ice-cream maker

Home made cream-cheese-Oreo-ice-cream on a friday evening equals reward.

When Friend B's brother told me in the phone he had a souvenir from London, I had no clue...

Readers in London might turn away in horror, but over here in Austria, we can laugh about it.

Mmmh, coffee. Weekend equals extended breakfast. One pot is never enough.

The morning we went for a brisk walk in the Vienna woods. The walk + lots of icecream + damp air + following shower knocked us all out. =Naptime. I took a nap during the afternoon, Mr Paula is napping right now. Ahhhh, I love naps. They scarcely happen around here on the weekend, more likely during vacation. We are probably lacking sleep, due to the construction site vis-à-vis.

I am an inveterate optimist. Unpleasant realities get repainted by pleasant images. No matter how annoying the truth is, there is always room for another, solacing version of the story.
This is the quiet construction site at the weekend. Weekdays I could see workers, making a lot of noise on the rooftop vis-à-vis. But I simply can't.

All I can see are dozers.

In the end there is only room for Red, never getting tired of observing them.

I guess I am always lucky. Must go, the oatmeal cookies in the oven call for me.

Around Work and Climate

One evening you need a beanie on your way home from work ....

.... the next day it's 23°C at 8.30 am.

On days like this, office ladies worry if they will get a headache. Yes, we spend a lot of time in the office. And inside the office buildings.

After having walked by this corner at least half a dozen times (it's on the way to the toilet)
I took a photo.

The corner is meant for smokers. You can see the ashtray on the windowshelf. The place is rarely used, because the smokers gather up in front of one of the office-doors. Sort of kitchen party principle: seek the narrowest corner and you can be sure, everybody will follow and block the doorway. Don't get me wrong, not that I mind! It is fun. *chatter chatter chatter*

Well. .... lets call this "An imitation of life." Shall we?

Sometimes you need to get out.

I guess I am ready for the next ice-cream. Have a pleasant evening!

Can anyone help me out: Why on earth do I want the Tiffany-bean-necklace in gold (design Elsa Peretti)? Out of the blue I started thinking about it day in, day out. Mr Paula would not fancy giving me a bean as a gift at all. I can not blame him. It is understandable I don't want to wear my zodiac-pendant all the time. But a bean? Really?

Proud and Happy

I realised how much I enjoy seeing other Blogger's faces so I thought I'd go for it.

Staffage: Intercontinental-Hotel's directing manager (thinkers pose) and his crew
Not pictured: some design by Hans Hollein

Ok, it is not excactly a portrait. The photo was taken in action, while I was guiding a group through the City Centre of Vienna. Usually colleagues are in charge, but one co-worker got sick and I filled in as the guide. After the 2,5 hrs-tour I rewarded myself an ice-cream cone, quite proud and very happy. They applauded at the end of the tour. Bravo!

In case you wonder: yes, of course! I would be very happy to show you around. Coffee-breaks would be nice, though.

Clean Sweep

Some of you noticed how clean Vienna is. Apparently it is clean. You see a lot of containers in the streets for all sorts of garbage. "48" is the number of the city's municipal's administration for waste management.

The "Sammelstelle" collects batteries, old oils and all kinds of waste that might be a hazard to the environment. The green containers collect metalls, plastic, glass ... Austria once was rated the world's busiest recycling nation. Maybe we love to collect?

These mattresses have to leave:

They got replaced be new mattresses, I named the new ones "marshmellows", because they are so sweet and tender. Mr Paula still giggles when he goes to bed because the new mattresses are so soft and exciting. I want to be on the safe side, that's why I kept the old mattressed for 4 weeks, having heard all kind of back-pain stories, resulting of new mattresses.

Since the mattresses are way too big for our waste container, we drove them to the "waste-plant" as I call the place where you can hand your huge waste.

On our way to the waste-plant sightings of more waste-containers.

The white T is a success. After weeks of searching I finally found my perfect white T. Where? At benetton's men's department.

Arriving at the waste-plant:

Yes, I was truly excited! I have a liking for industrial sceneries.

I expected the visit to be fun. First, you get rid of huge bulky stuff. Which equals positive energy. Ultimate de-cluttering. And second, you get to see some neat appearances:

Washing machines, boxed in a container and ot left behind in the woods. A+

When we arrived at the entry, an employee told us to drop the mattresses in the shovel of the excavator. This IS the perfect storage for any mattress:

Our two mattresses are in good company.
Call me easy to entertain, but this view made my day.

Since we already were with the car, we made the most of it and went grocery shopping by car, a very rare event:

What is going on? Thanksgiving weekend ahead?

Everyone is shopping like crazy.
Saturday's are probably always like that, only that we avoid those crowds.
Go, Mr Paula, you can make it !

It's one day after the wedding. The sighting of this wettened my eyes:
ahhhhhh .... the wedding ....... *sigh*

They can wetten your eyes, too.

I never nocited before, how they pack the the onions in matching colours: orange net for the yellow ones, purple for the red ones and white for the white ones. What also wettens my eyes is an additional, new construction site in front of our appartment that started today.

Not only did someone decide to they tear the building vis a vis apart, now they also started to rip the street apart:

Digging deeper

Yesterday evening I got home and saw the notice in the entrance, informing us of the new construction site, there was only room for one thought: This is more than I can bear.

Believe me, this is just the beginning ....

Inside Out(skirts)

I have to admit, there is not really a story to tell. Just a lot going on. Indoors and outdoors, the photos speak for themselves. If you are not interested in urban development and architecture, this posting might bore you. You are warned.

This is real. And it is a snapshot.

Friend A. made me visit the university library. I have not been there in a while. I studied at another university, I am not familiar with this place.

Behind a door you find some modern interior. Ok, lets say at least 40 years old :-)

The patio, where families informally celebrate their sons/daughters/nephews/nieces who just obtained their master-degree.

Outisde the university. It is ime to leave this idyllic spot and move on, East, across the Danube river ...
... where other structers await me.

This photo was taken across the final stop of the underground line nr.2. The city government decided to extend the underground line to this point. The day they opened the new stations, one politician said "it is like a ride to the country side". He was right!

  It won't remain like this much longer.

Close to the terminal stop, you will already find huge housing developments and girls who are not impressed by the scenery at all

Some buildings are already finished.
I like the typo

Some houses are tinySome come with a view ....... and some come without.Some green stuff needs to grow yet
Some ways are very graphicSome corners remind me of modern quartiers in Paris

Some offer a dry and secure place for your bike.

This is something I've always loved - visiting new residential areas. After all the walking and windy weather, time for a break.If you are looking for a quiet café in Vienna, you should visit the Café Bräunerhof. Eastermonday, lunchtime it was exceptionally quiet.

Beautiful windows, beautiful entrance.

Today for once I went inside the Albertina museum, having taken lots of photos of the exterior recently.

Now I am glad to be back home. It is true, since the crane had been installed vis a vis our appartment, I get so see cranes everywhere.

These flowers move in the wind, there has been a lot of wind blowing recentlyCrane matching with flowers. Will it turn purple as soon as the next flowers come to bloom?

Have a nice sunday evening, for us it will come with soft oatmeal cookies and Fringe.