Thursday 7 July 2011

Hot Town ...

Do other sommer-city-songs exist? I only now Joe Jockers song. I would like a soundtrack more down-tempo-style.
Arriving at the lido at 6.15pm, photo taken after my swim, around 7pm

I need to convince Friend B. to join me this weekend for a refreshing swim at the lido. Walking through the area of the lido I felt as if I saw all the beautiful details for the first time. I've known the lido for decades.
At my last visit, decades ago, I did not even own a cell phone. The booth is still in charge.
I never noticed it before.

I hold the blog to account that I see my environment way more activly than I did before. Also the small camera in the beach bag does its bit.

The water is called "Alte Donau" (Old Danube) but it isn't a stream because it is closed, it is more like a lake but the water comes from the ground. It is not exactly in the centre of Vienna but really close, so I can go there by bike easily. In my twenties I used to visit the lido on a regulary basis. The area on the water which is "fenced in" is 250m long, this equals 5 times the olympic distance. One way!

I earned the refreshment by admiring and not so admiring some new buildings around the corner at 32°C in the afternoon, took two hours and it was really hot.
Back when I took these pictures, none of today's buildings existed.
Did I already say I love brandnew chimneys before their first winter?
Today's cellar compartments are no longer placed in the cellar but in the basement. (Confusing reflections are also an all time favourite. This one is even "worringly"good).
More housing to come ... thousand of new apartments ... and thousand more ...
The people in charge confuse "urban" with "dense". Urban does NOT equal dense. Sorry! Urban would mean a vivid basement-area, instead of putting cellar compartments in the basement, one could establish cafés and shops. This density on the contrary sickens me.
A 100% pleasant interior inside of one of the new buildings

I quick stop at a super market, half a litre of buttermilk in my beach bag to refuel later and I am ready for a swim. What a coincidence I finished my last project before summer at the radio station THIS MORNING. So, summer season is officially open!

You can not not love this place:
Nothing youthens me more than water, trees and summer, combined with relaxed people.
(This is a close up of the leaves, out of focus background is on purpuse, not sure if this was a good idea? anyhow, more pics showing the water in focus to come below.)
Roving around the cafeteria
Enlarge and see sailbots in Vienna
Close to 8pm, the sun hided behind some clouds.

I might not have the best tan. Definitely not. But it so easy, going for a swim late in the day since you can't get sun burned.

Some fashions come and go:
Plank beds (probably early 1980's if I remember my youth correctly)
A life-saver, "Zille"
The thing in the very back is not a pyramid but the foothills of the Alps! Wiener Wald. :-)

Such a beautiful day must end outside. Mr Paula and I paid Sri Lanka visit. Delicious! Warm and friendly. But mind the steps in the dark.I run past this restaurant on my Couch 2 5k workouts. The people sitting in the pub garden seemed to enjoy themselves very much.
Today I was one of them, leaning back and watching how the runners pass by, having eaten a very yummy Godamba Rotti.

Good night! Tomorrow will be another hot day in the city.

PS: Louise, 1hr2mins. Not so bad ;-)

6 comments:

  1. Hi Paula, thanks for this post. I love the pictures! And thanks for the heads up about Michael Tonello's blog about Purse Forum! Oh my God! I like the Purse Forum, actually, but I would never buy an Hermes bag through them. I just like it for the pictures, the stories of some of the crazy ladies and how much stuff they buy and learning about different types of Hermes bags.

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  2. Paula,
    gosh those photos are not my imagined idea of Vienna, what a wonderful post!
    I'll be sitting Elisabeth down and making her go through them with me and discussing her memories of Wien.
    Yes, 1 hour and 2 minutes is simply amazing.
    Louise
    xxxxx

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  3. The Lido looks beautiful and I love the bright yellow phone box!
    I see you mentioned the good old couch 2 5k - what week are you up to??
    x

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  4. Hi Jill! the purseforum educated me - to look close when buying a purse and taking it back in case it isn't flawless. :-) There are also a bunch of very smart women online, when it comes to diamonds.
    I noticed that the photos are a bit too dark (settings of the camera), I need to change this! I complained Vienna does not have a Central Park. I would love the idea of such a huge park in the centre of the city. Well, we do have the Alte Donau.

    Louise, I thought so! :-D
    I guess thoses places are mostly known to the Viennese. Dunno why city-tourism doesn't promote them more. Though you meet a lot of couchsurfers over there. :-) (couchsurfers are people, who travel around the globe and sleep on couches for free). Elisabeth is welcome to bring up a topic! I would happily feature it :-)

    StylishShoeGirl, thanks for asking! I am so happy my back is still/again fine. After EVERY run I lay down and do my workout for the back, takes only a few minutes. Maybe it's Placebo but it works for me. I am in Week 5, well, i finished Week 5 yesterday with my 20 min run. It was quite warm in the evening but I did not return pink (Mr Paula is my pinkometer, he compares my face to former faces in earlier weeks)
    I figured out why this progamme works so fine for me: because it is a programme! haha! I run because every week has 3 runs and when 3 days of the week are left and 2 are said to be way over 30°C, then I know I better go running before the heat comes. Thank you again for being so inspirational. Without you I would still sit on my couch (where I am right now) hehe.

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  5. Hi Paula,

    Thank you for sharing your lovely photos with us. I think your fair city is so pristine and inviting. I would love to have a "lido" near me in which to swim. It must be such a great way to cool off and feel refreshed.

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  6. Hi Adrienne! Thank you for your nice comment. Yesterday I started my first staycation day, it was fun! More to come in another posting. I like the summer in the city.

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