New Order

What you can see here is NOT my New Year's resoution but something I have discovered in 2013 and enjoy a lot: Organising and getting things done. so I find myself on the last day of the year installing a new order. 

See you again in 2014 and don't forget to put on your dancing shoes tonight!

xo Paula

PS: The marks on the wall (photo #1) do not result from bad photoshopping with the " eraser-tool" but are actual eraser-traces in real life. I erased stains from the wall.

Burggasse at noon

Hello!

For those who can't make it to Vienna tomorrow – this is what it looks like.

left: Volkstheater with a red star on top

far distant background, to the left: Hochhaus Herrengasse (Vienna's first skyscraper, dates back to the 1930s)

very far distant background to the right: Vienna's latest sykscraper by Dominique Perrault. There were meant to be 2 towers, but the recession cut the project in half.

centre: Lefthand you see an old tramway, impossible to get on one of these trains with a buggy without help. The entrances are really high. But I like their "faces" anyway. Righthand you see the rear of a new model. Less character, more comfort.

right: Grey box with orange lid contains salt and gravel in case the streets get icy.
The design of the light poles is of the type "Lily of the Valley", you can see where the name comes from.

far right: Windows facing the street when open: windows like these don't meet today's safety standards anymore. This building is listed, so the windows may must remain this way. 


What else can we see? Couples! This time of the year is the time for travelling couples, it seems :-)


xo,
Paula

PS: the photo is not underexposed. It is quite dark, from sundawn til sunset at this time of the year. 

PPS: I will add a new label soon. Not sure how to label it, though. "The other Vienna". "Vienna as I see it", "Vienna in 50mm", "What Vienna looks like. Meanwhile I stick with "Vienna". 

A new pie

 Mr Paula's mother invented a new pie for my vegan Christmas menu. I liked it so much, I immediately copied her idea. She uses no internet, knows no vegan communities, but she knows how to cook, which is a good starting point.

 The pie is of good nature and accepts all kinds of veggies and spices.

If everything went well, I am going to edit this posting in ... 35 minutes. :-)

EDIT: 

 Success! 

Built together

Walking through the apartment, many things that Mr Paula and I have built together over the past decade meet my eye. When we met we both were adults, having built our lifes of our own already. Still we managed to identify idle niches such as the bathroom.

Our selection of toilet sprays, built together!

Mr Paula deliberately chose one of these.

We designed the new kitchen and carried a heavy Wok home from the Naschmarkt:

We designed an endles chest of drawers:

Together we are going to build our future images and memories of Rome, since we are both visiting the eternal city for the first time ever:

We also cherish old things together. The Table and the carpet have been around me as long as I can remember (37 years?!)

Yesterday I found myself counting in Italian. Trentotto becomes quarantaquattro. But who am I to buy jeans in European or lets say Italian size? Trenta/trentaquattro it is! Or more likely ventinove/trentaquattro. Time for skinny, light blue jeans, slim fit the least! I am not wearing these anymore: "why-would-i-wear-this?". The store I visited yesterday had lots of ventinove/trentadue on stock, unfortunately not my size.
Which other numbers could be usefull? How about ring sizes?

You can tell, I am very motivated to intersperse postings with Rome-bits and -pieces until I step onto the plane.

xo
Paula

Downtime at Volksgarten after sunset

 The late days in a late year can be colourful and bright.

Only a few metres lie between the photo above and the photo below.

At this time of the year tourists brighten up the grey city.

Here you can see a rather confusing bicycle-crossing in the middle of a sidewalk. As I said, confusing. Right?

Today I walked to the city centre, picking up my bicycle which I had to abandon the 24th. While walking I get to see a lot of things. Reducing the speed from 15km/h to 5km/h enlargens the focus.

A glimpse inside the Volksgarten.

 The Volksgarten at this time of the year always makes me think of the deceased writer Thomas Bernhard.

 Roses, wrapped up, waiting for those bitterly cold nights that are still to come. Nothing is moving. Downtime.

 Very much to my surprise and joy the bags come in various designs. Underneath the jute bag is another bag, made of paper: double thermo insulation. Bravo!

 Some spices from Hamburg made it here, too!

 What would the Viennese Café be without coffee beans?

 You can adopt a rose bush. The patrons of this rose take extra care.

 This bag looks very authentic. 

You find jute bags like these in any shabby chic bistro around the globe.

Oho! Clean, Sound and New! Papua New Guinea comes with the extra mile.

 Green coffee beans for the artisans in Vienna who roast coffee the "Melange" way.

 Aha. A deconstructivist bean bag. What is it trying to tell us? I frankly do not know.  

I walked past these bags many times, for many years. Never before I had taken notice of the designs.

Time for the big picture. Myriads of jute-rose-bags to the left and as many to the right and in the back. Roses everywhere. This park is famous for its roses in full bloom. 

 Where are the people? Shopping! It is Half past four, all the shops are still open.

 One word: Morbid. 

Morbid is one of my favourite atmospheres for the lens. It all started on cemeteries and during the cold season I find plenty of opportunities to revive my joy for unsaturated images.

Have you been outside for a walk today? These little fellows would love to stray around the city.

Two months from today I will be wandering around Rome. Moving on a slow path, just like today, would be the best way to discover Rome. Keeping my fingers crossed that the Rome Rush won't catch me as soon as I get there!

I highly recommend double clicks on the images for enlarging them. You might miss the details otherwise.  QuicklybBrowsing through is of course fine for me, too.

Digestive

 

Day 2 is over and there is a lot to digest!

 Dessert for anyone?

 Anyone fancy a walk?

I have no idea what happened to this dog's fur. I see brush strokes where there should be pixels. How nice!

Tomorrow Day 3 awaits us. I really should squeeze in a walk. 

Who knew vegan holidays can be very, very satisfying.

Merry Christmas!

Now did all the gifts come from?* Next year I would not mind Santa's little helpers.

Every single gift deserved a unique wrapping. Gift-scrapping so to say. *yawn*

So many gifts, so many friends. :-)

Have a Merry Christmas!

Time to blow out the candles and get some sleep.
Paula

*I am very satisfied since a lot of this year's gifts are handmade, spiced with a nice flavour of creativity.

You're out!

Early peach at the Black Sea

Surprising women in the Ukraine

Rocks and plants at the Black Sea

Chechov's cherry garden

A single rose

a refreshing glas of white wine

a room with a view

The photos above did not make it in next year's photo calendar. Maybe next year!

Oh Tannenbaum

 Yesterday's open house-hosts did me a huge favour by choosing the tartan table cloth. Oh, how I envy the lady who wore a green tartan pencil skirt. The open house was visited by guests who know how to dress up for Christmas, including me.

Platters loaded with homemade cookies.

 It was a preppy Christmas party. I spotted ties and cardigans and fresh haircuts for the men.

 In Austria we traditionally cut twigs from trees early december, hoping for them to bloom by Christmas. And they behaved!

The queer Christmas tree comes with surprising decor. 

Readers who are easily offended by nudity and explicit content: 

Please scroll no further! You have been warned.

Delicious mulled wine followed the sparkling wine, enlightening conversations made the guests stay late and laugther filled the rooms. When we stepped outside, it was a wet foggy late night.

So this is Christmas :-)

Paula