Private matters

Hello dear reader, 

 

This is likely to become a series, since I have come along various private matters recently. 

 

October has been golden and the  city never ceases to surprise me. 

 

 

This housing project caught my eye. It is located in the far East of the city where the City of Vienna ends and Lower Austria begins.   

 

The project has been built 1997-1999. 

 

A boulevard cuts through the neighbourhood. The front doors are decorated.

 

Some of the building lots were originally equipped with concrete walls high enough to provide privacy.

Architects hope for lively neighbourhoods when they leave out the concrete walls. They do communicatie, not quite they way intended ...

The metal fence depicts where the original intention (waist-high) fell short of reality.

I like the way the residents communicate from a design point of view.

 

 

The main reason for all the fencing is the need for privacy. But the fences also show the need for originality. More or less.

 

 In 2021 the look across the road offers vastness, fields. The future will tell ...

Speaking of vast fields: these fields are meant to last. Which was by no means sure at all 8 years ago! 

 

I like to dedicate this posting to Christine. 

Christine is a blogger who lives in London. Her blog is interesting, precious and enjoyable. We share our love for the small things in life. I want to gice something back in return, starting with today's posting. :-)

Have a cozy weekend!

Paula

Hanami

Hello!

The Volksgarten in Vienna has become a fixture over the past years. My focus points alter during the year, from lilacs in early spring to sleeping beauties aka roses in December.

Mid May is the perfect season for some intensive Hanami, flower viewing. The variety is such a pleasure. Vienna never ceases to mesmesrise

 

 The big picture:

Some sweet backlighting ...

Girls feeding their social media accounts. Plus a monumental London plane tree in the background. The trees's trunk has a circumference of 20 ft. The young tree in the foreground gets supported by poles.

After sunset ...

 

Overly sweet and intense impressions get neutralised by soothing grainfields. 

They vast fields awaited me in the outskirts of Vienna.

I hope you had a not too stressful May-season, given the current circumstances.
Paula

Strolling Around the City Centre

Hello!

What looks like a memory of my student years: Michaelerplatz in the early morning hours after a night out is actually a weekday evening, around 7pm.

This can't be. 

Michaelerplatz. Definitely surreal. Those post apocalyptic movies where ... surprisingly accurate.

Michalerplatz shoud be crowded, people heading home, tourists enjoying the last sunbeams, happy crowds. Happy, because they made it here before the hundreds and thousands of Easter tourists from all over the world arrive in Vienna. Around 7pm shops would be closing their doors - until the next morning. You who has visited the City of Vienna before know the lively heartbeat of the city centre.

The orange paper bag marks shopping with style: Meinl am Graben is a posh supermarket where posh people buy their groeries during the lockdown in Vienna.

Lichtensteg, next to Lugeck.

The bright screen is what is left for the moment: ice cream parlor "Zanoni" at Lugeck

The "Schwarzes Kameel" to the left has endured pest & cholera. It will outlive this lockdown fo sure. The Schwares Kameel dates back to 1618.

Not sure what YSL feared then they cleared the shelves? Broken glass? Dust?

Louis Vuitton (to the left) also cleared the shelves. But the left the lights on.

Wow. What a beauty. The "bazaar" inside the Palais Ferstel at the Freyung.

The impressive Schottenkirche at the Freyung.

At last, some normalcy! Olafur Eliasson's Yellow Fog at Am Hof. Well, it turned cherry blossom pink. I don't mind at all.

PRADA comes with a glimpse of normalcy, too. Offering window shopping at nighttime, including calming blossoms.

Good news: Spring is happening. And it's just beautiful.
Paula

Wood Garlic Season

Hello!

Spring arrived and does not cease to amaze us.

The pictures were taken today during a walk in the Vienna Woods. 

Brave wood garlic aka ramsons

Oh my, the (spot)light!

We did not harvest any wood garlic, but saw quite a lot down on their knees, harvesting.

 Scenic paths cut through the woods.

 

The Höhenstraße is a popular road

The walking route Stadtwanderweg 3 - Hameau can be found here. The tram line 43 passes vineyards and ends in the woods. 
So pleasant.

Have a good start into the new week,

Paula

Synurbic Skywatch Soundtrack

Good morning!

this week's Skywatch Friday is supplemented by sound. Not any sound, but the beautiful sound of a synanthrope species. What a privilege to wake up to the morning voice of the blackbird.

Please click to listen:

Synanthropes are animals and plants that thrive in the human world. Matt Walker, editor of BBC Nature online refers to them as synurbic.

East, 6am

Dusk? Dawn?

Can you tell the difference?

West, 7pm

The day turned out to be a top Skywatch Friday, with all the clouds finally making way for the looong and desperately awaited sunbeams. The sun makes everyone and everything rejoice, including butterflies.

Butterfly caressing the Natural History Museum Vienna

Happy Easter!

Paula

Hay Perfume

Hello!

I have passed this building in the past countless times. 

This week, for the first time ever, I noticed a strong, unfamiliar scent. Hay? in the first disctrict, right in the city centre?

Hay fragrant effusing from tilted windows

It was at this very spot that I halted and sniffed. Heavenly hay! What a pleasant and unique scent. 

No doubt, there must be large haystacks sitting behind these tilted windows on the ground floor, which absolutely makes sense btw, since the walls house the stables of the Spanish Riding School.

Around the corner you will find this view:

The courtyard of the Spanish Riding School.

Horses can be pretty admirable.

They happened to find me admirable, too.

The big picture

It turned out the horses were not admiring my presence, but waiting for dinner to be served. 

Not much later two employees came and poured grains (?) into those built-in basins inside the stables.  

To the right you can see two "food basins", built in the wall.

Dinner arrived and the horses turned around.

A few minutes later, the whole setting altered. Employees closed the stable fronts and turned off the lights.

Closing time comes early at city centre.

Most traditional shops close around 6pm.

It's summer time in Austria, so we better turn off the lights early, too.

Have a good time,

Paula