Bicycle shop

I like the entrance of this bicycle shop on Praterstrasse because the old decorations really stick out on the otherwise perfectly plastered facade.

Life is a like box of chocolates...

... you never know what you´re gonna get (from the movie "Forrest Gump"). At SchokoLadenWerkstatt, a nice little chocolate shop in Ballgasse, you´re gonna get delicious home made chocolates, pralines and chocolate truffles. Personally, I would love to buy the whole range of items... Yes, I´m a chocoholic ;-)

Eternal Beauty

I discovered this beautiful lady on a building on the corner Tuchlauben and Bognergasse in the city center.

Come sail away

Today is the third day of the 27th Donauinselfest ("Danube Island Festival"), Europe´s biggest open air festival with free entry. The festival area extends over 4,5km with 13 stages, 21 "islands", more than 300 music bands, theatre and cabaret groups. This year the organizers of the festival are expecting 3 million attendants. As I don´t like the crowd, I have never even thought of visiting the festival in all these years. I prefer to enjoy the quiet spots of Donauinsel, like this small harbour for sailboats.

Herbs

Herbs in front of a flower shop in Wollzeile in the city center. I especially like the baskets in which the herbs are placed.

View of Kahlenbergerdorf

Kahlenbergerdorf was an indepdendent municipality until 1892, now it is a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna.

Apricots

As I told you in the previous post, "Haas & Haas" also sells specialities. At the moment they are offering various products made of Wachauer apricots (The Wachau is a beautiful valley in Lower Austria): nectar, jam, sauce, spread, sparkling wine, liqueur.

Tea Shop

I showed you already one of the windows of "Haas & Haas" tea shop right behind St. Stephen´s Cathedral. Now here´s a photo of the interior, more precisely the array of the teas. As you can see in the center of the photo, they are currently promoting ice teas (btw I like the colours of the wrappings). The shop doesn´t only sell teas and tea accessoires, but also coffee, jams, honey, chocolate, confiserie, specialities, room perfumes and dishes.

Holocaust Memorial

The Holocaust Memorial (also known as the "Nameless Library"), the central memorial for the 65.000 Austrian victims of the Holocaust, is located on Judenplatz and was unveiled in October 2000. The outside surfaces of the memorial, designed by British artist Rachel Whiteread, are cast library shelves turned inside out. The spines of the books are facing inwards and are not visible, therefore the titles of the volumes are unknown and the content of the books remains unrevealed. The shelves appear to hold endless copies of the same edition, which stand for the vast number of the victims, as well as the concept of Jews as "People of the Book". As a work of art, the memorial was not intendend to be beautiful and forms a contrast to the beautiful architecture nearby.

Waiting for guests

This is how the outdoor areas of Vienna´s restaurants look most of the time this summer: deserted due to bad weather. So far, we had only one week of sunny and hot weather... This photo was taken on Judenplatz which was the center of Jewish life in the Middle Ages.

Modern Tourists

Modern tourists don´t walk all day long, but they take a Segway Personal Transporter (maximum speed: 12,5 mph/20kmh). I saw this group yesterday in front of the Old Town Hall which provided the magistrate of Vienna with administrative space until 1885 when it finally moved to the current Town Hall. The baroque building still houses administrative offices as well as the "Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance".

Sweet Sunday #3

Cakes and their reflection in the window of "Patisserie zum Schwarzen Kameel" in the city center.

Reichsbrücke

Reichsbrücke lies on an important axis leading from the city center to the north-east of Vienna. This bridge across the Danube river carries six lanes of traffic, used by 50.000 vehicles daily, subway tracks, two foothpaths and two cylcepaths. This is already the third bridge on this very spot, opened in November 1980, after the previous bridge had collapsed four years before.
The bridge is not beautiful at all, but it´s near my place and during summer I´m using one of the cyclepaths regularly on my way to Donauinsel, so I thought I might share this view with you - besides, I like the sunset light in this photo.

Façade detail #2

Art nouevau facade on Fleischmarkt in the city center.

Floral Headdress

I spotted this headdress in the window of a fashion store on Praterstrasse, where you can find collections of young international designers. Personally, I would never wear such a creation, but I like the old-fashioned head of the mannequin.

More public screening

Since May selected performances at the Vienna State Opera are broadcasted live on a LED video screen which was set up in front of the Opera House. Informations about the opera, the performers, the Vienna State Opera and its works are provided 45 minutes before the event starts and during the intervals. The admission is free! As you can see, tonight´s opera is "Tannhäuser" by Richard Wagner.

Everything´s coming up roses

I saw these beautiful roses in a flower shop close to St. Stephen´s Cathedral. If I had to choose, I would go for the pink roses.

Public Screening

Austria didn´t qualify for the current FIFA World Cup in South Africa, nevertheless there are several public viewing areas all over the city. Yesterday I passed by this one, in front of a restaurant in the city center.

Kahlenberg

This is still Vienna!! Kahlenberg (484m) is located in the 19th district and is part of the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), a low, wooded section of the Alps in eastern Lower Austria and Vienna. It is one of the city´s most popular destinations for a sunday afternoon walk. If the weather is fine, the mountain offers a beautiful view over the entire city.
On top of Kahlenberg you can see the Modul University Vienna (on the left side), the church St. Josef and the Suite Hotel Kahlenberg (on the right side).

MuseumsQuartier 6

This is the second modern building at MuseumsQuartier, it houses the Leopold Museum which shows masterpieces of Austrian art of the first half of the 20th century. It contains the largest Egon Schiele collection in the world, and it features also artists such as Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka and Richard Gerstl.

MuseumsQuartier 5

The modern building on the left side, clad in anthracite grey basalt lava, is the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (MUMOK), the largest Austrian museum for international modern and contemporary art.

MuseumsQuartier 4

This is the outdoor area of one of the restaurants at MuseumsQuartier (MQ). When the weather is fine it is practically impossible to find a free table.
If you look carefully, you will see horses and horsemen on top of the windows - they remind the original function of the historic buildings of MQ as imperial stables which housed 600 horses and 200 state coaches and gala coaches.

MuseumsQuartier 3

These pieces of courtyard furniture are called "Enzis", after the comunications officer at the MQ who assigned an architect´s office to develop ideas for the winter season 2002. Originally the "Enzis" were used as glogg stands, but soon they became a fix part of the MQ. The special geometry enables a lot of different formation types. Especially in summer they are a big success - you can sit, lie, chill, chat, eat and relax on them. Since 2007 the visitors of MQ can vote the seasonal colour of the "Enzis" - this year they opted for "candy shop pink".

MuseumsQuartier 2

This is the courtyard of MuseumsQuartier Wien (MQ). When the weather is fine, it is always crowded by people soaking up the sun, chatting and enjoying the outdoor areas of the various restaurants.

MuseumsQuartier 1

Opened in 2001, the MuseumsQuartier Wien (MQ) is one of the ten largest cultural complexes in the world and offers space for modern and contemporary art and culture. The MQ combines independent new architecture and revitalized buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. This photo shows a part of the main facade, Vienna´s longest Baroque facade.

I want to ride my bicycle

Yesterday I finally could ride my bicycle for the first time in this season! As usually I took a trip on Donauinsel (Danube Island), a 21,1km long island between the Danube river and the parallel excavated channel Neue Donau (New Danube). The island is a recreational area with sport opportunities from rollerblading, cycling, swimming to canoeing, but you can find there also a lot of bars, restaurants and nightclubs.

Balcony #1

This balcony in the second district caught my eye because of the plants and the red ball. According to the forecast, after long weeks of very unseasonable weather this weekend it will be warm and mostly dry, so it should be finally possible to enjoy balconies and terraces.

Picture in picture

This is one of the windows of a tea shop and teahouse on Stephansplatz in the city center, right behind St. Stephen´s Cathedral. The photo in the window shows the Giant Ferris Wheel, a symbol of the Prater amusement park and a very popular tourist attraction.

Façade detail #1

Caryatids on the facade of an apartment house in Praterstrasse.

Front garden

The flower shop in the Vienna Stock Exchange that I mentioned already here, welcomes its clients with this appealing arrangement of plants and a hammock.

June Theme Day: Funny Signs

I think this sign doesn´t need any further explanations...

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