My New Favourite Bakery

This small bakery in Spiegelgasse in the city center is my latest find. Altough it opened already last year, I made it there only last week (but then 3 times in a row). The bread and baked goods are made by hand from organic grain and baked in a wood fired oven, which is integrated in the salesroom. I love the perfume of fresh-baked bread (which today is so rare in "normal" bakeries)! After watching the range of baked goods from outside, the young mum in this photo also gave it a try.

A Foretaste of Spring

The last days the weather in Vienna was sunny and unusually warm for February - a very welcome foretaste of spring. The flower shop near my place has alreday decorated its windows with spring flowers in colourful buckets and jars. A delight for my eyes!

Gugelhupf

How about a slice of Gugelhupf for your afternoon coffee or tea? The confectionary Oberlaa has decorated one of its windows with a couple of Marmorgugelhupfs: ring cakes marbled with chocolate and with chunks of chocolate.

Theater Museum #6

One of the current exhibitions at the Theater Museum is "The Charm of Transformation", a presentation of theatre and opera costumes. Some weeks ago I spent a very nice afternoon in this exhibition: after a guided tour we had coffee and cake in the gorgeous Eroica Hall, then a costume director and stage designer told us about her profession.

Theater Museum #5

The ceiling of the Eroica hall was decorated between 1724 and 1729 by Dutch artist Jacob van Schuppen with allegories of all the artistic genres represented at the Imperial and Royal Court Academy of Painters, Sculptors and Architects. The allegory in this photo shows a painter's and sculptor's studio at the academy. Ludwig van Beethoven gave several concerts here, and in 1807 the first-ever performance of his Fourth Symphony took place in this very hall.

Theater Museum #4

This ceiling fresco, a work of Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy, is located in the staircase on the first floor.

Theater Museum #3

This beautiful staircase leads you to the first floor of the Austrian Theater Museum.

Theater Museum #2 / February Theme Day: Fountains

In the foyer of the Austrian Theater Museum you will discover this Hercules Fountain, constructed at the end of the 17th century.

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Theater Museum #1

This week I´m taking you to the Austrian Theater Museum. It is located in the baroque Lobkowitz Palace, the first important urban palace constructed after the second siege by the Turks in 1683. So let´s enter the beautiful wooden door!

Maria Am Gestade Gallery

I love the white portal of this small atelier/gallery and the lanterns at the entrance door. Unfortunately, in Vienna you rarely see this kind of portal.

They will be back

Do you remember the Christmas illumination on Graben? The chandeliers have finally been removed last week, and I have to say that after seeing them for nearly two months the Graben now seems a little empty to me, but they surely will be back next December.

Bewitched

The title of the new installation in the window of the Swarovski shop is "Bewitched": Wild, mystical bird-like creatures are milling around in a spooky yet beautiful forest, wearing magnificent gowns, embroidered with crystals, created by renown designers from England (Julian MacDonald, Vivienne Westwood), Japan (Jumi Katsura), Israel (Dany Mizrahi) and India (JJ Valaya). For pictures of previous installations please click here.

Canine Models #2

Here´s another canine model doing a great job. He seems to like his scarf, doesn´t he?

Canine Models #1

I guess you all know this brand ;-) That´s where I buy most of my clothes. I like the outfit in this window but the doggies with their coat made of string caught my eye even more.

For ladies who want to cycle in style...

Hermès collaborated with a Dutch bicycle manufacturer and adorned a typical old Dutch bicycle with meticulously stitched leather accents on the frame, saddle and handles. Personally, I prefer the modern, more sportive bicycles - but maybe that´s only because I can´t afford such a chic one...

Reflections #2

After our last week´s little walk in the northern outskirts we are now back to the city center and its shop windows. Let´s start with these reflections in the window of an optician in Wollzeile.

View of the town #3

The view from Oberer Reisenbergweg: between the trees you can see the spire of the Grinzing parish church and more in the background the modern Millennium Tower.

John of Nepomuk

This statue of John of Nepomuk is located on Pfarrplatz in the 19th district. In the background, on the left side, you can see the romanesque St. James´s Church.

Rooms With A View

From the rooms of this house situated on a hillside in the 19th district the view of the town must be gorgeous.

Doorway #3

I discovered this painted door in Greinergasse in the 19th district. If you zoom in you can see scenes of the four seasons.

Grinzing #1

Here´s a view of Himmelstraße in the 19th district: on the left side a wayside shrine, on the right side the spire of the Grinzing parish church. Grinzing was integrated into the city of Vienna in 1892, the reputation of this area is based on its viticulture and numerous Heurige (wine taverns where the most recent wine is served).

Pretzel & Crescents

I love this house on Greiner Strasse with the pretzel and the two crescents on the facade. I don´t know if they indicate that in the past the building housed a bakery or if they simply try to call attention to the café that you can find there nowadays.

Flower Power

Lately the weather was just like in spring, yesterday (Sunday) everybody was out to enjoy the unusual temperatures and the sun. I took a walk in the northern outskirts, that´s were I stumbled upon this colourful painted car that made me think of the hippie movement...

Windows

The windows of the 5 star hotel Vienna Marriott, situated in the city center. It was opened in 1985, and I think its architecture is very typical for the 80s.

New Collection

While sale is still going on, the new collections are already arriving to the shops. I can´t take a fancy to this rather classic style and these colours but you can´t always follow fashion trends...

Fake Flowers

I discovered these fabric flowers some weeks ago in front of a gift shop in the city center. I think they are very well made, at the first glance I wouldn´t tell that they are not real flowers.

Doorway #2

This doorway in Rauhensteingasse 3 in the city center is very interesting: It shows manifold freemasonic symbols - 3 doorknobs, 3 bells on each side of the door and 2 intertwined squares (2x4= 8 the perfect number). The rough stone dangling under the street number symbolizes the imperfect man who needs to be worked by the mason in order to get shaped and smoothed. In this building the members of the Austrian Grand Lodge get together once in a week.For the history of Freemasonry in Austria please click here.

Photographs

I spotted these beautiful photographs some days ago in a photo gallery in the Nouvel Tower. The gallery offers a huge variety of works from established photographers, newcomers and historical archives in hand-signed limited editions. I would love to buy all of these photographs!

Nouvel Tower #3

For the moment that´s the last photo of the Jean Nouvel tower ;-) Normally, I don´t take pictures of escalators, but in this special case I had to make an exeption. Once again I love the light!

Nouvel Tower #2

That´s another ceiling painting by Pipilotti Rist in the new Jean Nouvel tower. You can see this ceiling from outside, I took this picture from the sidewalk.

Nouvel Tower #1

Another modern building on the banks of the Danube Canal is the newly constructed 75m high tower designed by French architect Jean Nouvel (click here for a photo I took last summer and here for a video about the building). It houses not only the luxury hotel Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom, but also restaurants, a bar and a design shopping center. In this photo you can see the entrance of the hotel and a colourful ceiling painting by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist.

UNIQA Tower #2

Here´s a closer view of the UNIQA tower and its lights.

UNIQA Tower #1

The facade of the UNIQA Tower, a 75m high office building of an insurance group on the banks of the Danube Canal, was designed as media facade. A matrix of 160.000 individually controllable LED video pixels is attached to profiles in between the double layered glass facade (7.000 sqm) and brings the building to life when it gets dark. Currently stars are moving all over the facade. If you want to get a better idea of some of the light installations, please click here, here or here.

Winter Wonderland

In December we had snow for some days, but it didn´t stay for long. The winter wonderland in the window of the confectionary Oberlaa is more permanent.

Platform With A View

This was my view while waiting for the subway after running the last errands for Christmas. I love the light and atmosphere in this photo. In the distance you can see some modern apartment buildings in the 22nd district.

Winter Sale

In Vienna winter sale started the very first work day after Christmas. Last week I was busy, but this week I don´t work and will surely drop in some shops ;-)

Lights

Christmas lights on and pink lights in the Haas Haus on New Year´s Eve... I guess there was a great party going on.

One day late

Due to yesterday´s theme day I´m one day late to wish you once again a happy New Year with these cute lucky charms (In Austria pigs bring good luck).

January Theme Day: Photo of the Year 2010

I wouldn´t say that this photo, posted originally on November 30, is the best photo of the last year, but I really like it a lot, because it´s funny (the hat resembles a lot the chrysanthemums) and the colours correspond perfectly to the season.
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Christmas Decoration #4

May I present to you "Miss Vanillekipferl"? I discovered her in the window of the confectionary Demel. Vanillekipferl are small, crescent shaped biscuits traditionally made at Christmas. They are usually made with ground almonds or hazelnuts, flavoured with vanilla and have a heavy dusting of powdered sugar.

And now let´s change the subject: I hope you all enjoy New Year´s Eve and wish you a very happy new year!!

Christmas Decoration #3

White Christmas in the window of the Chanel store... Aren´t the Coco dolls cute? I would love to have one of them! Unfortunately I don´t know if they are only for decoration or also for sale. (Even if they were sold, I couldn´t possibly afford one of these dolls.)

Christmas Decoration #2

Do you believe in unicorns? Currently you can see two of these mythical creatures in the windows of the department store Steffl on Kärntnerstrasse. Here´s one of them...

Christmas Decoration #1

A bakery in the city center used a lot of Christmas tree decorations to create a festive window. If you zoom in, you will see how many different decoration pieces have been used.

Christmas Illuminations #7

I hope you aren´t yet fed up with Christmas, because I still have some christmassy photos to share... This oversized coffee cup is a part of the Christmas decoration of the confectionary Oberlaa in the city center. It is 2,8 m high, has a diameter of 3,5 m and consists of 5.800 LEDs.

Christmas Illuminations #6

I like the colorfoul lights on this balcony on Neuer Markt in the city center.

Christmas Illuminations #5

I think the huge chandeliers on Graben in the city center are Vienna´s most gorgeous Christmas illumination. They even have a facebook fan page!

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas tree on Stephansplatz in the city center, right next to St. Stephen´s Cathedral... In Austria we are celebrating Christmas this very night: The presents are placed under the Christmas tree which is lit for the first time and the whole family gathers to sing Christmas Carols. Young children believe that the presents are brought to them, as a reward for good behaviour, by the "Christkind" (Christ Child) who is also responsible for the decoration of the tree. My very personal programme for today: In the morning I will have brunch with some girlfriends and in the evening I will celebrate with my parents.
I wish you all a very merry Christmas!! Frohe Weihnachten!!

Christmas Tree Decorations #3

You can get these handpainted Christmas tree decorations at the Christmas Market in front of Schönbrunn Palace. This market is the only one that is open until December 26, all the other markets will close on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Illuminations #4

The festively illuminated entrance of the Grand Hotel Wien, a 5* Luxury Hotel in the city center.

Christmas Tree Decorations #2

I discovered these colourful handcrafted Christmas tree decorations at the Christmas Village in front of the Upper Belvedere.