Basiliskenhaus

The Basiliskenhaus is home of a well-known Viennese myth: On 26 June 1212 in the morning, the servant of a baker discovered a basilisk at the bottom of the well in the courtyard. After a lot of agitation and anxiety a wise man was consulted and advised to hold a mirror to the basilisk which was known to be fatal. No sooner said than done and the basilisk exploded because of the reflection of his ugliness. In 1577 this tale was inscribed on the facade of Basiliskenhaus.

Die vermischte Warenhandlung

If you need a gift with a certain je ne sais quoi, this shop in Weihburggasse in the city center, hidden in a beautiful courtyard, is the perfect place.

Hotel Sacher

Hotel Sacher is a 5-star deluxe hotel in the city center. It was established in 1876 by Eduard Sacher, son of the creator of the famous Sacher Torte. Throughout its existence, the hotel has been a popular meeting point for the aristocracy, politicians, business people and artists. Its guest book has been signed by celebrites such as Queen Elisabeth II, John F. Kennedy, the Prince of Monaco and his wife Gracia Patricia, Leonard Bernstein or Herbert von Karajan.

Pink Flowers

After realizing that in the last two posts the colour pink is predominant, I chose - true to the motto that all good things come in threes - this photo of some pink flowers seen some time ago in a flower shop in the city center.

Playground Sale

Sale is still going on, even at Swarovski on Kärntnerstrasse. In one of the shop windows there are changing installations in collaboration with artists and designers. The current installation, realized by Gerda Buxbaum, the former head of the Schloss Hetzendorf Fashion School, is called "Playground-Sale". The photo shows only a part of the installation.

ImPulsTanz Bicycles

Some days ago I presented to you the International Dance Festival ImPulsTanz that´s currently taking place in Vienna. Yesterday I stumbled upon these ImPulsTanz bicycles near my place and found out that the festival participants can rent such a bike for € 6,- a day. I love the colours of the bicycles! How about you?

The terrace

Today I have nothing special to show you, dear readers, but only the terrace of a friend of mine where we recently spent a very nice evening. She can count herself very lucky, the average apartment in Vienna is not equipped with such a nice place. I´m trying not to envy her ;-)

Franz Grillparzer

This monument to Austrian writer Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872) is located in Volksgarten. Grillparzer, who graduated in law and was for a long time director of the archives at the Imperial and Royal Hofkammer, became famous in 1817, after the first performance of his tragedy "The Ancestress". This monument (the photo shows only a detail) was designed by architect Karl Hasenauer and opened in 1889.

Citybikes

The Citybike Wien system is a free bike system. You can hire a bike at 61 stations across Vienna and return it at any other station, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The first hour of every ride is free of charge. Before hiring a Citybike you need to register either with a credit card (Visa, MasterCard, JCB) or a Citybike tourist card - at the terminal of one of the stations or on the internet. You can find the general traffic rules for bikers here.

Schulhof #1

The name of this narrow street in the city center is Schulhof (schoolyard). The name either derives from a school run by the Jesuits or a synagoge (jiddisch: shul) which were located here in the past. The building on the right hand side houses the Clock Museum.

ImPulsTanz

ImPulsTanz is Vienna´s International Dance Festival, this year it takes place for the 27th time: For five weeks thousands of professional dancers, choreographers and teachers from all over the world come together for performances, research projects and workshops (e.g. HipHop, Bollywood dance, African dance, jazz, bodywork) that are open for anyone of any age.

Modern Reflections

I´ve already showed you two buildings of "Viertel Zwei" here, now here is another part of this new quarter in the second district - and some reflections.

Someone loves flowers

Someone near my office obviously loves flowers and lets participate the passers-by in this love. I like it when people green the houses and the sidewalks! For many years I had some flowers on the window sill next the door of my flat but lately all the flowers have been stolen.

Life Ball

Last night the Life Ball, one of the biggest AIDS charity events in the world took place for the 18th time at the Vienna City Hall. The Life Ball is an exuberant festivity that celebrates life and makes a loud and sounding statement in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The proceeds from the event are distributed to non-profit organisations supporting HIV positive and AIDS patients.
On the occasion of the XVIII International AIDS Conference that starts today, this year the Life Ball was extended even to the Burgtheater with the Red Ribbon Cotillon and the Parliament with the amfAR gala.
The photo shows the City Hall yesterday at noon when the preparations and rehearsals were still going on. Unfortunately the spectacular opening ceremony in the evening that always takes place in front of the City Hall and attracts lots of watchers had to be cut short due to a storm.

Ice cream vans

It´s once again very hot in Vienna... For those who try to cool down on Donauinsel there are several ice cream vans driving around the whole day long. This picture was taken very early in the morning before their hours of business had started.

Welcome back to Vienna

I´m back to Vienna and will resume the daily blogging.

Black & Pink

In Vienna there aren´t as many scooters as in the cities of some southern countries, but lately you can see more and more of them in the streets. I just love the colours of the two in this photo.
This blog will take a break for a week, I´m going to leave very early this morning to a city with more scooters around. If you want to know where I will be spending the next days, click here.

Viertel Zwei #1

There is a lot of construction activity going on in the 2nd district. One of the new quarters is "Viertel Zwei", consisting of several office buildings, a hotel and a residential building. The concept of this new area envisions explicitly a working environment where people love to work. The building on the left hand side houses the Austrian mineral oil authority.

Italian Ice Cream

You can find a lot of Italian ice-cream parlours all over Vienna. One of them uses this trolley to sell its ice-cream to tourists and passers-by. The trolley is usually positioned on the corner Kärntnerstrasse and Graben, in the very city center.

Hot in the city

Summer had some start-up difficulties, but now it´s really hot in the city. One possibility to cool down in the city center is the "Badeschiff", a floating simming pool on the Danube Canal between Schwedenplatz and Urania. On the "Badeschiff" you can also find a sun-deck and a restaurant and there´s plenty of space for cultural and other leisure entertainment. This stretch of the Danube Canal has already had one of the first so-called "river-pools" in the early years of the 20th century.

Sweet Sunday #4

As of late the confectionary Gerstner on Kärntnerstrasse offers cupcakes in five flavours: nutty pistachio, vanilla bean, lemon drop and peach cobbler. I haven´t tried one of them yet, but I will certainly do in the near future. My first choice will be the nutty pistachio cupcake.

Old Danube

The "Alte Donau" (Old Danube) is a dead end of a former river branch of the Danube, separated from the main course of the river by a dam. It is popular for sailing and windsurfing, and alongside its banks there are a couple of lidos - the most famous is the "Gänsehäufel", opened in 1875.

Doorway #1

I found this doorway in Salmgasse, a quiet street in the third district.

Sale!

I´m a little late with this news, sale started already some days ago, but only yesterday this shop window caught my eyes. And yes, of course, I entered the store... and I didn´t leave it empty-handed...

July Theme Day: Reflections

Reflections of a tram and the Vienna State Opera in the window of an Italian café on Opernring.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants