The End is Near...

Another year is almost over! Time is really flying... I hope you enjoy a wonderful New Year's Eve and wish you all the best for 2018!

Christmassy Shopping Arcade

The shopping arcade of Palais Ferstel is still decorated with several small Christmas trees...

2017 Christmas Illuminations #7

Still more Christmas lights in the city center...

2017 Christmas Illuminations #6

More Christmas lights in the city center...

2017 Christmas Illuminations #5

The Christmas lights in Habsburgergasse in the city center.

Christmas in Schönbrunn

A visit to the Christmas market in front of Schönbrunn Palace is on my to-do-list every year. The palace is a wonderful backdrop.

Merry Christmas! Frohe Weihnachten!

In Austria we celebrate Christmas this very night: Traditionally we set up the Christmas tree and light it for the first time, gather around the tree, sing Christmas carols, unwrap the presents, have Christmas dinner and maybe go to the Midnight Mass. I will meet some friends for a brunch and will spend the evening with my parents. Have a merry Christmas! Frohe Weihnachten!

A Matter of Taste

There are Christmas tree decorations to everybody's taste...

Sledge Tree

This Christmas tree is completely made of sledges! It was created by the Budapest-based creative studio Hello Wood. The first version of the installation was built in 2013 at the Palace of Arts in Budapest. After its success in Hungary, the sledge tree was invited several times to the UK and Switzerland and arrived to Vienna just in time for the Advent season. It's currently a special attraction at the Christmas market in front of the Upper Belvedere.

2017 Christmas Illuminations #4

The lights at the entrance of the luxury hotel Grand Hotel Wien look very inviting.

2017 Christmas Illuminations #3

Palais Ferstel looks very elegant with its Christmas lights.

Christmas Lights at Dawn

That's how the Christmas lights on Kärtnerstrasse look like at dawn...

Christmas Market on Karlsplatz

There are a lot of Christmas Markets to visit in Vienna. They attract not only the Viennese but also a lot of tourists from abroad. Yesterday I passed by the market in front of St. Charles' Church in the 4th district. Please click here for more information on the Christmas Markets.

3rd Sunday of Advent

"Christmas gives us the opportunity to pause and reflect on the important things around us -
a time when we look back on the year that has passed and prepare for the year ahead." - David Cameron

2017 Christmas Illuminations #2

The Christmas lights of a hotel in the city center.

2017 Christmas Illuminations #1

It's time to show you the Christmas illuminations in Vienna... A friend of mine who doesn't like modern architecture recently told me that the Haas Haus looks quite nice with its Christmas lights.

Festive Trees

Festively lit trees on Ringstraße...

A Thin Layer of Ice

Small parts of the Old Danube are already covered with a thin layer of ice. 

Afternoon Walk

Yesterday I started my afternoon walk at the Kaiserwasser, a branch of the Old Danube. It was a grey, cold and windy day...

2nd Sunday of Advent

"Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection." - Winston Churchill

Reflections #33

Reflections on the facade of the Juridicum, the Faculty of Law of the University of Vienna.

Gild the Dome!

The dome of interwoven golden laurel branches of the Secession building is composed of 2.500 leaves and more than 300 berries. It was constructed in 1897/98 based on designs by Austrian architect Joseph Maria Olbrich. Currently the building and the dome are undergoing renovations. By paying € 100,- you can contribute to preserving the dome, an important Viennese landmark, and your name will be listed on an electronic roll of honor (unless you prefer to remain anonymous). For further information please click here.

Café Central - From the Outside

The Café Central, opened in 1876, was a key meeting place of the Viennese intellectual scene in the late 19th century. Adolf Loos, Theodor Herzl and Sigmund Freud were amongst the regulars. Today there are often lines of tourists who want to soak up the historic surroundings at the entrance of the café.

Saint Nicholas Day

Today is Saint Nicholas Day: During the night Saint Nicholas filled the boots of the children who were good, polite and helpful during the last year with gifts and sweets. He is accompanied by Krampus, a demon-like creature who warns and punishes bad children by putting a tree branch in their boots.

The Most Wonderful Time...

We use to say that Advent is the quietest time of the year, but in actual fact it is a rather stressful period: you have to buy Christmas presents, the public transport and the shops are crowded, you have to finish all your work before the holidays, you have to go to Christmas markets, there are Christmas parties and Christmas appointments with friends... I'm trying to avoid all this pre-Christmas "madness" as much as possible and enjoy a real wounderful time... We'll see how I do...

Advent Calendar

We don't only have Advent wreaths for the "countdown" for Christmas, but also Advent Calendars. These calendars have 24 "windows", each of them reveals an image or a small gift (a toy, a chocolate item...). The first "window" was opened on December 1st, the last will be opened on December 24th. I discovered this sweet Advent Calendar in the window of a confectionary in the city center. 

1st Sunday of Advent

Time is flying! Today is already the first day of Advent, casually speaking the countdown for Christmas. In Austria we traditionally buy an Advent wreath and light one candle on the first Sunday of Advent, two on the second and so on, until the last Sunday before Christmas all four candles are lit. When I was a child, I was always very excited when the next candle was lit. Today I'm no longer excited, but I still like this tradition.

Remains of the First Snow

When I woke up on Thursday it was snowing! In the city center the snow didn't settle but  yesterday there were still some remains of it  along the Old Danube.

December Theme Day: Gift

The gifts are on their way... - at least in the windows of a jewelry store in the city center.

Click here to view thumbnails of all participants in the theme day.

Liechtenstein Garden Palace #4

The Liechtenstein Garden Palace houses the collection of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein which contains masterpieces of art from the early Renaissance to the High Baroque era. The palace can be rented for events and visited in a guided tour on certain days. For more photo of the palace please click here, here and here.

Strudlhofstiege

The outdoor staircase "Strudhofstiege" was opened in November 1910. It is  is an important Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) work and is named after the sculptor and painter Peter Strudel who owned property on the street above the staircase. The Austrian author Heimito von Doderer wrote a famous novel named after the staircase: "Die Strudlhofstiege oder Melzer und die Tiefe der Jahre" (The Strudlhof Steps or Melzer and the Depth of the Years).

Defaced

Some years ago a friend of mine who lives in Southern Italy and to whom I regularly send photos from Vienna asked me why the buildings and monuments here were so clean, why there weren't any scribblings or graffiti. The answer is easy: because I usually don't photograph them. This photo of a subway station proves that not all our buildings are clean...

Sunday Flowers #254

"November's sky is chill and drear,

November's leaf is red and sear." - Sir Walter Scott

Small Stellated Dodecahedron

The small stellated dodecahedron is a Kepler-Poinsot polyhedron. It is one of for nonconvex regular polyhedra and composed of 12 pentagrammic faces, with five pentagrams meeting at each vertex. The sculpture of the small stellated dodecahedron in front of the building that houses the Faculty of Mathematics and the Faculty of Business, Economics and Statistics of the University of Vienna was designed by Austrian mathematician Herwig Hauser.

Look up

There's always a reason to look up...

Abandoned

Someone abandoned his broken umbrella at the front door of an apartment building... 

After the Rain

Yesterday it was raining until the afternoon. As soon as the rain stopped I left my apartment and went for a short walk along the Old Danube.

Sunday Flowers #253

"Of all the seasons, autumn offers the most to man and requires the least of him." - Hal Borland

The Emperor's Pavillion

This pavillion, the Emperor's Pavillion, is located in the Vienna Zoo - which is by the way the oldest zoo in the Western world (it was founded in 1752). The zoo was constructed next to Schönnbrun Palace, and in 1759 Francis I ordered the construction of this breakfast pavillion in the center of the zoo. Today it houses a restaurant.

Instagramers at work

The instagramers Austria community organises a lot of instawalks in many different and interesting places. It is fun to watch the instagramers run around with their cameras and mobile phones looking for good subjects for their photos. By the way, have you already checked out my instgram account?

University of Music and Performing Arts - Library #3

There are still a lot of empty bookshelves in the library of the University of Music and Performing Arts.

University of Music and Performing Arts - Library #2

Since 1996 the Unversity of Music and Performing Arts is located in the buildings of the former University of Veterinary Medicine that moved to the 21th district. The former dissecting room was transformed into a reading room.

University of Music and Performing Arts - Library #1

Some weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the library of the University of Music and Performing Arts. It was opened in 2016 in its current location on the campus of the University.

Sunday Flowers #252

Autumnal Alley

An autumnal alley in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace.

Biking & Reading

Reading a book in the autumn sun during a break from riding the bicycle - I think that's a good way to spend time...

Another Walk...

Being a creature of habit, I did another walk along the Old Danube last Saturday... 

People Enjoying the View

From the Gloriette in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace you can enjoy a beautiful view of the town. This time I didn't photograph the view, but the people looking towards the town.

Gloriette & Reflection

The Gloriette was beautifully reflected in the pond on top of the small hill of the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace last Sunday.

Schönbrunn Palace in The Late Afternoon

Yesterday I took one of my regular walks in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace. As I love to sleep in on Sundays and then start the day very relaxed, the time frame for my afternoon walks has gotten narrow since we are back to standard time.