First Steps

All beginnings are difficult... Especially the first steps on blades... I loved to watch this dad teaching his daughter how to ice-skate...

Sunday Afternoon on The Ice

Nothing new in Vienna: it's still cold and the Old Danube is still frozen over. Yesterday's foggy weather didn't prevent people from spending the afternoon on the ice.

Sweet Sunday #17

"Nothing in life is a piece of cake; well, except an actually piece of cake."- Hiba Fatima Ahmad

Ice Hockey Players

Young ice hockey players on the still frozen Old Danube. 

Taking a Break

Ice skating can be exhausting, once in a while you just have to take a break...

Hideaway

During my past walks along the Old Danube I asked myself where all the swans and ducks had gone. On Sunday I found them: they are crowded in a small part of the water that's not frozen...

Sunset Obsession #36

I just can't resist taking photos of sunsets... This is the sun setting over the frozen Old Danube last Sunday.

Watch Your Step

Another photo taken last Sunday afternoon on the Old Danube. I read that it's the first time in 30 years that the Old Danube is frozen. In Vienna the natural waters aren't officially authorized, so people step on the ice on their own risk...

An Afternoon on the Ice

It's still cold and the layer of ice on the Old Danube has gotten thicker during the last week. Yesterday afternoon there was a lot of acitivity going on: people were walking, skating, playing ice hockey...

Sunday Flowers #214

"Winter should not be considered as only negation and destruction.
It is a secret and inward working of powers, which in spring will burst into visible activity." - Henry James Slack

Majolikahaus

The Art Nouveau Majolikahaus (1898-1899) in the 6th district was designed by Austrian architect Otto Wagner. The ornate building is namend after the weather-proof, ceramic tiles painted in floral designs on its facade as in majolica pottery.

If You Can Touch it...

"brut" is a co-producing institution focusing on experimental and innovative performing arts. One of the two venues of "brut" is located at the Künstlerhaus. When I passed there some days ago, the sign "Never forget: If you can touch it - It can also touch you!" caught my eyes.

So Near And Yet so Far

The view from the banks of the Old Danube towards the modern buildings of Donau City.

Sunset Obsession #35

The sunset over the Old Danube last Sunday... The sun currently sets at 04:28 p.m. - I'm very much looking forward to the long days in summer...

A Walk on the Ice

Due to the cold weather, the Old Danube is currently frozen. Yesterday I saw a lot of people skating or walking on the ice... I preferred to stay on the "mainland"...

Sweet Sunday #16

"Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness 

as one can possibly want and hold." - Judith Olney

Austrian Museum of Applied Arts - Bentwood Chairs

Bentwood furniture was not a Viennese invention, nonetheless outside Austria the bentwood chair is still frequently called "Viennese chair". The furniture manufactory Gebrüder Thonet developed the first industrial-scale production processes for bentwood furniture. These processes replaced previous individual craft skills with an investment in machinery that allowed any worker to produce accurate and repeatable bent components. The best known piece of the manufactury was the No. 14 chair, the iconic chair of Parisian cafés. The furniture collection of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts presents an overview of over 100 years of production by Gebrüder Thonet an competing firms, from the 1830s to the 1930s.

Austrian Museum of Applied Arts - Have a Seat

This reading bench for museum visitors was created by American artist Jenny Holzer in 1993 and is an aluminium cast after an original bench from Danhauser Furniture Factory that existed from 1804 to 1838. During the Biedermeier period Danhauser was THE furniture manufactory in Vienna.

Austrian Museum of Applied Arts - Empire & Biedermeier

The various spaces of the permanent collection of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art are organized in a chronological fashion. This rooms shows objects from the Empire and the Biedermeier period.

Foyer of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts

Some weeks ago I spent an afternoon at the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art (MAK). It was originally founded in 1863 as the "Imperial Royal Austrian Musuem of Art and Industry" and designed by famous Austrian architect Heinrich von Ferstel. Today it houses a collection of applied arts, design, architecture and contemporary art. The museum welcomes the visitors with this beautiful late-historicist entrance foyer.

Hand in Hand

Sunday, a walk in a snowy park, hand in hand with your loved one - sounds like a good program to me...

Snowy Vienna

It is still very cold and the town is finally covered with snow. I decided to do my Sunday afternoon walk in the park of Schönbrunn Palace and took this photo from the outside staircase of the palace towards the Gloriette. The structure was originally built in 1775 as a "temple of renown", today it houses a coffeehouse.

Sweet Sunday #16

"All people with healthy physical appetites have a sweet tooth somewhere in their heads." - Macmillan's Magazine, 1887

Photo taken at the K. u. K. (Imperial and Royal) Court Confectionary "Demel" 

Cold And Windy

Baby, it's cold outside... Yesterday we had -6° C  (-42,8° F), but with the strong wind it felt even colder. Nevetheless I did a 3,5 km walk along the Old Danube. There were only a few people out and about...

Sleeping Girl

Today is a public holiday (Three Wise Men), so we can sleep in - like this girl created by the French-Austrian street art duo Jana & Js.

Reflections #32

As you may already know, I love chairs... - even if they are part of a window display. After having taken the photo I didn't like the reflection, but then it grew on me...

Red Caps

I was taking a picture when a man asked me, two ladies and a man to pose for him. We caught his eyes with our red caps/hats/hair. He also took a photo with my camera and I like it a lot.

The Hookah Smoker

Smoking a hookah and watching at the Old Danube, he had his own little party on New Year's Eve...

The Force of Habit

Well, yes, I did my last walk in 2016 along the Old Danube... It was a very sunny, but rather cold day. The Old Danube was partially frozen, so the swans had to walk on the ice... It was fun to watch them...

January Theme Day: Photo of the Year

As you already know, I love sunsets and the Old Danube. So I just had to choose a photo that combines these two "elements" in one. Furthermore I took the first and the last walk in 2016 along the Old Danube, so we've come full circle...
Click here to view the thumbnails of all participants in the theme day.