Krapfen

Krapfen are traditional Austrian carnival sweets: doughnuts made from sweet yeast dough fried in fat or oil. The "classical" version is filled with marmelade or jam with powdered sugar on top, but there are also Krapfen filled with vanilla cream (in this photo), plum butter, nougat... Today is the last day of carnival, the last possibility to indulge in these sweets.

Andromeda Fountain

The Andromeda fountain is hidden in the courtyard of the Old Town Hall in the city center. It was created by Austrian sculptor Georg Raphael Donner in 1741 and is one of his last works as he died in the same year. The relief in the center depicts how Perseus saves Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus.

Sunday Flowers #218

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant;
if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." - Anne Bradstreet

The Only Way is up

These stairs are part of the Schützenhaus on the banks of the Danube Canal. The building was designed by Austrian architect Otto Wagner and erected from 1904 to 1908 as part of a never realised weir system. Today it houses a restaurant.

Spring Was in the Air

Yesterday was the first day that felt like spring. I was in the office the whole day, but I guess a lot of people ate their first ice cream cone of the season and put on clothes in bright colours.

Vienna Opera Ball Poster

The old tradition of carnival balls continues to thrive in Vienna. Each year more than 450 balls take place, the higlight of the ball season is the Vienna Opera Ball held at the Vienna State Opera this very night. In 30 hours the opera has been transformed by 350 skilled workers and 150 auxiliaries into a gorgeous ballroom where more than 5.100 guests will spend a glittering ball night. This year's poster of the Vienna Opera Ball is a collage of "quotations" of different operas and milestones in the history of the ball.

Ice Bar

On the occasion of tomorrow's Vienna Opera Ball the Swiss born artist Daniel Spoerri created an ice bar located in front of a delicatessen store in the city center. Hundreds of heels of ladies's shoes are frozen into the ice blocks.

Sunrays

In the late Sunday afternoon the sun came through the clouds and I caught some first sunrays...

Having a Chat

Yesterday was a rather gray day, nevertheless a lot of people did an afternoon walk along the Old Danube. These friends (or couple?) took a break and had a chat. As you can see the water is still mostly frozen...

Sunday Flowers #217

"A flower doesn't love you or hate you, it just exists." - Mike White

A Goddes in the Garden

There are a lot of statues in the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace. This one shows Diana, the goddess of hunting.

University of Vienna - The Old Chemical Institute

The Old Chemical Institute of the University of Vienna was designed by Heinrich von Ferstel in the historicist style and erected from 1869 to 1872. Today it houses the Center of Pathobiochemistry and Genetics of the Medical University of Vienna.

University of Vienna - The Grand Staircase

The University of Vienna was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. The main building on Ringstraße was designed by Heinrich von Ferstel. The building has two grand staircases, this one leads to the large ceremonial hall. A monument to Emperor Franz Joseph I, who opened the building in 1884, watches over everything that's going on there...

Blue/Red/White

The outdoor areas of the cafés and restaurants are still closed, but in a passage in the city center the blue and red chairs and white tables are already waiting for guests.

Valentine's Cakes

How about presenting your partner with a heart-shaped cake for Valentine's Day?

Cycling on the Ice

I really wanted to take a break from publishing photos of the Old Danube, but then I did another walk there yesterday and saw this guy cycling on the ice. He was the only one who dared to "step" on the ice...

Sunday Flowers #216

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; 
but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable." -  Joseph Addison

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

A detail of the monument to Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, located in Burggarten since 1953. Originally the monument was erected in 1896 in Albertinaplatz. Click here and here for more photos.

Soap Bubbles

Soap bubbles are always fun to look at...Even if you can't see them in this photo, there were a lot of children trying to catch the bubbles, but also several adults photographing and filming them (the children and the bubbles).

I Can't Help it...

Maybe I should change the name of this blog to Vreni's Old Danube Daily Photo ;-) I have gotten a little obsessed with my walks along the Old Danube recently, I know, but first I had to check how it froze over and now how the ice is getting thinner...

Swan on the Ice

As I have already told you the ice on the Old Danube has gotten thinner, but swans can still walk on it... And if the ice collapses under their feet, they would just swim... 

Sunny Day

On a sunny day life seems easier and I feel more energy than when the city is covered with fog. 

On Thin Ice

Due to the warmer temperature during the past few days the ice on the Old Danube has gotten thinner, and yesterday only some brave (or stupid) set foot on the ice cover... By clicking here you can see once again what was going on in this place Sunday before last.

Sunday Flowers #215

"The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration." - Claude Monet

Sunrays

After two terrible misty weeks, today the sun was finally back and we had 3°C (37°F). Some people enjoyed the sunrays in Burggarten.

Still Resisting

The snow is already melting... In Burggarten I discovered a lot of remains of snowmen - a sad sight... This snowman was still looking rather good...

Snow in the City

When I left my apartment on Monday morning it snowed heavily. Only 10 minutes later I got off the subway in the city center and there was not even one snowflake - as in most parts of Vienna. During the night before last the snowfall finally hit the whole city...

February Theme Day: Loving Life

It was hard to find a photo for today's theme day...I searched my archive for photos of people who look happy and seem to love their live, but couldn't find any good one. Then I stumbled upon this picture of a mural in the 6th district and immediately thought that it depicts perfectly the moments in which I love life: when I have time to stroll through the city with my camera and take a lot of photos.
Click here to view the thumbnails of all participants in the theme day.