Hand in Hand

I love to photograph couples walking hand in hand... Please click here and here for similar photos.

A Real Sports Enthusiast

Sunday was the first day of the current cold spell. We had -5°C (-41°F), and I met hardly anybody while climbing the Kahlenberg, BUT I saw two or three cyclists. I love cycling, but not during winter. I admire all sportspeople who don't let themselves stop from the chilliness!

A Walk by the Water

On Saturday afternoon I took another walk along the Old Danube before running errands. While in the inner districts there are no more signs of last week's snowfall, the grasslands in the outskirts are still covered with snow.

Sunday Flowers #259

"A flower blossoms for its own joy." - Oscar Wilde

The View From the Upper Belvedere

The view from the second floor of the Upper Belvedere towards the city center is much nicer in summer when nature is in full bloom...

Art Lover

This visitor of the Upper Belvedere didn't look like a typical art lover, but he admired the painting of "Napoleon at the Great St. Bernhard Pass" (1801) by Jacques-Louis David for quite a while...

Upper Belvedere - The Marble Hall

The grand staircase leads to the Marble Hall, the Upper Belvedere's most magnificient room. The hall occupies two storeys and once served as an antechamber. On 15 May 1955 the Austrian State Treaty, that re-established a free, sovereign and democratic Austria after the end of World War II, was signed here by the Allied occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union) and Austrian foreign minister Leopold Figl.

Upper Belvedere - The Grand Staircase

The beautiful grand staircase leads to the Upper Belvedere's main floor.

No Bad View

That's what you see when you stand in front of the Upper Belvedere and look towards the city center. I love the expression of the sphinx's face...

Upper Belvedere

We had another dreary weekend... As it was also rather cold, my Sunday afternoon walk ended at the Upper Belvedere. The palace was built as summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy who used it primarily for purposes of prestige and display. In the second half of the 1770s the "Imperial Picture Gallery" was transferred from the Imperial Palace to the Upper Belvedere. Today the palace houses the permanent collection of the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere.

Sunday Flowers #258

"Even though February was the shortest month of the year, 

sometimes it seemed like the longest." - J. D. Robb

Imperial Palace by Night

It's always nice to pass by the Imperial Palace by night...

If You Love me...

This street art piece in the 6th district is a collaboration of the Israel-based artists Dede Bandaid (swan) and Nitzan Mintz (poem).

Valentine's Cupcakes

Today's Valentine's Day is a good excuse to eat some cupcakes....

Let's eat Krapfen!

Today is the last day of carnival, the last possibilty to indulge in "Krapfen", the traditional Austrian carnival sweets: they are dougnuts 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 you get them also filled with vanilla cream, plum butter, nougat...

Schulhof

Schulhof is one of my favourite little squares in the city center. Its name derives either from a school run by Jesuits or a synagogue (jiddisch: shul) which were located here in the past. The building on the left side (with the red and white banner) houses the Clock Museum.

Sunday Flowers #257

"February, when the days of winter seem endless and no amount of wistful recollecting
can bring back any air of summer." - Shirley Jackson

Look up

Don't forget to look up every once in a while, there are a lot of beautiful facades to see...

A Walk in the Snow

Here's the last photo from my Wednesday afternoon walk along the Old Danube in the snow...

Snowy & Dreary

Here's another impression of yesterday's afternoon walk along the Old Danube. I thought that there would be a lot of children with their sledges or building snowmen because of the current school holidays, but I hardly met anybody... Well, no problem, I prefer deserted alleys, but I have a really big problem with the still ongoing drearyness...

A Thin Layer of Snow

Today it was snowing until the early afternoon. Luckily I had the opportunity to take a walk in the snow along the Old Danube. 

Weltmuseum - Hall of Columns

One of the museums located in the Imperial Palace is the Weltmuseum Wien (formerly the Museum of Ethnology) with its magnificient hall of columns. The museum has been closed for several years due to the redesign of the permanent collection and public areas and was reopened in late 2017.

Imperial Palace by Night

Until 1918 the Imperial Palace was the political centre of the Austrian monarchy. Today it houses non only the offices of the Federal President, the ministers of the chancellor's office and the secretaries of state but also several museums and the Austrian National Library.

Sunday Flowers #256

"February is the border between winter and spring." - Terry Guillemets

The Moon Over Stephansplatz

The moon over Stephansplatz last Sunday evening.

Mölker Steig

These steps are a part of Mölker Steig, an alley in the city center. The names derives from the adjacent Mölkerbastei, a former bastion of the city walls.

February Theme Day: Tired

This is my favourite morning cup: I love the text that reads "Allergic to morning" in French (I bought the cup some months ago in Paris) and the drawing. I'm absolutely not a morning person, and I hate to get up at 6 am during the working week. At this time of the day I always feel nearly as tired as in the evening when I go to bed. 
Click here to view the thumbnails of all participants in the theme day.