Sunday Flowers #300

"Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Blue Hand

I discovered this eye-catching blue hand in the window of a bookshop in the city center.

Quiet Stroll

Without any tourists and with museums and restaurants that are closed, the small streets in the city center were still rather deserted last Sunday afternoon. I had the impression that this promenader/cyclist took advantage of the calm to attentively watch the old buildings.

Sunday Flowers #299

“It’s the time that you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important… People have forgotten this truth, but you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

First Day of Shopping

Today was the first day after the shutdown that all shops were open again. In the city center I saw quite a lot of people doing some shopping and I heard of waiting lines at furniture and electrical stores...

Sunday Flowers #297

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden." - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Museums Will be Reopened

Museums are allowed to open their door to visitors again from mid-May. The Austrian Federal Museums (Albertina, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Belvedere, MAK, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Museum of Natural History Vienna, Museum of Technology, Austrian National Library) have already communicated that for economic reasons they will reopen only at the end of June. Let's see when the Clock Museum (in this photo) will be open again...

Not so Deserted Anymore

Yesterday I had to get something done in the city center. There were more people than the last time I was there, but in most of the reopened shops I saw only the employees and the atmosphere on Graben, a normally busy street, was still very quiet.

Happy Easter!

This Easter is different as family gatherings are not allowed (if the family members are not living together) and churches are closed.  Plush bunnies of course are excepted ;-)

Mölker Bastei

Today Mölker Bastei is an address in the city center, but from 1531 until 1861 it was a bastion of the city wall.  With the demolition of the city wall, the bastion was also destroyed. A small part of the area was not inclined, and in 1871 a supporting wall was erected.

Big Mutter

"Big Mutter", a sculpture by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm is currently located in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral. There are more of his sculptures inside the cathedral (which is temporarily closed because of the pandemia), and Wurm even created the lenten cloth.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches. Usually the square in front of the cathedral is terribly crowded, but with the current exit restrictions it was deserted when I passed by.

Sunday Flowers #296

"She sprouted love like flowers, grew a garden in her mind, 

and even on the darkest days, from her smile the sun still shined." - Erin Hanson

LOVE

A little bit of love can never hurt - even if it's only an eye-catching window display...

Blooming Magnolia Tree

The magnolia tree in front of the administration building of the Municipal Department "Parks and Gardens" is in full bloom. This department administers the about 2.000 square kilometers of urban green areas. Unfortunately the better part of these areas is currently closed until further notice.

Yellow Fog

"Yellow Fog" is a light installation by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson on the facade of the headquarter of Austria's leading electricty company, located in the very city center. Every day at dusk for one hour a yellow fog rises up the facade every three minutes for a duration of 40 seconds. (Photo from the archive, taken in February 2020)

If you want to revisit Eliasson's exhibition of some years ago, please click here, here, here, here, here and here.

Deserted #2

Well, there's not much to say... It's just another photo of the deserted city center...

Deserted #1

I know, a lot of countries currently have a curfew or at least exit restrictions, but when I took a short walk in the city center yesterday, the deserted streets (in this photo: Kohlmarkt where you can find a lot of luxury shops) really made an impact on me. I'm usually working in the very city center and used to seeing it crowded with people...

A New Museum for Modern Art

The opening of the ALBERTINA modern was planned for last week, but had to be postponed until further notice due to the coronavirus crisis. The collection of this new museum for modern art encompasses over 60.000 works by 5.000 important Austrian and international artists. ALBERTINA modern is located in the freshly renovated Künstlerhaus (built between 1865 and 1868 by the Austrian Artists' Society, the oldest surviving artists' society in Austria).

Don't be Afraid...

I saw this during my walk to the office (where I had forgotten something) last Sunday in the window of a restaurant in the city center. Well, I guess there are a lot of people who are frightened by the current situation. For me it is still surreal...