Deserted #3

After nearly seven weeks exit restrictions will end on April 30 at midnight and on May 2 all shops, hairdressers and beauticians will be open again (May 1 is a national holiday), on May 4 the graduating classes will be the first back to school. So slowly but surely we are back to what our politicians call "the new normality" as there are still a lot of rules to be observed. I guess there will soon be cars and people in this street...

Liechtenstein Garden Palace #5

It's not the first time that I show you the Liechtenstein Garden Palace, but it's always nice to take a walk in the small park that surrounds it. With the still valid exit restrictions it was rather quiet there.

Keep Smiling

We started the week with the reminder to not forget to smile and we end it with "keep smiling" by British artist David Shillinglaw along the Danube Canal.

#Wellbeback

As a matter of course currently all cultural venues are closed and one summer festival after the other is cancelled. It is not yet clear which requirements the theatres will have to fulfill when they will get the permission to reopen.

On Sunday I passed by the theatre Schauspielhaus Wien in the 9th district. The venue started as a cabaret theatre at the beginning of the 20th century, later it was converted into one of Vienna's first cinemas, and in May 1978 it was opened as a theatre. One of its directors (1987-1990) was the Hungarian writer George Tabori. The focus of the theatre is on contemporary writing with a great variety of diverse accesses to authorship and a politically involved programming.

Servitengasse

Servitengasse is a nice street in the 9th district with beautiful, well maintained buildings and many eateries.

Flower Sculptures

These huge flower sculptures by German sculptor and communications designer Jacques Tilly were a cheerful sight during my Sunday afternoon walk along the Danube Canal.

Valentine's Cupcakes

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

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...

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.

Togetherness #2

A young couple sitting on a bench on the banks of the Danube Canal... For more photo of couples on benches please click here and here.

Afternoon Walk

Yesterday we had another holiday (All Saints' Day), so I took an extensive afternoon walk. I started in the city center and then walked along the Danube Canal towards north.

Nice Street

A nice street in the 9th district...

La Mercerie

Now we are inside the French café where I had breakfast last Saturday. Originally this place was a haberdashery (in French: mercerie), the old, beautiful shelves with the respective signs are still there. The café has no telephone number, no e-mail, address no website, no facebook account - you have to go there and hope that there's a free table. 

French Breakfast

On Saturday I had breakfast with a friend in my favourite French café. I just love everything there!

March Theme Day: Black and White in Color

I love bright colours, black and white subjects don't really catch my eyes, but this heart on the banks of the Danube Canal did (because underneath there was written in red "for my beloved")...
Click here to view thumbnails of all participants in the theme day.

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

Sunday Flowers #217

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

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.