Let´s have a break

After a walk in the park of Schönbrunn Palace, it´s always nice to stop for a bite to eat in one of the cafés nearby, especially with the current autumnal temperatures. This photo was taken in a small café in Altgasse. I love the higgledy-piggledy furnishing that gives this cafés a very special atmosphere.

Watching the ducks

Girls watching the ducks in the park of Schönbrunn Palace. Please also note the great view of Vienna in the background!

Schönbrunn Palace #2

The Schönbrunn Palace seen from behind the Neptune Fountain, commissioned by Empress Maria Theresia in the 1770s.

Naiad Fountain

This Naiad Fountain is located in the park of Schönbrunn Palace. In Greek mythology, the naiads were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams and brooks. If you zoom in, you can see some ducks swimming on the water.

Schönbrunn Palace #1

Schönbrunn Palace is the former summer residence of the imperial family. The Habsburgs resided here the better part of the year, Emperor Franz Joseph I was born here in 1830 and he spent his last years entirely in this palace. Only two years after his death (1916) the palace became property of the new Republic of Austria. Today it is part of UNESCO´s cultural heritage and one of Vienna´s most visited sights (In 2009 it was visited by 2,5 million tourists).

Coat of arms of Austria

The current coat of arms of Austria, albeit without the broken chains, has been in use since 1919 (First Republic). Between 1934 and the German annexion in 1938 Austria used a different coat of arms, which consisted of a double-headed eagle.The establishment of the Second Republic after World War II in 1945 saw the return of the original coat of arms, with broken chains added to symbolise Austria´s liberation.
The symbols and emblems used in the Austrian arms are as follows:
The eagle: Austria´s sovereignty (introduced 1919)
The escutcheon emblem of Austria (late Middle Ages, reintroduced 1915)
The mural crown: The middle class (introduced 1919)
The sickle: Agriculture (introduced 1919)
The hammer: Industry (introduced 1919)
The broken chains: Liberation from National Soictatorship (added 1945)

Colourful Sculpture

This is another sculpture in the Augarten, more precisely in the garden of Augarten Contemporary. Unfortunately I couldn´t find any informations neither in situ nor on the internet about this piece of art.

The Young Man and the Sculpture

During my walk in the Augarten I stumbled upon this guy, probably an art student, who first drew the sculpture, then potographed it and finally measured it. I´m wondering if his research will result in a copy of the sculpture or in a term paper/diploma thesis.

Arcades

Augarten

The Augarten is a public park in the 2nd district with a size of 52,2 hectares, it has the oldest baroque garden in Vienna with an elaborate flower landscape and vast, shady avenues lined with chestnut trees, elms, lime trees, ash trees and maple trees. The Augarten is also home to a wide range of facilites as the Vienna´s Boys Choir in Augarten Palace, the Augarten Porcelain manufactory, the Augarten Contemporary, the Film Archive Austria and it still houses a flak tower (Combat Tower) - pictured in this photo - and a Lead Tower constructed during World War II to protect the city from Allied air raids.

Façade detail #5

Today is an important date for the Viennese: it´s the day of the elections for the City Council and the district councils. On this occasion I decided to show you a detail of the facade of the Town Hall. I love the neo-gothic arches and ornaments. You can see the whole building here.

Schulhof #2

Until some years ago the building on the left side housed the doll and toy museum - unfortunately I´ve never been there. Look at its beautiful doorway with the atlantes and the balcony! On the right side, behind the tree, you can see (or rather guess) a small part of the Clock Museum which I mentioned already here.

Designed in Vienna

The day before yesterday the exhibition "2000-2010. Design in Vienna" was inaugurated at Wien Museum. The show presents the most important representatives of a new generation of product designers working and living in Vienna. One exhibit is this hairy bar stool designed by Dejana Kabiljo which is part of a whole seating series.
The chairs and stools are all hand made out of horsetail hair in different colours. The bar stool version was chosen by Philippe Starck to grace the main bar of the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. It looks kind of funny, but I don´t think I would feel comfortable sitting on such a bar stool.

Vienna Design Week

Currently the "Vienna Design Week" is taking place. Exhibitions, venue-specific installations, theme specials, discussion events, films and opportunities to party and network aim to show and enable people to experience the many-faceted creative work in the fields of product, furniture and industrial design as well as experimental design.
All venues are signalised with a yellow chair. I found the one in this photo at the entrance of Wien Museum.

St. Stephen´s Cathedral #1

Finally a view of Vienna´s most important religious building,
St. Stephen´s Cathedral: the south side seen through Churhausgasse.
On this side of the cathedral the tiles of the roof form a moscaic of the imperial double-headed eagle with the initials of Franz (Francis) I
of Austria, Founder of the Austrian Empire.

The house without eyebrows

In 1909 the Jewish banker Leopold Goldstein commissioned the Austrian architect Adolf Loos (1870-1933) to construct a commercial building on Michaelerplatz (right next to the Imperial Palace, in the city center) for his enterprise. The building was opened in 1911 and caused a great scandal because of its, at that time, unusual plain facade without shutters, mantle stones or other ornaments. The general public demanded the demolition of the so-called "house without eyebrows" and Emperor Franz Joseph I refused to enter the Imperial Palace from Michaelerplatz ever again. In 1947 the Loos Haus was declared a historic monument. Since 1987 it is in possession of the Raiffeisen bank. (I took this photo two weeks ago when there was still Indian summer...)

Colours of Autumn #1

I discovered this beautiful autumnal arrangement two days ago in front of a flower shop in Naglergasse in the city center.

Modern windows

I realized that lately I have been neglecting the mordern part of Vienna, so here are some windows of one of the buildings at "Viertel Zwei" in the second district. You can see other photos of this new quarter here, here and here.

Museum Night

Some 680 museums and galleries across Austria will welcome visitors for tonight´s 11th "Long Night of the Museums" between 6 p.m. and 1 a.m. In Vienna you have the choice between 105 museums, which offer a varied programme of lectures, art talks and special guided tours.
One of the participating museums is Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts). It was commissioned by Emperor Franz Joseph I in order to house the extensive art collection of the imperial family under one roof and to make it accessible to the general public. With its vast array of eminent works and the largest Bruegel collection in the world, it is considered one of the most important museums in the world.

October Theme Day: Graffiti

I discovered this colourfoul painted shutter of a candy store in Zieglergasse in the 7th district. I think it´s a good place for a graffito, it definitely looks nicer than the bare shutter.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Soap bubbles

Some days agos I saw this girl making big soap bubbles in front of St. Charles Church. I already saw some soap bubble makers last summer in Paris (photos here and here), they have been surrounded by children trying to catch the bubbles. The Viennese have a different disposition, so the audience of this girl was rather small.

I love amphoras

It may be a little uninspired to show you yet another amphora, but I fell in love with this one at first sight - it is located in the garden of Augarten Palace.

Augarten Palace

Last sunday, September 26th, was Europan Heritage Day, a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission involving all 49 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention under the motto "Europe, a common heritage". The annual programme offers opportunities to visit buildings, monuments and sites, many of which are not normally accessible to the public.
In Austria, the theme for this year referred to the "Places of pleasure". One of the buildings that was open to the public on this occasion was Augarten Palace. It was originally built in 1692 as pleasure palace for Zacharias Leeb, a merchant and city councillor. Since 1948 it houses the famous "Wiener Sängerknaben" (Vienna Boys' Choir).

Sphinx & Upper Belvedere

One of the 12 sphinxes in the Belvedere Garden and the Upper Belvedere Palace in the background.

European Day of Languages

In 2001 the Council of Europe proclaimed the 26th September of every year the European Day of Languages. Its aim is to encourage the learning of languages across Europe. You could try your language skills on this "phonomat", an electronic information device about sights. Just insert 1 Euro, select one of 10 languages and get some informations about your current location. The "phonomat" in this photo will tell you something about the Upper Belvedere Palace.

Zum Goldenen Becher

This is another view of the "Haus zum Goldenen Becher" on Stock im Eisen-Platz, designed by Alexander Wielemans and constructed from 1881 to 1883. I love the oriel! Unfortunately I couldn´t find any information about the history of its name ("goldener Becher" = "golden bowl"), although it might be interesting.

Balcony #3

This balcony is part of the "Haus zum Goldenen Becher", constructed in 1881, on Stock im Eisen-Platz in the city center, right next to St. Stephen´s Cathedral.

A whiff of Paris

As I mentioned already here, I adore France, and I especially love Paris. So I was really delighted when I saw the most important Parisian sights on the windows of a clothes shop in the city center.

Blue - Red - Silver

As I told you already some time ago, you can see an increasing number of scooters on the streets of Vienna. As a matter of fact they are catching my eye nearly everywhere! I stumbled upon these three some days ago in the city center and liked them immediately because of their colours.

Above Vienna´s rooftops

This apartment is located right behind MuseumsQuartier in the 7th district. It must be nice living up there, above the rooftops, enjoying an unconfined view of the city...

Take a rest

This white table and chairs invite passers-by to stop at SchokoLadenWerkstatt, a chocolate shop in the city center (which I mentioned already here and here), and indulge one´s sweet tooth.

Amphora

This beautiful amphora is located in the Hirschstetten Flower Gardens. It welcomes the visitors at the entrance to the "florarium".

Gazebo

Close-up of the gazebo amidst the rosarium of the Hirschstetten Flower Gardens.

All that I can see is another lemon tree

Well, it´s not as if there were lemon trees all over Vienna, the title of this post is from a song of a german band (you can see the video here)... I found this lemon tree in the Hirschstetten Flower Gardens last week and liked it a lot because it made me believe for a few moments to be in some southern country.

Baroque Courtyard #2

This is another view of the courtyard of the baroque house on St. Ulrichs-Platz. I love the plants in the pots as well as the small table and the chairs. And I like the idea of the inhabitants gathering there and enjoying good chats with each other.

Baroque Courtyard #1

This is the courtyard of the baroque house on St. Ulrichs-Platz whose facade I showed you yesterday. Beautiful arcades, don´t you think so?

Baroque Façade

This beautiful baroque house is located on St. Ulrichs-Platz in Vienna´s 7th district. It was built in the second half of the 18th century as indicates the sign beside the doorway.

L´épicerie

This nice sign indicates a French grocery store that I discovered lately in a small street in the 7th district. Unfortunately the store was closed, and I couldn´t even find any opening hours - too bad, I adore France and would love to have a look at the range of products in this store.

Sweet Sunday #7

The cupcakes are finding their way to Vienna... Recently the first cupcakes shop opened in Josefstädter Strasse in the 8th district, offering 20 different flavours. The shop is small, but very appealing and there are also two tables where you can have a cup of coffee, eat your cupcake and observe not only the coming and going of the customers but also the activities in the bakery.

Relax, take it easy

The other day I took advantage of a day off to go to the Hirschstetten Flower Gardens, the cultivation gardens of the Municipal Department which is in charge of the Viennese parks and gardens. It was opened in 1952, extends over 60.000 square meters and houses a rich variety of flowers and plants, presented in a multitude of ways. On the shore of a small lake I found these inviting deck chairs.

Balcony #2

As you already know, I love balconies. I spotted this small, but nevertheless appealing balcony on the house whose facade I showed you yesterday.

Façade detail #4

This scary facade can be found on an apartment building in Mondscheingasse in the 7th district.

Shine on

I stumbled upon this summerly decoration in the window of an optician on Kärntnerstrasse one week ago. It would be really nice if the sun would shine on, yesterday it was cold and the sky was clouded and the weather forecast for today is even worse. Where´s the Indian summer?

Welcome Enzos

Some time ago I told you about the "Enzis", the courtyard furniture of MuseumsQuartier. Last month the new generation of this furniture has arrived, the so called "Enzos". They are now made of polyethylene, so they are more fireproof, more resistant against damage and 100% recyclable. The design changed only in the details, however from now on the colours won´t change every year, but there will be several colours at the same time. The names of the current colours are "Lush Meadow Green", "Ivory Tusk White", "Strawberry Field Red" and "Candy Shop Pink". Yesterday at noon the "Enzos" were occupied as usual by people soaking up the sun, relaxing, chatting with friends...

Back to school

Well, there´s nothing more to say than: today is the first day of the new school year for Viennese kids.

Sweet Sunday #6

Home made chocolate candies at SchokoLadenWerkstatt in the city center (I have mentioned this chocolate shop already here). I haven´t yet tried all flavors, so I think I have to return there pretty soon ;-) Please note the mouse shaped pralines...

I love Vienna

According to the Mercer 2010 Quality of Living Survey, Vienna retains the top spot as the city with the world´s best quality of living. This joyful result prompted the initiative "I love Vienna": a website where everybody can upload a video and declare his love to Vienna, all these videos will be collected and then - hopefully - result in the world´s longest declaration of love. The current footage is 14 hours, 49 minutes and 59 seconds. In case you also want to take part in this inititative, you can do it here.

Say it with flowers

To me these flowers say that automn is just around the corner...

Façade detail #3

I wasn´t aware of how many atlantes can be found on Viennese buildings until lately. In this photo I like also the small balcony. Well, I like balconies in general...

September Theme Day: Open Air Market

Unfortunately I didn´t make it to any open air market during the opening hours, so you have to content yourself with this photo of Naschmarkt, Vienna´s most popular market, last sunday afternoon.
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