Cold, very cold....

It is cold in Vienna now. When the sun does not shine, the cold, damp winds make minus 4 C feel like minus 10 C. And most colors are also gone but where?

Invader from outer space?

Vienna hosts "United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs". Is that the reason for the presence of this creature?

Season's Greetings

Kitchen window December 2009

Lucia in Vienna

Christmas Flowers?

It is today the 12th of December and my flowers on the balcony look like this. Wonderful but tomorrow the weather gurus have predicted that it will be freezing temperatures and they will all be gone.

Lucia is coming to Vienna

and we meet and greet her with Lussekatter!

Twin cities

Many of my friends do not realize how close Vienna and Bratislava are and that it only takes about 40 minutes by car to get from one capital to the other by car. It takes a bit longer by speedboat but it is probably a nicer way of traveling. The route has become very popular and a new terminal is currently under construction next to Schwedenplatz, on the border between the first and second district.

Glad that Praterstrasse is not my garden !

Lots and



lots of



BIG leaves !

Memories from the bad old days

You do not have to walk around Vienna for very long before you see reminders of the Second World War. The largest are so called “flaktürme” which were built in a triangle around the city center, consisting of two towers in each location. The main towers were used as “fighting towers” while the smaller towers in the pairs were used by those who guided the shooters.

The two largest of the towers are in the Second District's Augarten and are 55 meters high with walls that up to 2.5 meters thick. Truly colossal buildings that can be seen from far away.

A good description of the towers as well as their history can be found on

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Flakt%C3%BCrme

Kottan...

As you might remember, I wrote some time back about "Hotel Weisses Lamm" and its role in the films about police detective Kottan.I had at that time not seen any of the episodes but thanks to the well supplied public library on Zirkusgasse, this is not longer the case. The films are funny although a bit difficult to understand for a non native and the hotel's status as a cornerstone of the Kottan cult is now well understood :) It is obvious that it is not only the one way streets that have changed since that time!

Sunshine at last...

After several days of rain and fog, the sun came through and many from Vienna took their cars and went away for a lunch in the countryside or just for a walk in the sun.

Donnerskirchen