It isn't raining cats and dogs anymore; it's rather raining pigs and cows. This here is Schwechat river from some days ago when the water level was only slightly above normal; I expect that right now the bridge on which I was standing taking this shot is flooded at least partially if not fully.
The heavy rainfalls almost have become a problem; serious floodings occur all over Austria and even in Vienna where New Danube, the huge "public swimming pool" of Vienna running parallel to the Danube river for over twenty kilometres, has been flooded in order to avoid flooding in the city itself.
And that all this week when on the weekend the Donauinselfest (Danube Island Festival) should take place - several bands should play there from friday till sunday and as of now the show might be cancelled for friday, or if it comes then even for the whole weekend as the stages are put up right beside the flooded area of New Danube. And even if the festival will be held from friday to sunday visitors will have to take some lessons in mud-sliding.
And this here is the flower of today, common chicory - or Chicorium intybus. This strange and very common flower only opens its bud in the morning and closes them at noon or very early in the afternoon, for reasons unknown (well - to me, at least).
But whatever the advantage of flowering only in the morning should be; this specimen here still had its flowers open very late in the afternoon, a couple of hours before sunset. True, it was a rainy day, but still it should have closed its flowers hours before I took that shot. Maybe an overcast sky is tricking them into keeping them open - I just don't know.
