saint ruprecht of vienna

easter

rathauspark

what about something completely different

People keep telling me that they're more than fed-up with my plant posts. Well, they may be fed-up as much as they like, just wait and see if I care. :-) So yet again a plant, some plane hybrid (Platanus × hispanica for those interested in such things)).

coloniaraum

wien river canalised

Don't let yourself be mislead by the name, so-called Wien river has another etymology than the city of Vienna (German Wien as well).

Anyway, the point is, as you can see, that this river has become canalised completely and even runs sub-terranean for a longer distance (from famous Naschmarkt until this place here in Stadtpark, actually).

I would love to see this part of the river become naturalised - remove all those buildings and gardens of Stadtpark, and let it meander again.

Wien bei Nacht

vienna skyline

vienna again

I'm surprised at myself about how much time I spend recently in the City of Vienna, especially in autumn crocus flowers season.

You must be very impatient about how the autumn crocus flowering develops there. Don't be, you'll have news about this sooner than you might like.

why, that's meant to be like that!!

Everybody knows the situation, don't we? Someone has taken a shot of people but legs or heads are cut off, or a building is all angles and missing the most important and most beautiful parts, or whatever. And the only answer you get when you're asking about this is that of course it was intended like that in the first place.

As, of course, is the case here too. I never meant to take a shot of the buildings, all I wanted was scenery!!

vienna

While there are no autumn crocusses to show I might as well post some impressions of Vienna I wasn't even aware myself more than 48 hours ago.

Yes, this also is Vienna - and this one too:

Those shots have been taken in the shadows of Saint Stephen's Cathedral - and here I am, living in this town for more than ten years already, and I've never been there before ...

café central

Who would have thought that I'd ever enter famous Café Central? I certainly didn't, but with the help of a friend I managed bravely doing so. (No, really! I'm afraid of posh restaurants and cafés.) (And yes, the two letters below indeed stand for the same thing as WC does in English. Why not, you even need them in posh restaurants!)

Don't worry, prices are too small for you to make out on this menu card. And don't worry, the leftovers aren't mine.

Nor is this the friend of mine with whom I went there; this friend of mine actually prefers not being photographed (and I have the courtesy of not posting any photos of her here ;-).

Very well then, so I even enjoyed my first posh-café-visit (not as much as my near-ascent of Rax mountain, mind, but that's another story).

Which of course doesn't necessarily mean that a second one is to follow.

cats and dogs

It's raining them today (cats and dogs, that is). Well, not really of course, only figuratively. This shot was taken yesterday, when it was quite pleasant - not hot at all but still nice, almost like it was a nice autumn day:

What you see here actually are three districts of Vienna - to the left, quayside, you're in the second district of Leopoldstadt, to the right, the white building (called Urania), lies in the first district - the City of Vienna, and in the background, that skyscraper back left and the smaller building to the right, just behind Urania, you're in third district of Landstrasse - which is divided from the first district through Wien river (yes indeed - a river called Vienna!), you should be able to make out the mouth of Wien river.

colour

They're just a good match, colour-wise. No hidden message apart from that.

haas haus

Virtually every tourist visiting Vienna takes a shot of this building. And so did I, while however not being a tourist.

guantanamera

The ephemeral flower you can see in the top-right corner is called "Hungerblümchen" ("hunger flower"), or Draba boerhaavii.

a canadian girl

I didn't have much time for the blog lately as I had to show around a Canadian girl. Sally will be leaving for Italy tomorrow; below are a few impressions, the full set you can find on her flickr page and soon also on her blog.

horsewagon

You still find roads like this in the City of Vienna. But take care, as this sign advises:

In case you don't speak German - here's a translation (and sorry for grammar and weird formulations but that's how the German one happens to be written like ...):

Pedestrian: Mind the Horse-Wagon! - Drive with Walking Speed Only! - Coatchmen of Heavy Freight Wagons are supposed to take their horses by the reins, or else let an adult person walk before the wagons to warn pedestrians off the approaching wagon. - Communicated on 8th of may 1912 by the magistrate department IV. Z. 2050/11.

ringstrasse

Vienna Ringstrasse is famous for its architecture and its boulevards, and for a reason as you can see:

psychoactive

Only on rare occasions I am walking through the city of Vienna as I did today when something quite strange happened to me, in connection with this plant here: Solanum nigrum (Schwarzer Nachtschatten, Black Nightshade or Sunberry):

(Nice one, isn't it? Oh come on, it really is nice ... okay then, I also took pictures of the Greek church, probably you like that better, but I need to emphasise that this story definitely is not babout the Greek church.)

Anyway, so I was standing there (kneeling actually) and photographing this weed when a guy in a tailored suit - a complete stranger of course - asked me wether I know that plant. I answered no, I don't, but I'm determined to find out; I also told him that I'm sure it is a night shadow plant but that I'm not sure about the species.

To my big surprise this guy told me straight that it is Solanus nigrum, and that this species is a very common weed. (He was right on both counts, obviously.)

I thought I've met a botanist (even though that guy didn't look like one at all) but later when I met a friend he told me that Solanum nigrum is well known as a psychoactive plant - and that this other guy most likely wasn't a botanist but most likely was (or is) a consumer of it. I guess I never will try and eat Solanum nigrum to confirm its psychoactive effect, nor do I recommand that any of you does.

And anyway, as I found out, this effect might be close to non-existant depending on where those plants grow: depending on soil, or climate, or whatever - the reasons are not known exactly - this plant may even be eaten like vegetable, without any negative side-effects at all. (And 'negative' side-effects they are even if you appreciate the poison in it as each narcotic eventually will have negative side-effects.)