Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that really is a bat, or more precisely a fruit bat, hanging on that laundry rack. His name is Banshi and he is being raised by a zookeeper at Schönbrunn after his mother rejected him.
The Schönbrunn Zoo is not only the oldest zoo in Europe, it also often wins prizes for how good it is. One reason is that they have tremendous success with new-born and young animals, as one can see.
The Naschmarkt is the huge and famous open-air fruit and vegetable market near Karlsplatz and it is turning 100. 🙂
Naschmarkt-Fest zum 100-jährigen Jubiläum
https://www.wien.gv.at/freizeit/einkaufen/maerkte/lebensmittel/naschmarkt/fest.html
A day early this year (if Wikipedia is correct). Perhaps our anonymous benefactor has to be out of town tomorrow?
(Antonio Vivaldi died in Vienna on 28 July 1741, 275 years ago.)
Almost 28 years in Vienna and this is the first time I have made it to the:
http://www.seefestspiele-moerbisch.at/
And yet it is worth the trip. It’s fun, especially for German speakers, colorful, and a good opportunity for a picnic on the lake. We enjoyed especially the costumes, staging, and enthusiasm of the performers–and the (for us) unexpected fireworks at the end. If I had known that Blaguss lays on a comfortable, air-conditioned bus with a friendly and competent driver, I would have come years ago. That makes the whole thing truly carefree.
Actually, we are not supposed to have a rainy season, but the weather the last few days reminds me of the weather in Kyoto, where I lived for one year many, many years ago. It’s uncharacteristically humid, and at 4 or 5 o’clock every afternoon we have a flash flood, which sadly does nothing to clear the air. I’m afraid I might start growing mold soon!
The weather has been beautiful and the last three weeks I have celebrated the end of the work week by going on picnics with friends. The first Friday we met in Neustift and picnicked in the vineyards. Last week we chose the Votivpark and sat around the Vivaldi monument. Today we went to Türkenschanzpark where we sat next to a pond and were treated to not only ducks and crows but this creature as well–a gray heron, ladies and gentlemen, in the middle of the city!
This is the Old General Hospital in Vienna’s 9th district, otherwise known as “das alte AKH,” which now houses large parts of the University of Vienna on a proper campus. (The University used to be a collection of buildings scattered around the 9th district with no special greenery or places for students to gather for fun.) Somehow this photo captures several aspects of the campus. The statue is from its former life as Vienna’s general hospital and depicts Dr. Theodor Billroth, pioneer in the world of surgery. The greenery shows Austria’s investment in making their students’ lives more pleasant. (Higher education is tuition-free here.) The advertising for Radio Arabella, a commercial radio station housed on campus, stands for the efforts to make the campus a meeting place for students and other groups as well as the attempts to pay for the education system. 😉 The graffiti on the planters recalls us to the core purpose of any university (I hope Donald Trump is paying attention). What we cannot see is the series of screens set up throughout the area so that people can gather and watch the European Cup soccer at “public viewings”. Oh, and have I mentioned that, with nine courtyards (not all as big as this), it is a wonderful place for a walk?
The scent of the lime trees this year is overwhelming, perhaps because we are having more humid weather than usual. Anyway, amazing and a treat.
As May 1st, today is European Labor Day. You may have noticed that it is also a Sunday. And so it came to pass that shortly after the brass bands of the Social Democrats had gone down the street (a party that traditionally rejects religion as the opium of the people) the church bells rang out calling the faithful to 10 o’clock mass. Vienna’s multiple faces …
It’s even worse than I feared–Hofer (FPÖ) is way ahead. The next two candidates after him each have only slightly more than half as many votes as he does. At least there is another election to come.
ecbinvienna 