I found myself early-ish this morning, about 20 minutes on foot from Stephansplatz, the heart of the city, walking along in peace and quiet with a thrush singing from a rooftop on my right and a dove cooing in the park on my left. My heart sang along.
Tag Archives: parks
New park benches
11 JunThis was the sight that greeted me this morning on Maylo’s walk:
And true to form I was immediately a bit sad at the passing of the old benches and contemplative about what the change really means. Some may say that I’m reading too much into it, but I see the new style of bench as a response to two not very positive changes in Vienna over the last five years or so.
Change #1: A year or two ago I noticed that benches were disappearing from the parks. My assumption is that they were being stolen (they usually disappeared overnight) and that the new benches are a countermeasure. Understandable.
Change #2: There are more and more (homeless) people sleeping in the parks. The Austrian social system used to provide so well that you saw very few. All kinds of factors–including budget cuts and immigration–are contributing to a larger population of homeless. It may not be so visible in the photo, but the new benches are quite a bit shorter than the old benches. This, of course, makes it harder for people to sleep on them. I have very mixed feelings about that.
When changes like this come I think about the movie “You’ve Got Mail”, specifically the scene where Kathleen Kelly’s bookstore has finally succumbed to the Fox Books megastore and she is waxing philosophical about it. She says something like, “Some people would say it is an tribute to the greatness of this city, how it keeps reinventing itself, but the truth is my heart is broken. Something I loved is gone and no one can ever make it right.”
Early June in the park
2 JunSweetness in the air
Tantalizing our senses
The linden blossoms
For more on linden trees in Vienna.
Behind-the-scenes Vienna
3 JunI caught the behind-the-scenes Vienna this morning, taking Mylo out for his walk. A few steps out of our house we passed a street cleaner in his bright orange uniform using an elaborate, clawed implement to pick up trash from the sidewalk and gutter. Upon seeing Mylo he gave us a big smile and said “Guten Morgen!”–a good start to the morning, indeed. Then, in the park, we saw the little (electric?) truck going along, one man driving and the other one walking along emptying the contents of the trash bins–considerable at this time of year as picnic season has begun–into the back of the truck. So that is why Vienna looks so clean. There is a crew backstage setting the scene just so.
The Easter weekend is coming
17 AprAnd Mylo and I took advantage of the fact that many people (e.g., clients) are out of town to go for a walk in Türkenschanz Park this afternoon. Here is some of what we saw.
Windy
16 MarVienna is not its usual tidy self today. We are experiencing high winds (someone said gusts up to 100 km) today, and a lot of the trash that was in the bins is now all over the streets and parks, stuck in bushes, soaking in puddles from yesterday’s rain, and flying around. I saw one thin plastic bag floating through the air like a beautiful, exotic butterfly.
Seems like a good day for a visit to one of Vienna’s English-language cinemas!
Early spring in Vienna
9 MarBeautiful early spring weather here–sun, gentle blue sky, cool temperatures and hardly any wind. Mylo and I had a lovely walk before breakfast.
Fall weather
23 OctWe are finally experiencing some perfect fall weather and I get to enjoy it in spite of an unusually heavy work load at the moment because Mylo, of course, still needs to be walked. The photo of the canopy of golden trees with the golden carpet under foot was taken yesterday at the Votivkirche. The other photo was taken today at the Donaukanal. Long live the autumn!
Spring comes to Vienna?
8 AprLike many places, winter has been longer and snowier here this year than other years, but finally there are some really encouraging signs that early spring has arrived. Below forsythia in one of Vienna’s parks. (Never mind that we would normally see this the end of February or so!)
ecbinvienna 