Sing us a song, you're the Falafel Man...

I am now in possession of photos of my favourite man in the whole of Vienna. So here they are, courtesy of Granny and Grandad, the long awaited homage to FALAFEL MAN:

I have tried falafel from at least 5 stalls on the Naschmarkt and his is without doubt the best. And it is only €2.50. He is the most friendly man ever, he always talks to me and we have proper conversations. I often get a free falafel while I am waiting and the other day he gave my Grandparents some fruit as a present. Not a lot to say other than that I love him more than anything in Vienna! That is all.

All these things that I've done

Hello again. It seems that after a relatively long absence, I am back with an abundance of things to say!None of it useful of course, but here we go...

I was walking from school to the tram the other week and saw THIS:

It took me back to the Good Old Days. I wish it was 2009 and I lived in Bischofshofen with all my fellow ApresSchi fans and I had friends and places to go at the weekends and and and... aaah anyway, here is a marvellous video to cheer everyone up. I <3 Matthias Reim

 The Austrians are mad keen on noodles, it seems like every 10 metres there is a noodle shop. One, Mr Lee, is a big chain. This is their logo:

 Maybe a little on the racist side, no?

On Monday I decided to do a bit more culture. I do not need to tell you that I chose Monday because that day the Kunst Haus Wien is half price, but I am honest, so I will. Another deciding factor is that it is two doors down from my house. As I have mentioned before, I am a fan of Hundertwasser. Here are a couple of pictures of the museum. They are not even the exhibits!

 Even the toilets were cool!

It was good, though I am a bit annoyed that when I got there I was not really in an arty mood so I didn't pay that much attention. The HR Giger (man who created Alien) was really good and very Doctor Who-esque but I was preoccupied with what to have for lunch so maybe I will have to go back another day. I did enjoy the gift shop though, I got some nice shiny postcards and some lovely writing paper. I am a sucker for a bit of pretty stationery!
I think that is enough rambling for one night. And besides, it is 22.11, and that is officially late enough to go to bed!

When Granny and Grandad came to stay

It is a truth universally acknowledged that no matter where you live, it always looks better when you are showing someone around. Well, that's what I think anyway. I like Wienna so much more when I have visitors and don't just have to do boring Grown Up stuff. I think that I am an Eternal Tourist. Some people hate being considered a tourist and want to blend in with the locals but I think it is brilliant, it means things never get boring.

After a brief stop at the hotel, which was right on the Naschmarkt, we set of on the first route march of the week. Nothing that I haven't seen before, but I was still annoyed not to have taken my camera. So we went back round again the next day.

The opera house is far too big to fit on one photograph, so I am still content to take pictures of all the little details:

Granny, on the other hand seemed to take pictures of anything and everything.

For the first time ever there was nothing taking place on Rathausplatz. I have never ever seen that before. It was kind of strange.

Somehow the Parlament has always escaped my photographic grasp... until now:

Whistling Mozart was out again for all to enjoy. Apart from the Chinese man the other weekend he is by far the best street performer.

The Hofburg was looking resplendent in the sunshine. It was warm enough to not need a coat, which can surely only be a sign that things are looking up.

One day I am going to save up and treat myself to something beautiful from the marzipan shop near Am Hof because it all looks so brilliant.

Another set of visitors, another trip to Cafe Central. This time I went for the Schwarzwälderkirschtorte. Mmmmm mmmmmmmmm:

If I knew where the shop was that sold these, I would buy them for my favourite Tommy Coopin/Cooper impersonator/fan (you know who you are)

The Donau was looking all pretty and sparkly in the sun:

And sunset is definitely the best time for a trip on the Riesenrad.

Not bad, ehhhhhh?

There are millions of faces all around Vienna (I could write a whole blog about them!) but this has got to be my favourite. It reminds me of so many people and so many classic photo faces:

Dudu luh dudu luh dudu luh duh duh, dudu luh dudu luh dudu luh duh duh, dudu luh duh duh, duh duh, duh duh dudu luh du du du du. That is the only clue you are getting to work out who the man on this horse is:

Apparently the Anker Uhr is supposed to do something exciting. I will believe it when I see it.

A sunset picnic at Schönbrunn? Laaahvley dahling!

Karlsplatz might be a bit dodgy at night but in the morning sun it does not look too shabby:

And after a long winter absence, the Henry Moore sculpture is back! 

You know Spring is finally here when the fountain at Am Heumarkt is back on. Hurrah!

Spring has sprung... and the primroses have been planted:

My visitors were very impressed with everything, though getting them to stand close enough together for me to take a picture was a bit of an effort. Anyone would think they don't even know each other!

I think they really enjoyed eating falafel from Falafel Man by the underground tracks. In fact they enjoyed it so much we did it twice!

The visit was over all too soon, and after 4 days of route marching everyone was absolutely shattered, but there was just time for a piece of Sachertorte and a last photograph of the Hofburg.

So yes, all in all it was a lovely visit. Now I am counting down the days until my next arrival!

Hello, is it me you're looking for?

Hello again. Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. To be honest, nothing particularly bloggable has happened. I have listened to this song a lot:.

It actually sums up how I am currently feeling about Vienna pretty well. I like the city a lot, but living here is just such a drag. I've never really paid much attention to where I live before, but that is probably because I have never needed to. I know that in the grand scheme of things I am very lucky to have somewhere to live at all and there are many millions of people worse off than me in the world. But everything is relative...

Anyway, enough of all that boring me me me stuff, here are some photos that I have taken in recent weeks: