A Pair of Silly Buggers

Another little something to brighten your days:

The parents Skyped me today with a phone problem. My suggestion was that they ring each other. Who knew that the noises that result from a phone call with two phones within a metre of each other could result in such amusement? The Parents are rather brilliant but this just goes to show that old people + technology = hilarious consequences.

The Happy Street Performer

There are many millions of people in the world who need cheering up, particularly at the moment. I only wish that they could see the street performer who was on the Graben yesterday. He is sure to brighten up the darkest of days. Here are a few photos. As you can see, he is a man of many talents.

He could also throw the bottle up, make it spin 360 degrees and catch it on his spoon.

I was left wondering, as I often am when I see people with strange talents, how do you discover you can do these things. I mean, can anyone juggle with three balls and an umbrella?

This next one was by far the most impressive:

and it got even better when he played "Oh Susanna" on the clarinet. TWO VERSES!

Towards the end of the second verse it got really windy so he had to stop. But he did the cutest little laugh and carried on with his next trick:

Sadly the wind prevented the fourth egg from being balanced but it was still very impressive. Then came the grand finale:

It's a shame he didn't do more, he had a lot of props that we didn't see him use (including a trumpet and about six tennis racquets) I have never seen a street performer receive such a positive reaction, he even managed to put a smile on the faces of the grumpy Wieners! Mr Man, I salute you!

Jugendstil Loveliness and other things

Here are the results of a day of wandering from a couple of weeks ago. For some reason I forgot to put the pictures up, so here they are now.

Kettenbrückengasse U Bahn station can only mean one thing; the Naschmarkt. Because of this I think it is my favourite stop.

The Majolikahaus is on the Wienzeile by the side of the market and it is ever so pretty, especially in the sun.

I am not sure what this one is called but it is also Otto Wagner and so I automatically love it. Lots and lots of lovely gold.

I love the shouting girl on the top but I wish a bird hadn't pooed on her.

I think somehow these stickers must have got to the Middle East and that is why loads of crazy stuff has been going on recently:

It must be spring because every florist is selling pussy willow. One of the lovely things about the Austrians is that they decorate their houses all year round, not just for Christmas.

Another of my favourite buildings in Wienna- the Secession. Inside is a Klimt painting. I went to see it when I first visited Wienna. All I can remember is that it has got something to do with Beethoven and there is an angry looking gorilla on it. Also, the gift shop was very good.

Lovely lovely gold:

Lovely lovely Jugendstil:

Almost every chemist's has a clock on the sign. Why, I will never know. It's weird but I kind of like it.

The Otto Wagner pavillions by Karlsplatz are really famous.

Good thing too, because they are super pretty. Gold and sunflowers, it doesn't get much better than that!

I am not sure how but I think this is the first picture I have ever posted of Stephansplatz which is a bit crazy because I have thousands of pictures of it. It's like the Eiffel Tower of Wienna (in terms of being a major tourist attraction, not how it looks OBVIOUSLY)

The clock at Hoher Markt is Jugendstil too. Apparently there are figures that dance at midday but I have not seen it yet. One day I will make sure I am in the area at the right time.

Oh yes, and I went to the Leopold Museum:

It was quite good, but I did not appreciate the feminist weird stuff. I think I am being followed by it. The Klimt and Kolo Moser stuff was nice though, as was the view from the top:

No more for now, goodbye!

Looking Up...

... and down, and all around actually. Another day off, another wander round with my camera. The day started off well with some very good advice from a graffiti artist:

Spring is truly here. I knew this the other day because all the cafes have got their tables and chairs outside, but today the weather actually confirmed it. It was something crazy like 14 degrees. I wore a coat but probably didn't really need to. Anyway, my walk... first I went past the Urania. Not sure what this was originally, it's a cinema now. I like to think it had something to do with space. I am not sure why I have never taken a picture of it before, because it is about 3 minutes from my flat.

I then continues on my travels to find a building I have been looking for since before Christmas. I have been on several expeditions to find it before but never actually got there until today.

The Holy Grail of Viennese Jugendstil; the Postsparkasse. I am a big fan. Could post millions of photos of it but I will resist.

Inside was also very impressive. There was nobody in there really, apart from a very rude man. I said hello to him, as if to check that it was OK for me to take photos but he just scowled at me. One of my students the other day described the Wieners as the "aller grantigste Menschen der Welt" (most grumpy people in the world) and he is so right.

Further wanderings took me to the oldest part of Wienna. I think it is medieval or something. This is where the pub that the Lieber Augustin used to drink in. He is the one who during the plague got so drunk he fell onto a pile of bodies and was taken away. He is something of a drinking legend.

I came across a beautiful church with lots of gold, I think it was a Greek Orthodox church but I am not exactly sure.

Every time I get the tram home from tutoring on a Monday I see this tower and wonder what/where it is. Now I have found out where it is and I think it is called the Maria am Gestade.

There was a lot more Jugendstil loveliness along the way. Just so you know, today I have taken nearly 300 photos but am not going to put them all up because you would be INCREDIBLY BORRRRRRED.

Another place I had heard of but never been to was Freyung. It is a lovely square:

with a lovely fountain. This is when the sun started to come out for real.

This is inside the Palais Ferstel which is right next to Cafe Central, my all time favourite place in Wienna. How it took me until now to discover these delights, I will never know.

Some people criticise those who take a lot of photographs for seeing everything through the viewfinder rather than actually appreciating places. I think this is a load of pish and tosh, because if I weren't looking at things to photograph I would miss so much. Like these lovely dragons on the lamps outside the Palais Ferstel:

I have been pondering as I have walked (because I forgot to charge my iPod) and I was struck by the number of old people in Austria. There are actually thousands of them EVERYWHERE. What I don't understand is how this is possible, given that about 95% of them smoke!

The other day (8th March I think) was International Women's Day. So, as a special treat, this lovely statue that I came across at a market was reduced to only 450€. It reminded me a lot of the leg lamp from A Christmas Story.

There was a lovely sweet/chocolate shop near Am Hof. There were all sorts of marzipan delicacies but the hedgehogs were the most impressive. Before I leave I am going to buy a marzipan semmel and wurst and have a marzipan feast!

After a while I ended up back on familiar ground, here is the Peterskirche, just of the Graben:

There were loads of street performers, but my favourite was the Asian Mozart:

See, here is a lovely bit of sign that I would probably never have seen if I didn't have my eyes peeled for photos:

I feel that I was deprived as a child. Or perhaps I was blessed that nobody was stupid enough to spend 79€ on a t shirt this hideous for me:

Last one, I promise... just goes to show that everything looks better when it's covered in Swarovski crystals.

Goodbye dears, no doubt I will bore you with more pictures and ramblings before long!

PS: I am sending nice thoughts to the people of Japan. Luckily Mr Boring was far away from all the drama.