A Walk in the Vienna Woods

Covering the hills north and west of Vienna are the Vienna Woods, celebrated in the Strauss waltz, Tales from the Vienna Woods. A city employee once told me that this large forest contributes to Vienna’s high ranking in surveys of most livable cities, helping Vienna attain an amazing total green space of nearly 50%. The Mercer Group ranked Vienna the top city in its Quality of Living Survey for 2009. I have never seen the woods looking more colorful than yesterday. An early morning shower left the tree trunks looking deep black, creating an unusual contrast to the bright leaves.

Notice the rainbow of leaves on the path. Brown, orange, green and even shades of pink!

“Two paths diverged in a wood....” Robert Frost would have liked this spot!

By the way, did you know Mark Twain and his family lived in a village in the Vienna Woods for several months?

Just on the edge of the Vienna Woods we had to pause for what we thought would be a Viennese answer to the old riddle: Why did the chicken cross the road? Ah ha! To follow the rooster! Only just about here she chickened out, perhaps decided it wasn’t wise to be in the street just now so she turned around and went back! The conundrum continues....

An Afternoon Walk

The weather is rather chilly and drizzling today—a good day to hibernate! Still, here’s a record of some of the sights on my simple afternoon walk. It’s unusual to see separate houses in the older parts of Vienna. I think this one is especially appealing.

The buildings on this street I would guess date from the 1700s. Note the old arched doorway where horse-drawn carriages used to pass through to the central courtyard.

The Palais des Beaux Arts with it’s fabulous stucco scrollwork. Judging from the large sign that says 1912, I’d guess that was when it was built. It now houses several businesses, apartments and embassies.

One of the old No. 2 trams on Vienna’s fabulous Ringstrasse, one of the world's most beautiful avenues.

I happened to walk past a wig shop but as I caught a glimpse of this wig out of the corner of my eye I had to stop and look again. I guess it's for when you are in that Mozart kind of mood. Only in Vienna!

Some elegant glass doors also caught my eye. Gosh, the days are short now. It’s getting quite dark by 4:30!

Christmas decorations are starting to appear.

The Clever Tchibo Concept

The German-owned Tchibo (pronounced something like chee-bo) stores in Vienna (and throughout much of Europe) have the most amazing retail concept. On busy shopping streets there is a Tchibo or Eduscho store (they sell the same things) about every two blocks and they all seem to be thriving. They must be doing something right because they are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and the Viennese seem to love them. They are fundamentally coffee stores where you can select whatever blend you want and have it ground right there. OK, so that part is maybe not so amazing.

Every Thursday you’ll see a crowd of people huddled around the Tchibo store windows. That’s because every Thursday the store has very different merchandise tied to a new theme. One week you’ll find kid’s clothing, another week decorative items for the house with, say a Tahitian flair, another will have Italian cooking apparatus, or ski clothes, or picnic ware, or jewelry, or gardening supplies, or cute cleaning supplies or just about anything. It becomes a different store every week.

If you see something you like you don’t have much time to think about whether you really need it because next week it will be gone. Gone with no rainchecks, no back orders, no nothing. Gone. But don’t worry, next week there will be something different you can’t live without. Tchibo’s stuff—and their windows—are as addictive as their coffee.

This Tchibo store is in the 70s block of Landstrasser Hauptstrasse:

And another is just three and a half blocks away on the same street.

And this Eduscho, which sells the same things, is one and a half blocks from the last one on the same street.

All three stores are within six blocks, all are on the same side of the street and all seem to be doing a booming business. In this economy, that’s amazing.

Abstract Airport Impressions

I love digital cameras! Because creating a digital photo is so inexpensive, these cameras give me a sense of photographic freedom and fearlessness I never experienced with film. One particularly bumpy bus ride to Vienna International Airport, along with some of my own exaggerated movements, resulted in some abstract patterns that make me laugh.

This last one looks like musical notes. How appropriate for a musical city like Vienna. I wonder what this image would sound like....Any musicians out there? We wont be calling any aliens, will we? (Remember the movie, Close Encounters?)

Friendly Reminder to Plant Spring Bulbs!

Sometimes planning ahead results in a happy surprise. For many of us in the Northern Hemisphere, early November is a good time to plant bulbs for our spring gardens. So, if you want your garden to look like this...

or this...

or even this...

...let this be your friendly reminder that now is the time to follow lead of the Dutch Masters (the gardening kind) at Keukenhof Gardens and get planning and planting! You and your neighbors will be so glad you did next April. And as you know, if all goes well, the bulbs you plant now will produce an increasing number of flowers every year. Ahhh.