Vienna: Signs of spring

“Life in the World is but a big dream;
I will not spoil it by any labour or care.”
So saying, I was drunk all the day,
Lying helpless at the porch in front of my door.
When I woke up, I blinked at the garden-lawn;
A lonely bird was singing amid the flowers.
I asked myself, had the day been wet or fine?
The Spring wind was telling the mango-bird.
Moved by its song I soon began to sigh,
And as wine was there I filled my own cup.
Wildly singing I waited for the moon to rise;
When my song was over, all my senses had gone.

Li Po, Waking from Drunkenness on a Spring Day

 (trans. Arthur Waley, 1919)

Naschmarkt Flea market [whatever happened to Pop art]

“Flea-Market vendors are frozen mid-haggle. Middle-aged women are frozen in the middle of their lives. The gavels of frozen judges are frozen between guilt and innocence. On the ground are the crystals of the frozen first breaths of babies, and those of the last gasps of the dying.”
( Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close )

If you’re a treasure hunter, an antiques enthusiast or if you’re just looking for something but you have no idea what exactly, explore one of the best flea markets in Europe: Flohmarkt (the german word for “flea market”). Surrounded by beautiful Art Nouveau buildings, it’s situated near the Naschmarkt.

Every Saturday, you can wander around in search of old furniture, books, vintage clothes, paintings, vinyl records, ancient electrical goods, old postcards, ornaments, carpets and…magnificent junk.

It’s a marvelous place…and haunting at the same time. It makes your heart beat faster as you might have the feeling of traveling back in time.

The display of objects is quite unique, as you’ll see in the photos I’ve taken, and through the gazing eyes of the art dealers, your senses can be awakened!

Je vous invite! :)

De sezon...

Vienna: Café Museum & piano music

One of my personal Vienna "musts" was to enjoy the piano music in a café, especially on a Friday afternoon, when you're half dead and half glad that you're somehow alive, in the back of your head.

Café Museum is one of them (Click here to see the others). It was opened in 1899 by Ferdinand Rainer and it's ideal location (near the Academy of Fine Arts, the Vienna State Opera Theater on the Vienna river and the Viennese Music Association) attracted many artists, such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.

The architect Adolf Loos was commissioned to design the interior of the café. He went against the typical overly ornate style of those times and chose a simplistic one, which he later referred to in his essay: “Ornament and crime”.  

Enjoy the pics, and don't forget that the real thing is far more magical!