Rote Hüpfburg (Red Bouncing Castle)

Still at the Praterallee, one that the kids won't miss out on is this inflatable castle where they'd jump around with so much energy.

One of the other minor sponsors of the event was Eskimo, perhaps more familiar to you as Selecta. They have tent stations for kids to do artwork, play stations for bubbles, basket-sponge, hula hoops and more.

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The races include Frauenlauf (women's run), Männerlauf (men's race/run) and Kinderlauf (Kids' race) which are held on different Saturdays scheduled alternately. Kinderlauf was also majorly sponsored by Urlaub am Bauernhof. I had planned on running this year but forgot to register. :D

(More redness on Vienna Daily's companion blog....)

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Race and Games Weekend

Saturday was a fun family day out for us and a family friend. Our kids participated in a race sponsored by DM (Drogerie Markt). Since the race would be held in the afternoon we played other games in the morning where the two boys participated in as well. There were also drawing booths for them and other contests where they get lots of freebies.

(My daughter, the smallest runner for girls between 8-9 years category, at the 700m dash)
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The boys and my friend's daughter at the coloring booth.

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Vienna as best City!

Vienna, the Austrian capital renowned for its music and architecture, has the best quality of life of any city in the world, according to results of a survey released Wednesday.

The Viennese ranked number one among 221 cities surveyed by Mercer, a London-based investment services company owned by Marsh and McLennan Cos. (MMC, Fortune 500) Vienna was followed closely by two Swiss cities: Zurich and Geneva.

The survey considered such matters as political stability, crime, economy, personal freedom, health services, sewage, air pollution, schools, public utilities, transportation, housing and climate. It also took into account the cities' restaurants, theaters, sports, availability of consumer goods and record of natural disasters.

Vienna lauded the survey results on its official Website, saying "A fact that makes millions of visitors to Vienna so enthusiastic has again been confirmed by a well-known international city survey: Vienna's the best in every way!!!"

The U.S. failed to make the list of the top 10 most livable cities, which included the Canadian city of Vancouver, Auckland in New Zealand, the German cities of Dusseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt, the Swiss city of Bern, and also Sydney, the largest city in Australia.

Honolulu was the top U.S. city, at number 31, followed by San Francisco at 33 and Boston at 37.

At the bottom of the scale was Baghdad, where gun battles, terrorist attacks and kidnappings have become routine since U.S. and coalition troops invaded in 2003. The survey said that a "lack of security and stability" has created unlivable conditions in the Iraqi capital.

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Lifted from http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/26/news/international/greatest_cities_to_live/index.htm?cnn=yes&hpt=Sbin

For more wonderful sky photos around the world, visit:

Spring in full bloom

Pardon that I'm reusing my photos...you might have seen some of these in my other blog...

White cherry blossoms


Pink cherry blossoms on grass

Lila and white tulips

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Pond

I think we need to make the ponds around here more habitable to fishes not tadpoles...lol

There's an ongoing contest Mit Ihrer Idee Wien verschönern! (Beautify Vienna with you idea) sponsored by the newspaper, Heute and Kärcher cleaning systems...participants are called to submit their photos of a particular area or objects than needs cleaning or renovation. This pond at the 21st district is a good candidate but rules state that the area should be at the first dictrict...

Well then, it's a good challenge enough for me...I have a really good idea where to take photos (wink*) and will all show you soon. Happy weekend to you all!

Edit: winter maintenance would be a problem for the fishes even though Kois are winterproof (thanks Hilda for reminding me that)...so flowers and a bit cleaner water would be nice....)

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Gute Nacht Vienna...

A typical view at night from our balcony, apartments lit up at 9 in the evening...the upper half of this photo is of course, the moon peeking out.

For more wonderful sky photos around the world, visit:

Lawn daisies, dandelions

One of the not so many things the kids do in agreement is plucking flowers. :D

It's spring but with a wonderful feel of summer.

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Theme Day - May -Statues

Alfred Hrdlicka's Mahnmal gegen Krieg und Faschismus, 1986

(MEMORIAL AGAINST WAR AND FASCISM)

A monument by Alfred Hrdlicka for the victims of the Second World War and the Nazi regime in Austria (1938-45) Situated in the square behind the State Opera and in front of the Albertina.

Hrdlicka was an Austrian sculptor, draughtsman, painter and artist. He was originally a dental technician student from 1943 to 1945, he studied painting until 1952 at the Akademie der bildenden Künste under Albert Paris Gütersloh and Josef Dobrowsky. Afterwards he studied sculpture until 1957 under Fritz Wotruba. In 1960 he had his first exhibition in Vienna; in 1964 he attained international recognition as a representative of Austria in the architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. He died recently, on 5 December 2009 due to a prolonged illness at age 81.

The split white monument, The Gates of Violence, remembers victims of all wars and violence, including the 1938–1945 Nazi rule of Austria. Standing directly in front of it, you're at the gates of a concentration camp...step into a montage of wartime images: soldiers, blood, slave laborers, bombings and ruins everywhere.

The hunched-over figure on the ground behind is a representation of Jews during the era. This piece caused an uproar sometime after the installation was presented prompting the government to commission another memorial, that of British Rachel Whiteread's Holocaust Memorial at the Judenplatz (2000).

The installation seem a common statue when you look at it but the impact will hit you when you realize this monument stands on the very same spot where several hundred people hiding in a cellar got buried alive when it was demolished in a WWII bombing attack.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

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