My head still aches when I look at this photo. It's the time of the year when most products are on sale. They may be inventory products but still, it is worth looking out for furnitures, kitchen and bathroom ideas or "klumpert" to better your home. Betterbathrooms is offering such sale now! They have a wide range of bathroom suites, shower enclosures, shower trays, mirrors and storage cabinets. 

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Matthew 25:14-30 (Amplified Bible)

14For it is like a man who was about to take a long journey, and he called his servants together and entrusted them with his property.
15To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one--to each in proportion to his own [a]personal ability. Then he departed and left the country.
16He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he gained five talents more.
17And likewise he who had received the two talents--he also gained two talents more.
18But he who had received the one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
19Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
20And he who had received the five talents came and brought him five more, saying, Master, you entrusted to me five talents; see, here I have gained five talents more.
21His master said to him, Well done, you uprightand faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy which your master enjoys.
22And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, Master, you entrusted two talents to me; here I have gained two talents more.
23His master said to him, Well done, you upright (honorable, [d]admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the [e]blessedness) which your master enjoys.
24He who had received one talent also came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a harsh and hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you had not winnowed [the grain].
25So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is your own.
26But his master answered him, You wicked and lazy and idle servant! Did you indeed know that I reap where I have not sowed and gather [grain] where I have not winnowed?
27Then you should have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received what was my own with interest.
28So take the talent away from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.
29For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will be [f]furnished richly so that he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.
30And throw the good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

A furniture display at the city center at night. This photo was taken while my daughter and I were walking to the Mozarthaus during the long nights at the museum. (The glass window seems invisible no? )

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The weather could be deceiving....From inside our house looking out it seems cold because the skies are gray. We had planned to take a walk by the Danube last Saturday and watch a film later so I got the kids into jackets and a sweater too! We arrived by the island and the sun was shining happily...so off they took the jackets and left them under a tree. :)

The Danube river has always appeared blue whenever I take pictures of it save for those times that it's frozen and covered with snow. I've always loved the hue of this river. Ironically, it also makes me feel blue being a foreigner in this land.Yesterday, I wrote about the red party, SPÖ, today I pertain to the opposition FPÖ (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, Freedom Party of Austria). FPÖ is defined as a right-wing political party and has political elements of both liberalism and nationalism. The party aims for the betterment of locals which in a way is a good thing. However, this betterment, for them is attainable by being hostile (this is too strong a word) to foreigners. In truth though, the party is not against all foreigners because during the campaign for the recent elections, slogans tend to be an attack against a belief system, that of the Muslims...sounds familiar? Well, 65 or more years ago, from this same country, there was a man  who was hostile towards the Jews...is it surprising that he left his ideology behind? And as if being sarcastic to that ideology, the  photos and posters of the party leader's blue eyes are always photoshopped...I mean accentuated.

I don't generalize the people of Austria as being one in this thought, there are a lot who tolerate us, foreigners. It's just that the thinking of such politicians are easily passed on to adults and kids alike. There are locals who do not share their sentiments but it still saddens me that a lot of them do.


Foreigners who migrate (in other countries too whose language is different from theirs) surely has difficulties of integrating. That should not hinder though the process, even if it takes years. When I came here, I always hold a Philippine hero's words  by heart "to learn the language of the country you're going to is the first thing that you should do." However, he also said that ;"He who does not love his own mother tongue is worse than a rotten fish." For this, my family became multi-lingual.It was not easy at first, I learned the language myself because then I had 2 kids to take care of. I had my share of hostility then too...a doctor's assistant "barked" at me and said that I should learn the language...in my broken German I said: "I plan to but I just can't do it now, having two kids in tow." So I learned and now I can talk straight to her. Still, her eyes are cold as always.

Now, what has this got to do with the topic above? Not all foreigners are willing to learn the language and integrate...even for being here 10 or more years, they haven't had the initiative to do so, for what reason? Well, I don't know.This is what set the ire of others aflame...understandable though...Hispanics learn English when they migrate to the US. Koreans learn Tagalog/English when they want to live in the Philippines, Filipinos learn Korean when they migrate to Korea and so on...it's the person who has to adapt to the culture and the system not the other way around but not doing so does not give the locals a ground for hating.

P.S.Last week's toxic sludge spill  that damaged the Danube is in part that of Hungary. It is a sad incident that led to the death of four and destruction of many homes in Kolontar. Here are hopes that the spill gets contained and do not contaminate any further the Danube River in other countries.

Wien ist anders. This has been the slogan that the city has lived with through the years. In many ways this is true. Vienna as a city is different when it comes to childcare policies, family support, cleanliness maintenance, transportation system and a lot more. This is after all the city named this year's number 1 for having the best quality of life of any city in the world.

Red is the color of the Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (Social Democratic Party of Austria), one of the oldest party in Austria dating back to the post-war era. (More about them soon, the elections were held last Sunday and I had long wanted to write something about it.) Above, you can see a campaign poster of the Mayor of Vienna, Michael Haüpl. I didn't realize that it was caught in the picture until I was looking for today's post. This is the old tram that was used for the long nights at the museum, open doors and wooden interiors differentiate it from the trams of today.

As mentioned last post, Saturday was the yearly Lange Nacht der Museen in Austria (Long night of the museums). Now on its 11th year, there were over 650 participating museums...the number grew through the years. The event starts at 6pm and ends at 1 am, you pay 13 Euros for your pass which serves as a bus ticket and entrance ticket for all museums, special prices of 11 or less for students, handicapped and senior citizens...while kids below 12 (born October 1 ,1998 onwards) are free!

For a total of 7 hours how many can you visit?

My 9-year-old daughter and I only managed to visit 7 because we started at 7pm and ended at 11:30 but hey, 7 museums for 13 euros, cheap and really worth it. It was not a good idea buying the ticket on the day itself though. I should have reserved at least the day before.

There were buses number 1 to 5 from the startpoint (below post) that take a specific route to drop visitors to different museums. If one is adept with the train routes then it's easier to travel because the buses are full and take longer too. 

Now, I wouldn't feature the museums according to sequence, I just happen to pick Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's house for today. This was actually our last stop for the night. The Mozarthaus is located at the back of the Stephansdom at the city center and a 5-minute-walk from the trainline U1 Stephansplatz.

The building houses a cafe  and a souvenir shop on the groundfloor and the first floor extension, respectively. The first floor is the apartment where Mozart and his family lived with its original division. There were only speculations as to where the actual kitchen, workroom, living room and bedroom could have been...the building stood since the 17th century afterall. Mozart lived here from 1784 to 1787, the first floor was opened to the public in 1941, 150 years after his death. The whole building was then opened as a centre dedicated to the musician/composer's life and works in 2006, on his 250th death anniversary. The third and fourth floors exhibit letters, photos and other mementos of Mozart's friends and colleagues as well as a 3d presentation of the Magic Flute.

I knew for sure that photos would be prohibited but I saw a woman taking shots so I took 3 at most hurriedly and was soon told by an attendant not to. :D (The other woman got lots though lol.) Apart from a portrait of Mozart painted by a friend and the stairs photo above, this is the other one, a red and a black coat/tunic (I'm lost as to what this is in English) the composer wore.

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