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These are the views we have on our way to and from school. The cherry trees has started to bloom and I can't wait for them to shed their petals, finally making this the Street of a thousand blossoms.

(Phone camera)

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One of the nearest train station from our place is Floridsdorf. From there it is easy to travel with the U6 line and the Schnellbahn. U6 line is the longest of all 5 lines in Vienna with 24 stops until the other end. The train going to the Vienna airport is accessible here too. Speaking of the airport, well, the flights that has been cancelled due to the volcanic ash crisis are taking longer than the passengers are willing to delay...a friend who has planned her vacation has to wait for a call from the local agency they bought the tickets from...
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From the U6 line, one can also travel until Westbahnhof and from there travel to Berlin and other parts of Europe. Costs and departure information can be found at Öbb.at.

I am not sure if the trains are cancelled too but for those who are stranded, it is not a good idea to travel with taxis. :D We watched yesterday how a CNN reporter stucked in Poland took a cab from there until Berlin, the fare? 2400 Euros! :D
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Anyway, the installation in the photos can be found outside the Floridsdorf station. The kids obviously enjoy being near it. In this same area, there are lots of flyers and newspapers that would be shoved at you, book bazaars are also often held here and sometimes mobile stores selling sausages, sweets, punch, souvenir items can be found here.

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The cherry trees are blooming by the way.

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Taken last week on his way home. He would sometimes go to work by bike and would take photos while on the road. I said last week, that was when he was still feeling ok as this whole week he was so sick because of the allergies that he just stayed home...

These are by the Danube bedside, the Millenium Tower (above) and the Donauturm taken from the Floridsdorfer Brücke and is the same route for tram 31.

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“When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just doing nothing - just sitting and looking at the sea, or watching the wind blowing the tree limbs, or waves rippling on a pond, a flickering candle or children playing in the park?” (Ralph Marston)

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I just did all that and have captured some and showed you here...shared with you the calm I've seen, enough for the whole week! Enjoy!

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Sorry for the recurring theme...I still have loads of shots taken at the Wasserpark, though hopefully I'd have some other theme next week.

I haven't researched if this is part of the man-made lake created some years ago. It was when the area gets flooded that the city decided to divert the waters by excavating a channel called the Neue Donau (New Danube) creating an island in between called the Donauinsel (Danube Island). The New Danube waterway is practically an elongated (swimming) lake, technically a diluvian bed.

The main purpose of the island however is to be part of Vienna's highly sophisticated flood protection system. As the mighty river Danube crosses the town (before major extensions: passed nearby), this had constantly been a concern for hundreds of years. The first remarkable measures were taken in 1870–1875: A central bed, 280 m, was dug out, and an inundation area of 450 m was created at the river's left bank.

In 1970, a new plan was conceived and soon realized: digging an additional diluvian bed to replace the former inundation area, and throwing up the dugout in the remaining strip of land between the straightened bed (as it exists since the 19th century river training) and the newly created one, now being called Neue Donau. As an addendum, the thus created island should eventually be used for recreation. The flood control system is designed to protect from flash floods bringing up to 14,000 m3 per second (which in Vienna's history was recorded once, in 1501; the heavy 2002 flood brought 10,000 m3 per second). It includes the Danube Canal's historic Nußdorf watergate, locks on either end of New Danube, a groundwater level control system integrated into the right bank flood levee (granting appropriate conditions for the large park area Prater, once part of a wide alluvial forest zone), and the new Freudenau river plant's sluice.

The works were started in March 1972 and finished in 1988.The river plant was added from 1992 to 1998. (Wikipedia)


Nowadays, the island serves as a recreation area for both tourists and locals. In June, we have the Donauinsel fest which International artists take part in performing. The island is festive for 3 days with lots of food, rides and other activities. On usual days, it's just pretty and quiet and enjoyed by the likes of me who likes to skywatch and takes photos of flowers and the surrounding.

"Ang litrato ay may halagang sanlibong salita."
(A picture is worth a thousand words.)

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Hi again! The Wasserpark is a park not without people lol. I just happened to take photos both of scenes with people and without them...I'm not too comfortable when they look at me while I take their photos so mostly are stolen shots. (Unless, it's a for portrait shot,I'd personally ask a person.)

A photo that would best define age...especially since the old man is walking over a bridge...what do you think?

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Blue skies, weeping willow and greens...a perfect walk in the park. Today however, rains stopped me from going around the city. I had planned to take a photo of the "photo" I submitted for the contest So schoen ist Wien (mentioned 3 posts earlier). Aside from the book, the photos selected would be posted in different parts of Vienna which was a bit vague to me until yesterday...

I was thankful that a gentle soul posted the billboard photo on facebook so here it is, occupying a part of an advertisement about being a "godmother" to poor kids.

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Where I am is far from the sea, reason enough that seafoods cost a bit higher compared to neighbouring countries surrounded by water. It also follows that seafood restaurants would not be so pocket-friendly for a family of five dine-out nights. There are no beach fun to boast too.

To be near the sea, is a normal wish I have on cold and rainy days. Not only would I want to eat fresh fruits of the sea, I would also enjoy playing sand with the kids, snorkeling and boating with the purpose of taking photos. ;-) To spend a few nights on one of those wonderful Royal Caribbean resorts, especially now that spring sprung and allergies are not a welcome treat. Or maybe to go cruising carribean style!

I bet the kids would enjoy that as well, and it's a good thing that they're not seasick! I have to thank the Vienna transportation line for that! My kids are used to travelling even the farthest distance! ;)

What's so nice about cruising is not the destination itself but the experience of course in the ship itself, the journey that each cruise has to offer. Each nicknamed differently has it's own feature like the Princess Cruises, the Jewel of the Seas, the Cunard Cruises and more. Imagine an ice-skating rink while in the middle of the sea, spas and salon and fitness centers, helping you shape up a little more before landing to a carribean beach. Relax, have the best massage and best facial treatment using natural products. This could also be the best place for a change in over-all look...perhaps a haircut and the perfect glowing skin.

One other feature that caught my curiousity is the rock-wall. I've always wanted to go rock climbing and how better could it get than being in the middle of the sea, enjoying the view as you go on top. Now, I this made me excited...better go save now before the summer!

What are the chances that I'd meet one of Vienna's finest artist personally in another setting? I'm very grateful for the So schoen ist Wien Matinee that I met Asako Hosoki-san and Shingo Okazaki-san. Hosoki-san is an established musician in her own right and was very friendly enough to introduce me to Okazaki-san...a japanese painter who has been living in Vienna for 37 years, he has been a member of many different art schools and art guild in Vienna and also of UNESCO's "International Association of Art."

Wheat and corn are the recurring theme of many of Okazaki-san's paintings. In his works, one can still recognize the hint of Oriental art, combined with the aspects of Austrian art in a noteworthy way. Above photo shows a field interestingly shaded with yellow and green, both ripe and unripe grain perhaps. I browsed through the book that they showed me and also saw stills, mostly of pears, cherries (very real-looking imitations of both I'd say!) and Viennese landscapes and Austrian ruralscapes that simply stated his love for nature. In those scapes, he was very successful in his attempt to portray the world in its smallest parts.

(Austrian President Heinz Fischer and First Lady Margit Fischer)

(Viennese Mayor Dr. Michael Häupl)

I have known Mayor Häupl as Vienna's mayor since I came here 7 years ago. He's been seated since 1994. What I didn't know was he is a man of humor. We were all just having fun at the photo session because he was such a big sport!

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They say in geography, geometry and related sciences and contexts, a direction passing by a given point is vertical if it is locally aligned with the gradient of the gravity field. In general, something that is verticle can be drawn from up to down (and down to up).

So for today's theme, vertical, I'm posting hanging cherry blossoms more commonly known as weeping sakura (shidare zakura). All in their graceful swinging by the lake! Yes, still from the Wasserpark, part of the Japanese wishful thinking I have! (Note; The other and most common/widely seen sakura is called somei yoshino.)

It's given that I admire cherry blossoms, I can't have a hanami as beautiful as the Japanese do but I always enjoy the atmosphere of cheer and excitement around me whenever I get to see these beautiful blooms.

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