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I have been remiss...

...in my blog duties, as you may well have noticed. We've had good weather, followed by bad weather, followed by heavenly weather.

The worst is the bad weather that follows the good weather. Just when you're getting excited and into Spring mode, a cold front blows in, bringing rain and bad moods, knocking you off your feet. It's amazing how much the weather affects moods in this town. It's universal - everyone I have talked with about the weather (and that's just about everyone I talk with) agrees - this city's collective mood, and the individual moods of its inhabitants are largely at the mercy of the weather.

Fortunately, I think it's finally safe to say that the heavenly weather is here to stay. Bike-riding, shorts-and-sandals-wearing, swimming (and skinny dipping), hiking, rock climbing, barbecueing, picture-taking, women-meeting weather has arrived. I have been waiting for this Summer for a year. I'm not working a full time job right now, and I have been looking forward to having a whole Summer completely free to enjoy as I wish.

Meanwhile, I have a backlog of some 2,000 photos to get online, and I'm still taking more. I may skip some of the backlog - I wasn't feeling too inspired when I took many of those shots, and I am not feeling to inspired to get them online. But I will do what I can, and try to get some newer, better photos up for you ASAP.

Wien 1010 (Innere Stadt) Judenplatz Photos

A few photos from Judenplatz, home of Vienna's holocaust memorial in the central first district. Judenplatz can be translated as Jewish Place. During the Jewish persecution of 1420/21, some of Vienna's Jews chose a voluntary death in the synagogue that used to be located at Judenplatz, rather than allowing themselves to be forcefully baptized. During the persecution, another 200 Jews were burned at the stake at Erdberg.

Cool architecture on Judenplatz.

Ditto.

Built between 1708 and 1714, this building was once the site of the Bohemian administrative and constitutional court.

The amount of attention paid to architectural detail on Vienna's older buildings is pretty amazing.

I'd like to learn a little more about the significance of some of these flourishes.

More of same.

Ditto.

This alley, Kurrentgasse, leads to Judenplatz.

The building on the right is the Haus der Buergerlich. Schneider (House of citizen tailors).

25 Peaces is a group of public Gedankenjahr exhibitions that I mentioned in more detail in an earlier post.

More detail.

It's a Viennese tradition to allow one's dog to defecate wherever it wants. Unfortunately, it's not a Viennese tradition to clean up after one's dog.

Wahnsinn (insane)

Wien 1010 (Innere Stadt) Seitzergasse Photos

A few pictures from Seitzergasse, near Am Hof and Judenplatz in Vienna's central first district.

Ferrari 360 Spider

Ferrari 360 Spider

Fiaker (Carriage)

Fiaker (Carriage)

A back view of the Kirche Am Hof.

This quaint little clock shop is attached to the back of the Kirche Am Hof.

Wien 1010 (Innere Stadt) Am Hof Photos

OK, I'm a little burnt-out on writing, so I'm going to offer these photos of the Am Hof square without much in the way of commentary. I took more than 300 photos on this particular day, including many from some of my recent posts.

Kirche Am Hof

I believe this building, now used by Bank Austria, once housed Austria's Ministry of War.

I don't know anything about this building, except that it looks pretty cool.

This building is used by Generali, a large insurance company. The large open square plays host to various markets and outdoor programs throughout the year.

This building is a firehouse. Several of the buildings on Am Hof are used by the fire department.

A little architectural detail.

I believe this building is the headquarters of the Vienna fire department.

A couple of random, old buildings on Am Hof.

This Alleyway runs alongside the Kirche Am Hof. At the end of this alleyway is the Puppet Museum (which I've never visited).

Lots of Fiaker (carriages) running around the first district.

Taxis and carriages.

A view of the square at Am Hof.

Wien 1010 (Innere Stadt) Judenplatz - Holocaust Memorial

Sixty years ago today, World War II came to an end (V-Day). Along with the end of the war came the liberation of the surviving inmates of the many Nazi concentration camps and ghettos around Europe. We in Austria are currently being bombarded with information about the holocaust and World War II. As I mentioned in an earlier post, 2005 is being called the Gedankenjahr (year of memories).

There are all sorts of holocaust memorial services, memorial masses, TV programs with eyewitness accounts, newspaper and magazine articles, and temporary memorial exhibitions going on. Out of the corner of my eye, I'm watching a program about holocaust surviors on Autrian public television.

It's not all roses, however. Acording to a commercial for an upcoming news program on Austrian public television, 44% of Austrians still "think that the Nazi regime did just as much good as bad." I find that sad and hard to understand.

In commemoration of V-Day and the liberation of the concentration camps, I'm posting these pictures of the Vienna Holocaust Memorial, located in Judenplatz (Jewish Place), in the city's central First District.

*At noon today, all church bells in Austria were rung for 15 minutes in memory of the victims of the Nazis in World War II. I heard them ringing, but just found out on TV what the purpose was. 21,000 people attended a memorial event at Mauthausen, the site of a former concentration camp outside of Linz (Austria).

The memorial, designed by scultpress Rachel Whiteread, was unveiled in 2000.

"In commemoration of more than 65,000 Austrian Jews who were killed by the Nazis between 1938 and 1945." These lines are written in Hebrew, English and German on the floor of the monument in front of its non functioning double doors. On the floor around the small building are written the names of 45 concentration camps and ghettos built and operated by the Nazis.

Auschwitz, Belzec, Bergen-Belsen

Brcko, Buchenwald, Chelmno

http://www.diapozytyw.pl/en/site/slady_i_judaica/zamoschttp://www.diapozytyw.pl/en/site/slady_i_judaica/zamosc
Dachau, Flossenbürg, Groß Rosen

Gurs, Hartheim, Izbica (inmates were transported from Vienna's Aspangbahnhof to Izbica)

Jasenovac, Jungfernhof, Kaiserwald

Kielce, Kowno, Lagow

Lodz, Lublin, Majdanek (The Madjanek camp was located in the Polish town of Lublin)

Maly Trostinec, Mauthausen, Minsk (Mauthausen has seen lots of attention in the Austrian press lately and has been the location of large memorial services)

Mittelbau/Dora, Modliborzyce, Natzweiler (inmates were transported from Vienna's Aspangbahnhof to Modliborzyce)

Neuengamme, Nisko, Opatow

Opole, Ravensbrück, Rejowiec

Riga, Sabac, Sachsenhausen

Salaspils, San Sabba, Sobibor

Stutthof, Theresienstadt, Trawniki

Treblinka, Wlodawa, Zamosc

Wien 1040 (Wieden) Karlsplatz - Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark is a park just outside of the Karlsplatz U-Bahn station. Karlsplatz is a big hangout for herion addicts in Vienna, and they had pretty much taken over parts of the park. Bordering the park are several nice buildings, including the Technical University, Technical High School, Karlskirche, Karlsplatz Museum and the Evangelical School.

A park near the city center, ringed by important educational / cultural buildings, next to a major tranportation facility, overrun by junkies. The junkies often shoot up right out in the open. Sometimes they shoot up in the bathrooms around the park. There's almost always at least one junkie passed out somewhere in the park. Meanwhile, kids are streaming in and out of the Evangelical school, walking through the park on their way to the Karlsplatz station, and home. Not a good situation.

Thus the Schutzzone (protection zone), where the police are allowed to ask anyone to leave the area, without cause. If they don't like the way you look, you can be asked to leave. If you refuse to leave, or return within a certain period of time, you can be arrested.

The Schutzzone was implemented earlier this year, and has been the cause of some controversy. Some decry the trampling of civil liberties, while others applaud the efforts to clean the area up and make the park safe for children and tourists. This zone is meant to be the first of several in Austria.

The Schutzzone most likely hasn't done much good - it's pushed the junkies to another part of the park, and dispersed them a bit more around the city. One of my least favorite things about Vienna is the herion addicts taking their drugs out in the open, for all to see. A difficult problem to solve.

Resselpark Schutzzone - These yellow posters are part of a protest exhibition/action by the Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna Art Hall). The red building directly behind this particular yellow sign is the Evangelische Schule (Evangelical School), which is apparently planning to move to a newly constructed facility outside of the city center.

Resselpark Schutzzone - Karlskirche in the background.

Resselpark Schutzzone - Various artists were asked to come up with ideas for small posters, which were then posted around the park.

Resselpark Schutzzone - On the nod. Sad.

Resselpark Schutzzone - Normal people are trickling back into the park. What exactly are normal people?

Resselpark Schutzzone - Babies in strollers, grandmas, businessmen - are these people normal?

Resselpark Schutzzone - The impressive Karlskirche. I'll do a post dedicated to this Jugendstil church sometime soon.

Resselpark Schutzzone - Dreh di net um... chill out (Don't turn around... chill out)

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone - Karlsplatz Museum

Resselpark Schutzzone - The museum is hosting an exhibition on JFK, at the moment.

Resselpark Schutzzone - I like the public signs around Vienna.

Resselpark Schutzzone - Vienna is definitely multi-culti...

Resselpark Schutzzone - The dark tunnel is one of the entrances to the Karlsplatz U-Bahn station.

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone - The fuzz makes its presence known (in the station wagon).

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone - Karlskirche in the background.

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone - Denken Sie an die tollste Frau die Sie kennen (Think about the coolest woman you know). I thought of two women when I saw this sign - my mom is one of them :)

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone - This is junkie central, now. The ne'er-do-wells have moved outside of the edge of the protection zone (but still in Resselpark). The guy with his head between his ankles is not looking for his cigarette lighter. He maintained that exact position for more than an hour. I want to make it clear that I do not know for a fact whether any of the people in this photograph are addicted to heroin.

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone - Kids on razor scooters, less than 30 meters (100 feet) away from junkie central. Makes me mad.

Resselpark Schutzzone - More pictures of junkie central. Look closely and you'll see the drug deals as they occur, in broad daylight.

Resselpark Schutzzone - 4 young schoolkids on the left, walking through junkie central. Mad.

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone - More kids. Kids everywhere.

Resselpark Schutzzone - The gentleman slumped over in his chair appeared to me to be in a bad phase of his life.

Resselpark Schutzzone - He could hardly sit up straight, had either spilled a beer or urinated in his pants, and didn't seem to be in control of his faculties. Again, more kids walking through this human wasteland.

Resselpark Schutzzone

Resselpark Schutzzone - Charming bums. They were having a difficult time standing up while lighting each others' cigarettes.

Resselpark Schutzzone - New bums, old bums.

Resselpark Schutzzone - Bums are on the move, while the wino lies on the ground, grasping for his bottle of wine and shouting all manner of things that I was mostly unable to understand. Between the wino's head and the green bottle of wine is a pile of dog mess.

Resselpark Schutzzone - He practically had to lay his face in the dog mess in order to reach his wine.

Resselpark Schutzzone - A few meters away from the wino stood this group - a gospel quartet, probably from the Evangelical school.

Resselpark Schutzzone - Sad.

Wien 1010 (Innere Stadt) - Schottenstift Benediktushaus

The Benediktushaus is a part of the Schottenstift campus. They offer reasonably-priced, clean rooms to guests from around the world. The location is great - right in the first district. Call to see if you can reserve a room before you arrive in town - they're pretty busy..

This crucifix hangs in the lobby of the Benediktushaus.

A view of the lobby.

Benediktushaus (ceiling)

This statue guards the spiral stairway that leads to the top of the bell tower.

Wien 1010 (Innere Stadt) - Schottenstift Schottenkirche

Heavenly breakfast room.

The rooms are spartan, but comfortable and clean.

I believe the guesthouse has one room with a double bed. Bring your marriage license if you want to rent this room.

Another room shot.

Each room has its own bathroom.

The bathrooms are pretty decent.

Like your average 3 or 4 star pension in Austria.

This is a bathtub.

Last shot of the room from the doorway.

This stone, spiral stairway wraps around a glass, tubular elevator shaft. The stairs lead up to the bell tower.

This arched window sits atop the entrance to the Benediktushaus.

How's that for a hotel door?

Not a bad address.

Wien 1010 (Innere Stadt) - Schottenstift Schottenkirche

These are a few photos of the Schottenkirche (Scottish Church), part of the Schottenstift (Scottish Monastery) campus located in the first disctrict. That link has some great information, but it's all in German. I'll translate some of it tomorrow, and round out this post a little. In the meantime, I have some history and links about the Schottenstift in an earlier post about the Pfarre St. Ulrich, another church belonging to the Monastery.

The campus consists of several buildings, one of which, the Benediktushaus, offers reasonably-priced guest rooms. I took pictures of the Benediktushaus, lobby, rooms, and all, and will get them online tomorrow. I'll also try to get some better captions on these pictures.

*Update: In celebration of its 850th "birthday" this year, the Schottenstift has enlarged and renovated its museum, which includes art and artifacts collected by the monastery over the years.

Schottenkirche

Schottenkirche

Fiaker (Horse Carriage) The small yellow building with the arched doorway to the left of the APOTHEKE (Apothecary, Pharmacy) sign is the aforementioned Benediktushaus.

Schottenkirche

Schottenkirche Businessmen

Schottenkirche Interior

Schottenkirche Ceiling

Schottenkirche Interior

Schottenkirche Interior

Schottenkirche Door Handle

Good News / Bad News

The good news is: I have a lot of nice, new pictures.
The bad news is: I have a lot of nice, new pictures (too many).

I spent an awesome week last week in the beautiful countryside a couple of hours outside of Salzburg (in Pongau), and I capped it off with a fun weekend in Salzburg. Needless to say, I took a lot of pictures. The weather was beautiful today, and I got out, twice, and took even more. I made some in the city center, some during a drive out to the outskirts and some in the countryside at Baumgartner Höhe, in the 14th district.

I've taken 1400 pictures in the last month (that I didn't delete on-camera), probably 2000, total. We have had some amazing weather, and I have been taking advantage of it. The problem is, I have too many pictures to upload. I'm swamped. Way behind.

On the other hand, I got a little brave and expiremented with the custom parameters on my camera. I had been unhappy with the color saturation levels in my photos for the last couple of months. I had been using Parameter 1 (EOS 300 D users should understand that). I was increasing color saturation in most of my photos in Photoshop, but experimenting with the custom parameters has allowed me to get the pictures that I want, right out of the camera. This means that it will take me less time to process images, ergo less time to get them online, which is another good thing (to me).

I promise I'll get some more pictures online soon.