V is for Vienna

Vienna, Austria
Oh Vienna, land of Mozart, Sachertorte, Kaesekraeners, and delicious Eis.  I spent an amazing year living in Vienna in 2006/2007 teaching English just north of the city in Klosterneuburg.  The school I taught in specialized in wine production and vineyards...sweet deal!  Needless to say I learned a lot about wine and was even able to sample some of the bottles my students helped to cultivate.  Pretty awesome.  While living in the city (right near the Suedbahnhof), I had the opportunity to explore a lot of things.  Here are just a few:
Schoenbrunn Palace from the Gloriette with a view of the city center behind.

The Reisenrad at the Prater (boardwalk).  Those are railway cars that rock.

The Gloriette behind Schoenbrunn Palace.

Belvedere Palace, now a museum, where Gustav Klimt's The Kiss is displayed.

The entrance of the school where I worked.
Courtney and I cooling down our gluewein at a Christkindlmarkt.

St. Marx Cemetery where Mozart is buried.

Hundertwasser House...cool paint job.

Life Ball 2007...beware of the nudity!

Wine tasting with friends and students.

Jewish section of the Zentralfriedhof.
 Blog on fellow A-Zers.  We're nearing the end :)

Comments

  1. Lynn ProctorApril 25, 2012 at 10:12 AM

    what a charming place--i especially love that cemetery

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MelApril 25, 2012 at 3:14 PM

      Lynn, when you hit is just right, St. Marx is completely overrun with purple lilacs. It's haunting and gorgeous!

      Delete
  2. David WagnerApril 25, 2012 at 3:38 PM

    Man, what I wouldn't give to be able to travel around Europe...well, someday...

    Dave the Goof

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nick WilfordApril 25, 2012 at 5:16 PM

    A school that produces wine sounds cool. Looks like a great city! That cemetery is otherworldly.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Get Wordy!

Popular posts from this blog

2016 A-Z Blogging Challenge Theme Reveal

Image
Oooo...the day is getting closer; creeping stealthily, it will smack you in the face in no time! While we impatiently await the start of the challenge, it's time to reveal our themes.  Yay!  I'm going for something drastically different this year.  Something much more challenging than I've ever done in my previous four years participating in this particular challenge.  Normally my posts are pretty straight-forward, contained, not overly ambitious.  This year is going to be another beast all together. My mission, should I choose to accept it, will be to write one continuous story for the entire challenge.  I know my characters, setting, and where I want it to go...kind of.  All I need to figure out is how to get from point A to point Z.  The first word of each post will start with the letter for the day; some of these will definitely be more difficult than others, but I'm determined. I look forward to writing this, receiving feedback, and having a rip-roaring goo
Read more

L is for...Lighthouses

Image
 It's a schizophrenic Saturday here in Oregon (what's new) and we're strolling in to the halfway point of the A-Z Blogging Challenge.  Today's letter brings us to a feature that many states along the coast possess and something that I've always had a fascination with... Lighthouses There are eleven total lighthouses along the Oregon Coast.  Nine were built for maritime purposes, five are still in operation, and two were privately built.  Of the eleven, nine of them are on the National Register of Historic Places.  There are five lighthouses that offer tours to visitors and each has a unique history.  Some even have sordid pasts and rumored ghosts that roam their buildings.  As a heads up, I apologize for the length of this post. From the north heading south along Highway 101, the lighthouses are as follows: Tillamook Rock Lighthouse is the furthest north and located near Seaside.  It is deactivated and the only lighthouse built offshore on a
Read more

C is for...Crater Lake

Image
Nearly halfway through the first week of the A-Z Challenge and we are to the letter C.  I hope everyone is plugging along nicely and not feeling pressured yet!  Today's letter is representative of... Crater Lake I love Crater Lake .  It's beautiful, fascinating, and awesome.  Located in Southern Oregon, Crater Lake is a body of water that has formed inside the remains of a once active volcano in the Cascade Range.  The caldera formed by the massive eruption of Mount Mazama 7700 years ago is now filled with crystal clear blue water and two islands; the main one being Wizard Island.  Fed only by rainfall and melting snow, the water is completely replaced every 250 years and one of the purest bodies of water in America in terms of absent pollutants.  The park is open year-round and visited by nearly half a million people annually, but many roads become impassible during the winter months. Crater Lake at sunset.  Photo by Marc Adamus Spanning some 5 miles by
Read more