Dark Stars
The sun set hours ago on the city of Vienna. The streets and gassen were bathed in shadows; the night was dark, very dark- even sinister… Vienna seemed to know that we were heading for a restaurant called Zum Finsteren Stern (The dark star). Leaving the Schulhof in the first district, the only light in [...]
The Evidence
Altogether, the collection spanned some 500 years, including a first edition of the Petrus Canisius – Summa doctrinae et institutionis christianae (The High Doctrines and Institutions of Christianity) from 1554, a mere century after Gutenberg, a 1498 Memorial Book of personal messages from the Vienna Choir Boys, a gift to the Emperor Maximilian, and an [...]
Documents of Empire
It’s a thrill, one must admit, to be able to walk through the huge doors of the Bundeskanzleramt, be greeted with a friendly smile by the guard and be waved through, head held high, without so much as the flash of an identity card. That alone would have justified a visit to the exhibit “Austria [...]
Trainspotting
A girl pushes her way through the exiting crowd at the U1 stop Stephansplatz. She is tall, blond and out-fitted with I-pod and handbag. As she scans the over-filled car with discontent at the lack of free seating, she spots someone. She sidles over to a young woman sitting to her left. Tugging her earphones [...]
Digital Confusion
Technology is great. I mean it. I love all types of little electronic gadgets and try to use all the little features no matter how useless. So there I was, walking up the escalator to the U1 station at Kaisermühlen. My friend has been busted without a ticket that same day, and was spending his [...]
Climbing the Kahlenberg
Walking through the Vienna woods around Kahlenberg it’s hard to believe that downtown Vienna is just a few Kilometres away. The blanket of leaves that covers the ground in the autumn and winter seems to absorb any sound, and the old trees that border the well-maintained trails provide an arch above your head, blocking out [...]
Coffee Spillovers
A crisp, sunny Satruday morning of late summer, with the snap of autumn in the air. A woman sat outside at sidewalk table of a Gasthaus in Vienna’s 2nd District, reading the International Herald Tribune. While not exactly warm that day, it was pleasant to be outside in the glistening morning light and by 10:00, [...]
The Shopper’s Eye
Dorotheum Dorotheegasse XX A-1010 Vienna Tel: (01) 513 32 02 Fax: (01) 513 32 06 kaerntnerstrasse@doroteum.at www.dorotheum.com People have been known to drive themselves to financial ruin, selling everything short of their souls to pick up Franz Joseph’s siilver toothpick or a bodice from Sissy’s trouseau at this world famous Auction house. For those more [...]
Child’s Play
A crowd of children mingles outside the “Resounding Mozartmobil,” wide eyed and eager. Tunes from the magic flute provide the 18th century flair as parents guide their offspring to their chosen instrument. “I wanna try this one” five year old Valerie squeals. Violin in hand, she beams as it responds valiantly to her enthusiastic scratching. [...]
