Spring Rain. Bus Stop.

A light spring rain. Waiting for the bus. Bus was 12 minutes late, and Pascal had plenty of time to amuse himself, by watching the bubbles floating down the gutter, or the cars spraying the curb as they whizzed by.

Slacklining is Kool!

Got a slackline for Anika's birthday. Really it's for the whole family. But then Ani is the best so far - she's up to an unassisted mount and 4 steps. But Papa's close on her tail ;) The first day we took the slackline up to the park next to the Haus des Meeres. The next day we went to Prater Park.

Bunny and Cross

Here's the beaded wooden egg, mentioned below, with the bunny on the one side, and the cross on the other.

Wise Goat

Goats appear wise. It's the beard, the rectangular pupils, and the steady gaze. This one has been thinking inside his glass box for decades.

Vienna Marathon - Haile Gebrselassie

The marathon is here! They ran right past our apartment. They were handing out !Go Haile! placards. Early in the morning the race people were setting up a water station below our apartment. We went out before the first runner went by, so we were sure to catch Haile Gebrselassie. The first runners were running FAST! They mostly keep up this pace the whole length of the marathon - amazing!

About half way through the race the water station - which had 1000's of water glasses set up -was empty. The workers could barely pour water fast enough to keep up with the demand. They resorted to pouring the water first into a tub, then dunking the individual plastic cups in the tub to fill them up. Also the street was covered in empty plastic cups, and with the runners stepping on them all it filled the street with a sound not unlike a running creek. Further up the street, the sound was just of the runner's feet striking the pavement. This sounded like a soft rain - mellow.

Here is Haile coming!

Here is Haile going (our apartment front door is just over his right shoulder).

Easter Shopping

Went to the Osternmarkt Saturday. Even had some warm sunny weather. There was A Huge display of painted eggs, and they even had plain eggs already hollowed out, ready for painting! Also got a small wooden egg, with a bead mosaic of a bunny on one side, and a cross on the other - very nicely done. But what exactly does it mean to have a cute bunny on one side and a bloody cross on the other? Weird opposition.

more eggs

Schloss Hof on a Spring Day

Welcome Spring!!!!

Went to Schloss Hof in the countryside about 45 minutes from Wien near the border with Slovakia. A beautiful day, sunny, warm, blue skies. The Schloss was built by Prince Eugen, a successful prince, and military leader. Some say he was gay, and judging from his flamboyant hairdo it's not difficult to imagine. Anyways the Schloss is beautiful, and amazingly understated (see the simplicity of the fountain). The Schloss was restored in the early 2000's so maybe that adds to the spanking new clean overall look to the place.

A little irony. The palace garden and fountains unfolds downhill along a long formal rectangle. The view is of the flat farmlands below and in the distance the mountains along the Donau, and the city of Bratislava in the former Czechoslovakia. We visited the city before, and it does have it's sections of old charm, but the place is dominated by super ugly, huge concrete communistic mass housing. These arrogant giant concrete buildings now dominate the distant view from Schloss Hof. Certainly a weird feeling to look at all that communistic arrogance from the princely arrogance of Schloss Hof. At least the Schloss is beautiful, can't say that at all about the communist people's palace in Bratislava.

Another Bratislava connection: storks nesting atop a chimney at Schloss Hof. There is a white stork sanctuary in Bratislava.