Enduring Love

The Autumn
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them --
The summer flowers depart --
Sit still -- as all transform'd to stone,
Except your musing heart.

How there you sat in summer-time,
May yet be in your mind;
And how you heard the green woods sing
Beneath the freshening wind.
Though the same wind now blows around,
You would its blast recall;
For every breath that stirs the trees,
Doth cause a leaf to fall.

Oh! like that wind, is all the mirth
That flesh and dust impart:
We cannot bear its visitings,
When change is on the heart.
Gay words and jests may make us smile,
When Sorrow is asleep;
But other things must make us smile,
When Sorrow bids us weep!

The dearest hands that clasp our hands, --
Their presence may be o'er;
The dearest voice that meets our ear,
That tone may come no more!
Youth fades; and then, the joys of youth,
Which once refresh'd our mind,
Shall come -- as, on those sighing woods,
The chilling autumn wind.

Hear not the wind -- view not the woods;
Look out o'er vale and hill-
In spring, the sky encircled them --
The sky is round them still.
Come autumn's scathe -- come winter's cold --
Come change -- and human fate!
Whatever prospect Heaven doth bound,
Can ne'er be desolate.

Images captured
at Ennsegg Castle
Enns
Upper Austria
© by Merisi

Happy Thanksgiving, America!

"The year
that is drawing towards its close,
has been filled with the blessings
of fruitful fields and healthful skies.
To these bounties,
which are so constantly enjoyed
that we are prone to forget
the source from which they come,
others have been added,
which are of so extraordinary a nature,

that they cannot fail
to penetrate and soften even the heart
which is habitually insensible
to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
It has seemed to me fit and proper
that they should be solemnly,
reverently and gratefully acknowledged
as with one heart and voice
by the whole American people.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens
in every part of the United States,
and also those who are at sea
and those who are sojourning in foreign lands,
to set apart and observe
the last Thursday of November next,
as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise
to our beneficent Father
who dwelleth in the Heavens.

And I recommend to them that
while offering up the ascriptions
justly due to Him for such singular deliverances
and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence
for our national perverseness and disobedience,
commend to his tender care all those
who have become widows, orphans, mourners
or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife
in which we are unavoidably engaged,

and fervently implore
the interposition of the Almighty Hand
to heal the wounds of the nation
and to restore it as soon as may be consistent
with the Divine purpose
to the full enjoyment of peace,
harmony, tranquillity and Union."

Quoted from
"A Declaration of Thanksgiving"
Abraham Lincoln's Manifesto of Gratitude
October 3, 1863

Photographed
in the fields and meadows of
Lake Neusiedl-Seewinkel
National Park
© by Merisi

Lake Neusiedl is located

less than an hour's drive
south of Vienna

*

Clicking on the
SkyWatch icon

takes you straight to
Sky Watch Friday Headquarters
from where you can journey on to visit
hundreds of skies around the world!

Golden November

Weeping Willow
Duck Pond

"Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat;
Then rose, girded himself, and o'er the bleak
Hills fled from our sight; but left his golden load."

White Roses
Meierei

Morning Glory Tea
Meierei Steirereck


Promenade
Right Bank of the River Wien

Treetops in a Tray
Pavillino Eis-Café

Restaurant Steirereck
Entrance

Photographed
in Vienna's Stadtpark
November 3, 2008
© by Merisi


* Quoted from
"To Autumn"
by William Blake

Coffee Dreaming

Coffee Break
Coffee Heaven
La Salvia

Caffellatte
Coffee and milk
in Italian

Caffellatte
with amarettino,
an Italian mini macaroon

My Caffellatte
Runneth Over
That caffè doppio
put it over the top
Notice the Italian croissant cornetto
with San Daniele ham prosciutto
hiding behind the tall glass?

Venetian Dreaming
We are in an Italianate coffee bar,
so we might as well have some snack cicheti:
Bacaeà Mantecà (Venetian for creamed stockfish)
on warm toast not only looks good,
it also tastes delicious here!
Bon appetito! :-)

Bacaeà Mantecà
(Bacalà Mantecato in Italian)
"creamed dried cod.
The bacalà is soaked in water, boiled,
and then vigorously pounded or beaten with olive oil
added drop by drop until the mixture becomes very soft,
almost whipped and foamy;
it also contains garlic, pepper and parsley"

Quoted from Sally Spector's beautifully illustrated
"Venice & Food"
Arsenale Editrice, 1998
ISBN 88 7743 173 3

Thus reinvigorated,
I went back to
shop for the week's
vegetables and fruits
at the farmers' market!
Flowers, too.

*
Coffee served at
La Salvia
"Cose buone dal Friuli all'Istria"
Yppenplatz corner of
Weyprechtgasse
Brunnenmarkt
Vienna
16th District

Images and Text
© by Merisi
21 November 2009

Against The Dearth Of Monday Poems

November Roses
from a farmer's garden

A Riot of Colours
Holland Tulips

Rose Cabbage
or was it Cabbage Rose?

Candied Fruit
ripe for the picking

Bright light
in the city afternoon,
running from the shadows.

You too?
trying to rescue the moment
while waiting
for the cashier
to ring up your sundries,
desperately fleeing the headlines,
while outside
everyone keeps on moving,
and the century grinds on.

*

Photographed
21 November 2009
at Vienna's Naschmarkt,
an open market, and
the intersection of
Margaretenstrasse and
Schleifmühlgasse
4th District


Images and Text
© by Merisi

"... the century grinds on"
is the last line of Margaret Atwood's poem
"In the Secular Night"

What's In A Picture?

Pathos in a Box
"Because I Must Stay Here"
Collage by Astrid Sodomka
Autonome Produzentengalerie
Schleifmühlgasse 12-14

Astrid Sodomka
is a young Viennese artist
who works with found and collected materials,
creating collages which she then conserves
in viewing boxes.

The work captured in the lower half of my photograph
is an assembly of cut-out photos of the artist
and of feral pigeons, taking up an entire room.
By chosing this large dimension
the artist invites the viewer
to become part of the walkable collage.

This is the original unaltered image.
I sepia-tinted the one in the previous post,
in the hope this would let the reflections
of cars parked in the street retreat into the background.

Information about the artist
was gathered at this website:
http://12-14.org/Astrid-Sodomka/
The title
Pathos in a Box
"Because I Must Stay Here"
is the artist's own.
All other text
and the photograph
are © by Merisi

Artist At Work

Window Reflections
Schleifmühlgasse
4th District

Photographed
21 November 2009

Text and Image
© by Merisi

Vienna Today

Aperol Spritz,
Anyone?
Hands up or down,
it was a tough week,
after all!

Hand
in the cookie jar
rose bucket

Oh Henry!
How can you
sleep at night?

Bobby's
"Come on in and get
your Henry's on our
Christmas Goodies"

Are They Thinking
about the Luck of the Irish?

Aperol Spritz,
after all that?

Pictures taken at:
La Salvia, Yppen Platz
Farmers' Market, Yppen Platz
Schleifmühlgasse, twice
Naschmarkt and
La Salvia, again
Rutabago:
Farmers' Market at Naschmarkt

Images and Text
© by Merisi

What Was He Doing?

Still Life
with Curly Leaf and
Italian Parsley
in Raspberry and
Turquise Plastic Cups

*

Three clues:
One's in the image,
the second one's behind the image,
the third one
is in your
kitchen drawer.

*

Photographed
at today's
Farmers' Market
Yppen Platz

Images and Tex
© by Merisi

Evening Solace

The human heart has hidden treasures,
In secret kept, in silence sealed;
The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,
Whose charms were broken if revealed.
And days may pass in gay confusion,
And nights in rosy riot fly,
While, lost in Fame's or Wealth's illusion,
The memory of the Past may die.

But, there are hours of lonely musing,
Such as in evening silence come,
When, soft as birds their pinions closing,
The heart's best feelings gather home.
Then in our souls there seems to languish
A tender grief that is not woe;
And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish,
Now cause but some mild tears to flow.

And feelings, once as strong as passions,
Float softly back a faded dream;
Our own sharp griefs and wild sensations,
The tale of others' sufferings seem.
Oh ! when the heart is freshly bleeding,
How longs it for that time to be,
When, through the mist of years receding,
Its woes but live in reverie !

And it can dwell on moonlight glimmer,
On evening shade and loneliness;
And, while the sky grows dim and dimmer,
Feel no untold and strange distress
Only a deeper impulse given
By lonely hour and darkened room,
To solemn thoughts that soar to heaven,
Seeking a life and world to come.
(Charlotte Bronte)

Photographed at sunset
19 November 2009
in the Wachau Valley,
high above the Danube river
and the town of Dürnstein,
from the ruins of the castle
were Richard I, King of England -
"Coeur de Lion" or "Richard the Lionheart" -
was held captive by Duke Leopold of Austria
in 1192, 917 years ago.

Images
© by Merisi

Pink Into The Blue Hour

Young Swan
swimming in the Danube
reflecting the pink evening clouds

Evening Rose
basking in the afterglow
of the setting sun

Photographed after sunset
19 November 2009 -
Saint Elizabeth Day -
in Dürnstein, Wachau,
along the Danube river.

I.M.
Elisabeth

Vienna By Night

Nighthawks
Starbucks
Subway Station
Karlsplatz

Under The Big "P"

"P" as in "Palmers"
Palmers Green and Gold
High above Taborstrasse
Karmeliterplatz
2nd District
Leopoldstadt

Karmelitermarkt
Leopoldgasse

BONBONS
Candy Store
Leopoldgasse

Café im Eck
Corner Café
Leopoldgasse

Leopoldgasse
Alongside
Karmelitermarkt

Café Bar Einfahrt
Haidgasse and
Karmelitermarkt
"Einfahrt" is located
at the entrance (Einfahrt) to an
underground parking garage.

There's also a "Café Garage"
somewhere in Vienna.
Guess what's next to it! ;-)

*

The Big P
Palmers is Austria's largest textile company,
manufacturing lingerie since 1914:
The gold lettering on "Palmers green" background carried
the company through almost a century,
until a few years ago
when they decided to shed their once laid-back image for good
and go with a more subdued olive green,
the better to offset their nowadays more risqué designs.
(Click at your risk!)

*

Photographed Friday Afternoon
13 November 2009

Images and Text
© by Merisi

Of Saints And Drunken Monks

The Perfect Cup
of Viennese Melange Coffee
with a very Viennese glass of water
and a Viennese daily, Der Standard.
All so very innocent.

Moments Before
I had walked past this
scaffolded building,
with a Madonna over the entrance
to "Pizza Mari".

Where Else,
But in Vienna:
The boundaries
between the Profane and the Holy,
so teasingly close,
you'd not be surprised to see
St. Peter welcoming you in
and Mathew tapping beer
behind the bar,
not to forget the chorus of angels
marching in and singing for supper.

Earthly Delight?
I could not help but smile
when I sat down next door -
at "The Beautiful Pearl -
with a good cup of coffee,
a glass of water,
a newspaper,
and ... a Drunken Capuchin!
Where else,
I thought,
but in Vienna? ;-)

Besoffener Kapuziner
An Austrian coffee cake,
made with eggs, sugar and nuts,
and soaked in hot wine
after baking.
Served with whipped sweet cream
or sour cream.
What else?

*

Photographed Friday Afternoon
by the absolutely sober Merisi
at and near the "Schöne Perle"
13 November 2009

Images and Text
© by Merisi

Afternoon in Leopoldstadt

Karmeliterkirche
Carmelite Church
Karmeliterplatz
Leopoldstadt
2nd District

Pediment Figure
of the Baroque Carmelite Church
reflected in a window

Spezerei
Wine, Deli and Bar

Coming and Going
Spezerei and Schatztruhe

Karmeliterplatz
A door opens and

almost without a sound,
falls shut again

Time Is Nowhere
Cádiz Tapas-Bar
Karmeliterplatz

*

"Times is Nowhere"
Quoted from
Ted Hughes' poem
"September"

All other text
and all images
© by Merisi

Photographed
13 November 2009

Afternoon With Fairies And Faun

In the center of the city,
this mysterious path

leads you
into a veritable fairytale land

filled with
red-hatted gnomes

and fairies
in rose-coloured garb

ready to dance
and stand on their heads

and a faun,
napping.

Beware,
this is all
you'll see
when you fall
out of your dream!

*

Photographed
in Vienna's Stadtpark
13 November 2009

Images and text
© by Merisi

Viennese Moments

Ginkgo Tree
Stadtpark

Golden Leaves
Ginkgo Tree

Parapet Figures
Stubenring

Crabapple Leaves
Stadtpark

Photographed
13 November 2009
© by Merisi

Vienna Today

Roses
Red

White Meringue
Zuckerbäcker Doorway
Confectioner's Style

Cafe
Guess who?

Alte Lampe
Old Lantern

Made By You
Scaffolded by whom?

*

Photographed
in the 4th District
13 November 2009

Images and Text
© by Merisi

After Sunset

Walking to the Gloriette
from the Neptune Fountain
Schönbrunn Palace Gardens
13th District

*

Photographed
12 November 2009
© by Merisi

*