Sunday 31 May 2009

Joseph Haydn Lived Here


Two hundred years ago today,
on May 31st, 1809,

in a room behind one of these windows,
the great Austrian composer Joseph Haydn

died at age 77,
in the presence of his faithful servants,
"in a blessed and gentle manner".

Haydn passed away
"not quite three weeks
after the second French invasion
"
of Vienna.

"The attack
had utterly worn him out
.

"In the early morning of May 12,
Napoleon's troops were assembled close by
on the Mariahilf Line of Defence
.

"Haydn's servant reports:
'the bedroom door leapt right open
from these shots

and all the windows shook,
and our good Papa took fright at all this, ...

*

Photographed by Merisi
on May 30th, 2009,
at the Haydn House in Vienna,
Haydngasse 19.

The Haydn House
is open to visitors
Tues-Sun, 9am-6pm

Free entrance on Sundays

Clicking on the pictures
will lead to various
performances of works by
The Master.

NPR - National Public Radio - celebrates
"A Feast Of Haydn String Quartets"
at WGBH Boston:
Click here
to read Cathy Fuller's article about Haydn
and to listen to the music.
Enjoy!

Quotes:
"Haydn's Last Years"
Edited by Werner Hanak-Lettner und
Alexandra Hönigmann-Tempelmayr
on behalf of the Wien Museum
ISBN-978-3-902312-17-7

Saturday 30 May 2009

Rainy With a Chance of Tumbling Roses


A Very Rainy Saturday Morning
at the Farmers' Market

No matter,
a true Viennese
instinctively knows
how to dress
for the occasion
!

Look again,
the outfit above can be worn
even along fresh cut roses!

On a grey-sky day
only a sky-blue pail
would do with barely pink,

while the sunny yellow
flatters the lemony shade
of the roses!

*

Photographed by Merisi
at the Farmers' Market
Brunnenmarkt
Yppen Platz
16th District

Friday 29 May 2009

Viennese Breakfast








Photographed by Merisi
29 May 2009

K.u. K Hofzuckerbäcker
Demel Royal and Imperial Confectioners
CH. DEMEL' S SÖHNE GmbH

Kohlmarkt 14

Thursday 28 May 2009

Viennese Escapes: Manor Farm at Schloss Hof


Only an hour's drive from Vienna,
Baroque architect Lucas von Hildebrandt's
magnificent palace for Prince Eugene of Savoya
would well be worth a visit on its own,
but there is so much more to enjoy!

Baroque gardens beckon with great vistas into
the Lower Austria countryside and
a large Manor Farm - composed of beautiful buildings
and its own extensive gardens, orchards and meadows -
sits next to the palace on the fertile land of the Marchfeld.

Prince Eugene's Orangerie,
one of the largest and most innovative
when it was built at the end of the first quarter of the 18th Century,
has been recently restored and is open to visitors again.

The beloved Prince Eugene of Savoy -
one of Austria's greatest heroes and a lover of the arts -
provided unlimited funding
to architect von Hildebrandt's genius.

A feeling of grandezza of spirit and devotion to the arts
surrounds even these utilitarian buildings.

An espaliered grapevine
holding onto a trellis,
the wooden lattice
and its shadows
play at painting their own image.

A wooden bench
offering shade and a view
of the pond and the Orangerie below.

Linden and potted trees
lining the path to the riding stables,
immersed in their own introspective game.

A fig tree,
leaves caressing the manor building,
offers shade to the visitor
who for too long has been out
under the unrelenting Marchfeld sun.


*

Clicking on the
SkyWatch icon below


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

*

Photographed by Merisi
Sunday, May 17, 2009
More images
to come! :-)

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Viennese Windows


Zitterhofer-Gasse
7th District

Gardegasse
7th District



I took these pictures
literally two minutes after
I photographed the roses of the previous post.
Wherever you turn,
there is beauty around here.

This being Vienna,
there's a Café-Bar-Restaurant
exactly opposite these windows,
offering you a comfortable perch
to better enjoy them from!

Flair-Lounge
Gardegasse 2
7th District


Monday 25 May 2009

Against the Dearth of Monday Poems


Monday
is where Sunday's dreams are echoing

in the high-ceilinged chambers of your mind

Sunday's Amsel sings sweet in lilac trees
fading petals of beloved memories.

At a Prince's Summer Palace
Photographs and text
© by Merisi

Click either on the first
or the last image
to find out more
about the secret location
of this hallucination!

Translation:
Amsel
(am'zel)
German,=blackbird

Sunday 24 May 2009

Life in the Slow Lane


Window with Rhododendron
Galerie Kandinsky

What are you looking for?
Kristian's Monasteri Restaurant
is tempting you!

This being an equal opportunity blog,
here the same scene again!

When you are done looking,
I would suggest to stop
for breakfast at Café Kandinsky.

Be forewarned:
Tables like this one are not uncommon,
here you run into a serious risk
of whiling away your whole morning!

Something like 101 different varieties
of Staud's heavenly-tasting Konfitüren jams
lie in wait for you - the sweet beginnings of more such
slow food for a leisurely breakfast.

I have yet to find out
why in the world anybody would think
that "Slow Food" was invented in Italy!

Italy of all places is where they
have "bars" where they scan your coffee-IQ
- (what with the "Bon giorno, dottoressa!") -
that secret code trasmitted immediately to the automatic coffee maker
as soon as your shadow slinks through the door frame,
all meant to expedite your stay at the counter
down to mere seconds!

"Slow Food"
was not "invented" in Vienna either,
there simply was no need to,
Viennese meals
are by definition
a celebration of slowness

in the best sense of the word:
taking more time than is usual or necessary,
not moving too quickly, but proceeding at a low leisurely speed pace!
(That old saying about "words not hurting" does not always apply,
especially not in Vienna,
where "fast" and "speed" should be used
with the utmost care only -
they are best left to traffic reporters
and disk jockeys
!)

Photographed by Merisi
Lerchenfelder Strasse to Neubaugasse Durchhaus *)
Saturday, May 23, 2009

*) Durchhaus: Austrian for a passage way
through one or more buildings
-
The Lerchenfelder Durchhaus
cuts through a whole city block.


View of the Durchhaus
from the entrance
at Lerchenfelder Strasse
Don't forget your bike!

*



Saturday 23 May 2009

Breakfast in Paradise


A Pail
of the palest
rose-coloured peonies

Rooibos Vanilla Tea
with a good dose
of awning stripes
Milk optional

A White Bowl
with porridge and
sun-shine coloured fruit
and honey

A Cappuccino
not necessarily yours
your companion's
will do

More
scented
peonies!

*

Photographed by Merisi
on the sunny morning
of Saturday, May 23, 2009,
at Café Noi,
Peyergasse 12,
where heavenly breakfasts
are being served every Saturday
starting at 9am,
right next to the Farmers' Market.

*

Each image
will take you
on another excursion
of Yppen Square,
as will
this very special link
to my companion's
view of life at the market
.
Just go ahead
and click yourself
there too!


Enjoy!