Rathaus

A little bit gloomy in a cold and grey day, but turning into magic by night: this is Rathaus - the Viennese Cityhall.

A gigantic Adventkalender can be seen on the windows of the building. Each day in December, a window will open.

Every year, starting with mid November, in the square in front of this building, you can enjoy the Christkindlmarkt - the Advent Fair.

Weekend is almost here! Enjoy everyone!

our city

What I like about Vienna municipality is this feeling of "ours" that they try to create: our gardens, our Stephansdom. In Romania it doesn't work like this, people don't take care of the city, also maybe because they aren't told so. Moreover, I suspect it's a leftover feeling from the comunist times, when everybody just wanted to sabotage in a small way the system. But hey, we are still in Wien, one more day till weekend, so enjoy the photos for today. And thank you all for visiting and commenting - it means a lot!

bus

Two photos, two seasons, same place, same bus.

look at me

Too much sweets can damage out teeth, so for today we stay away from the Advent fair.
This nice dog I met at a perfume store as you can see.

Wiener Adventzauber

The fairytales of our childhood.

The sounds and the smells. The lights.

The most beautiful season of the year.Have a great week everyone!

behind the gold

such amazing Christmas tree decorations on display at the Kristkindlmarkt. some affordable, some extremely expensive (up to 320 EUR), but for sure, all wonderful.

this one is for you, Ratze! (I'm trying to photograph people:). still shy, still shy...).

some more Punsch

some more Punsch photos. Annie said to the previous post that she'd like to buy it just for the pleasure of the moment. I think - as you see in one of these pictures - lots of people think like this :). And oh, my, are they right! it gets so cold in the evening, that you visit the stands jumping up and down to get your feet warm. so Punsch can only come as additional help. dangerous thou: me, at least, I get slightly dizzy and in a spending frenzy... you'll see soon what I spent my money on at this Kristkindlmarkt.
happy weekend everyone!

Punsch anyone?

Next to Mariahilf church on Mariahilferstraße there is always a nice gathering of Punsch sellers, as well as other goodies. For this winter, the first cup of Punsch was here. Himbeerpunsch mit Früchten. Delicious!

wintergenuss in Wien

I have to allign to all the wonderful winter pictures posted by my fellow bloggers. As promised yesterday, some more white Wien/Vienna.

Next to Stadtpark.
Peace and quiet at 8 AM.

And the nice ducks in Stadtpark. More to come the next days.

Schnee in Wien

Back from Wien/Vienna. The first photos are full of snow, as we landed in the middle of winter. A wonderful view, as you will see later on, with the pure white and the glittering lights of the Christkindlmärkte (Advent fairs). At this time of the year, Wien/Vienna is a fairytale. The next morning, this is how Wien/Vienna looked like from the window of my hotel.

subBucharest

I just waited for few minutes to pass midnight so I can post something also today. Later in the morning I leave for few days for Vienna.

For today thou, here is some underground life in Bucharest: and I mean underground, as in Bucharest subway.

An invasion indeed...

This morning, it was so crowded that I had to wait a little so i can take a photo.

Do a little bit of thinking while you're riding the train. Nice mixture of languages, although I cannot shake the feeling I've seen this before...

morning as usual

The train station at 7.30 AM means silence.

Lines, tracks and shadows.5 minutes later people start pouring. Trains arrive, hectic people go off and on. Sometimes I smile when I see that people visited Vienna, and they carry souvenirs... (Empress Sisi bag, Schloss Schoenbrunn).

Have a great, less hectic, day!

winter

The tea I mentioned yesterday is recommended for its high content in vitamin C. Which vitamin C is higly recommended in winter. Winter as shown below... Pictures taken on the way to Sinaia and in Sinaia, at Cota 1400.

Ooookaaaay... So that actually looks like a lot of snow...

Some people got stuck in the snow, so the jandarms had to come and dig them out. I took this from the car - sorry for the dirty windshield... offroad driving, you know :)...

As a conclusion, as fellow blogger Zsolt mentioned on his blog, we are sooooo amazed at this snow this year, due to the fact that last winter we had so little. The first real snow for Christmas was ... in January (for my Serbian Christmas), as you can see here.

Hagebutte

Short trip yesterday. Multiple seasons in our way. Enjoy a hot tea of Hagebutte (aka rose hip) - it's good for cold weather.

Have a great week everybody!

PS: more Sibiu/Hermannstadt photos always here.

playful: Sibiu in photoshop

Windows in Sibiu.

playful: Sibiu series

So, yes, I discovered photoshop :). Let's see how Sibiu/Hermannstadt looks in photoshop. I particularly like the dary brush and poster edges applied to this photos. This whole city is like a painting...

Leena, thanks for inspiring me to play with the images!

the eye

This is what I found in Piata Mare. Unusual wooden multimedia places. History lessons being displayed inside these things, on digital screens. Wonderful blend of carpentry and technology.

b & w rooftops no. 2

Another photo from Sibiu/Hermannstadt, a b & w again. Some of the most wonderful things to watch in Sibiu/Hermannstadt are the roofs. Thake a look here too.
Lots of photos from Sibiu/Hermannstadt and some other infos about Romanian lessons in Romania (Bucharest and Sibiu/Hermannstadt) here.

b & w rooftops

Apart from its colourful side, Sibiu/Hermannstadt is a city that provides great material for b & w.

If you want to visit Sibiu/Hermannstadt, and to attend some Romanian lessons :), you have an opportunity for next summer, with the Romanian Summer Language School. So feel free to visit also this blog.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

beautiful flags

Romanian flag in foreground, next to the one of the EU (cannot see it in the picture). Still some time till the National Day on December 1st, but the colours were too nice not to capture.

If you scroll down this page a little, you will see a stop-to-shop sign. This is the 'big picture', leading to the Bridge of Lies (Podul Minciunilor) in the background, another wonderful area in Sibiu. Constructed in 1859, this bridge, first named The Iron Bridge, was later nicknamed the Bridge of Lies. Legend has it that if a person tells a lie while standing on it, the iron structure will collapse.

Whant to know more about Sibiu/ Hermannstdt? Please go here .

Enjoy the day!