Imagine I'm in Paris!

 

What a sensation to be in Paris!

We spent a whole day strolling through the city, visiting Notre Dame, the Louvre, Jardin des Luxembourg,Centre Pompidou, and walking back to Rue La Fayette, through a wonderful city!

 

And look what an ambiguous picture came to our view when we approached Notre-Dame des Paris!

Happy Easter!

 Today my doggy and I went for a long stroll through Vienna's Green Prater. Although the weather was cold and rainy, we enjoyed the lonely walk along the old arms of the Danube. The fresh green leaves and white blossoms on the trees showed us that Spring was actually there.

 At home we relaxed and ate boiled Easter eggs and ham, and watched a nice movie on TV: Ratatouille, the story of the adventures of the little rat Rémy gifted with some highly developed senses of taste and smell.

 

Dear friends, I wish all of you a happy and peaceful Easter time!

Spring has come!

Last Sunday I visited Vienna's Stadtpark. To my surprise, the cherry trees had already opened their buds and were fully abloom!
After all those cold winter days, it is wonderful to enjoy the warm weather, the blue sky and the first spring colours outside!

If you want to see more flowers from all around the world, please click HERE!

Winter at the Danube in Vienna

Finally winter has come to Vienna, 

with extremely cold temperatures and even some snow.

I took a long walk with my dog along the shore of the Danube this afternoon and enjoyed the winter atmosphere.

Water birds had left their foot prints in the snow,

and D'ora followed the decorative patterns on the ice.

What a lovely picture!

We returned home when the sun set.

Have a nice week ahead!



http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/

A November trip through the Donau-Auen National Park

Last Saturday my friend and I went by train to a place called Wolfsthal, 70 km East of Vienna.

Originally we had planned to follow the St. James' Way, but soon St. James' Way led us to the banks of the river Danube and we followed the hidden paths throuhg the riparian forests instead.

The sandbanks of the river were much larger than usual.
Due to a very dry autumn season, the water-level of the Danube is extremely low.

We had not expected to see Devín castle on the other side of the Danube in such beauty.
The afternoon light was picture perfect, and so we walked down to the dry sandbanks to get a closer look.

Devín castle (Burg Theben) is situated on a 212 m high cliff at the confluence of the Danube and Moravian rivers in Slovakia.
The place has been settled since the Neolithic and fortified since the Bronce and Iron Age.
We plan to visit the cliff next summer to explore the ruins!

We walked on through the riparian forests along the old arms of the Danube.
The path is so romantic! It strongly reminded me of the fantastic settings of the Kingdom Hearts video games series. I even expected to find Kairi and Riku around the corner :)

Of course we were not on Riku's Island, but in the Donau-Auen National Park near Hainburg, one of the largest remaining floodplains of the Danube in Middle Europe.


Also the history of the National Park Donau-Auen is remarkable:
In 1984, Austrian environmental activists began a successful fight against plans to build another hydro-electric power plant at the Danube which would have destroyed the unique area.
Clearing operations had already begun and the first trees had been chopped when the activists began to occupy the area.
The occupation of the floodplains in Hainburg led to a significant change in Austria's idea of the meaning of democracy and of the protection of the enviroment.


Thus the Donau-Auen National Park was founded and designated an IUCN category II national park.
It spans the areas of Vienna (Lobau), Groß-Enzersdorf, Orth an der Donau, Eckartsau, Engelhartstetten, Hainburg, Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, Petronell-Carnuntum, Regelsbrunn, Haslau-Maria Ellend, Fischamend and Schwechat,
which is an area of 93 square kilometers (3.900ha).

After a three hours walk, we arrived in Hainburg and had a delicious meal at the elegant local Gasthaus Zum goldenen Anker.

If you want to see some more pictures, please follow this link !

A visit to Telč - UNESCO World Heritage

Telč is a town in southern Moravia, in the Czech Republic. The town was founded in the 13th century as a royal water fort on the crossroads of busy merchant routes between Bohemia, Moravia and Austria.

The most significant sight is the town square, a unique complex of long urban plaza with well-conserved Renaissance and Baroque houses with high gables and arcades; since 1992 all of this has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In 1979 Werner Herzog filmed the movie Woyzeck in Telč.

It's only 2 hours by car from Vienna to Telč!
Sometimes it's really good to make a weekend trip to a neighbouring country!

We had coffee and sweets under the arcades at the plaza, and afterwards we strolled around the lake and enjoyed the reflections of the town in the clear blue water.

Today's Flowers - Late Autumn Flowers

September in Austria was very warm this year, up to 25° C /77° F!
And the weather will be warm also next week!

And the gardens in Vienna are still full of colourful flowers!

See flowers all around the globe here!