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!

Happy Easter!

In Vienna, the last weeks were sunny and pleasant.
Finally, spring had come with
blossoms and flowers everywhere.

As every year,
I went to the Donauinsel to see if the Japanese Cherrytrees were already blooming.

Yes, they were in full bloom,
and I spent the whole afternoon strolling along the riverside of the Danube with my doggy D'Ora.

When I took pictures of the cherrytrees,
a flock of swans passed by.
I thought of my friend Ayamlin in Tokyo and sent my best wishes to her.

The Japanese Cherry trees were planted by representatives from both countries in 2009 to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the commencement of diplomatic relations between Austria and Japan.

By the way, our Easter holidays are wonderful this year!
We have sun, sun, sun and pleasant summerly temperatures!

Happy Easter to you!

Now spring is coming

Last Sunday my husband and I sought relief from watching the disturbing news from Japan.
We strolled through the outskirts of Vienna
where we found a landscape still wearing the colours of winter,
but showing the first signs of spring.

What a fancy thing:
the colour of the river Danube exactly matched the colour of the first violets!

Some bushes even showed a pleasant yellow!

Liverwort is a common sping flower in the decidous forests of the Vienna Woods, and its colour is also "Danube-blue" :)

We walked back to the city through the endless wineyards, still bare and grey,

towards a city with nearly 2 million inhabitants
(which actually looks like a very big village... )

Here we found the first snowdrops - the wetlands of the Danube must be full of them by now!

The ice is melting

The old arms of the Danube in Vienna are still covered with ice.

A mallard enjoyed the warm sunlight glittering on the ice.

Our dog D'Ora gave the cold water a first try.

The ice was still thick enough to carry nosy dogs,

lively ice-skaters and curious families.

Where the ice was gone,
mandarine ducks were courting their females.

Could this be Spring?

A bundle of tulips

A colourful bundle of tulips cheers me up
when winter is already too long,
when it is still too cold outside,
when temperatures are below the freezing point and winds are chilly!

But it's end of February, and hopefully Spring will come soon!

See more flowers from all over the world here:

http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

A sunny spring day at lake Neusiedl

Today we made a day trip to Lake Neusiedl,
a big lake in the plains only half an hour by train from Vienna ;)

The temperatures were nearly Spring,
and the ice on the lake began to melt.

The day was so bright that you could even see the Schneeberg in the distance, awell-liked 2000 m mountain situated at the eastern edge of the Austrian Alps.

The sky was so soft and blue, and the warm sun made the ice sparkle.

My dear hub enjoyed the warm sun. He seems to be deep in thoughts, maybe he is reflecting on his 65th birthday which he celebrated yesterday?

I felt so good! What could be better than a pleasant day in the sun?

In the evening we took the train back to Vienna.

When we waited for the train to come,
a sundog (???) appeared in the western sky.

It was the first sundog I ever saw (if it was a sundog)!

A glorious sunset made our farewell from Lake Neusiedl even sweeter!

Have a nice week ahead!

Cherry blossoms still asleep

Last Wednesday, my friend Brigitte and I visited the Japanese garden("Kirschenhain") at the Donauinsel.

A pastel sunset behind Kahlenberg and Leopoldsberg.

And 1000 Japanese cherry trees waiting for the spring sun to open up their buds!

Too bad,

Vienna's 9th cherry tree festival was cancelled because of rainy weather!

Follow this link to see pictures from last year's cherry tree festival!

桜の森

「キルシェンハイン - 桜の森」は2002年春、ドナウインゼル１８キロメートル地点に、ウィーン森林局と芸術家グループ to the woodsによって創られました。
この公園は、ニーダーオーストリア州 シュレムスで採取された花崗岩100体と1996年オーストリア建国1000年を記念して日本から寄贈された1000本桜のうち最後の150本から成り、 ドナウ川とその周辺の野原や木立と調和した憩いの空間となっています。
桜の森の完成と1000本桜が全て植え終わった記念として2002年4月30日に最初の「桜の森祭り」が行われ、その後毎年桜の季節に開催されています。
桜の森の成長にともない、自然との関わり、訪れる人々の交流もますます深まっていくことでしょう。 この成長型アート空間は、伝統的な日本庭園に新風を吹き込むものです。

Sky Watch Friday - Eveing skies

The Vienna Skywalkers meet once a week at 7 pm for a 1 1/2 hours walk.
That's Me and my friend Brigitte.
This is the first time after the winter that wewalked at sunset.

A pleasant warm evening in Spring, still water, and a red sunset behind the soft hills of the Vienna Woods.

Today's flowers - Messengers of Spring

Kuhschellen/Pasque Flowers/Pulsatilla vulgaris

We found this early spring flower yesterday on our hike through the ridges of the Wienerwald
on the steep hills of Leopoldsberg on a sunny and extremely dry place.

Maybe the flowers have chosen this place also for its lovely view over Vienna and the river Danube?

Enjoy many, many more flowers from all around the world here: