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!

Tajine cooking

Tajine cooking
has become my favourite occupation after coming home from work.

The ingredients for a veggie tajine are unspectacular:
onions, carrots, tomatoes, fennel, garlick, celery, olive oil,
parsley and coriander.
Ras el Hanout, a North-African blend of spices, adds an oriental touch.

Everything is cut to small pieces, the onions are slightly roasted, the other veggies, salt, pepper, ras el hanout and some water are added and then the cap is put on the pot.
The whole thing simmers for half an hour, and finally the fresh parsley and coriander are added.
Voilà, dinner is ready!

And, perhaps a glass of prosecco makes the cooking process still more delightful :)

Enlarge the picture above for the recipe!

Happy weekend, dear friends!

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!

Egypt in November

My husband and I spent a holiday in Egypt last November and we LOVED the people and their country.
Best wishes to Egypt from Vienna!
We keep our fingers crossed for a good future!

A wonderful sunrise with a partial eclipse

A partial eclipse, a rare and quite exciting event,
took place some days ago in Vienna,
on 4 January 2011.

I know, I'm very late posting my pictures,
but I'm a very lazy blogger lately...

When I left my apartment in the morning, the sun rose,

painting the clouds orange in a most spectacular way,

reflecting and thus multiplying the golden glow
as if anticipating that soon the sun would be partially hidden by the shadow of the moon.

I found a place to see the partial eclipse
between the high-rise buildings of the city.

ARed Cross alu blanket (black picture) and some coloured transparent plastic folders (red picture) had to suffice to filter the gleaming sunlight.

http://www.wien.gv.at/tv/Detail.aspx?mid=147024

...and a Happy New Year!

Greetings from the City of Johann Strauss,
where Franz Welser-Möst conducted this year's New Year's Concert,
featuring the legendary music of the Strauss family and of Franz Liszt!

And if you want to escape from the City of music for an afternoon,
take a trip through the romantic snow-covered Vienna Woods!

I wish you a happy New Year, dear friends!
I hope the next year will be as good as the last one!