My town, your town, our towns...

The magnolia in the back yard is coming along nicely!

It lives in a sheltered environment. Other places I have lived, where there was an abundance of magnolia trees, suffered from gusts of wind that brought the blooms down within days of their maturity. If 2025 is like former years, we should have weeks of pleasure from this tree.

David

I was up early this Sunday to witness the start of the 42nd Vienna Marathon at 9:00 am, in which 43,000 runners competed. The weather had suddenly turned cold: from 19° C on Saturday, the temperature dropped to 0° C, accompanied by a bitter northwest wind. Pictured is the start of the race, as the runners come over the Reichsbrücke (Republic Bridge) over the River Danube.

The winner was Haftamu Abadi from Ethiopia. At 21 he is the youngest winner ever in this event. The freezing weather defeated the favourites, but Haftamu was smart enough to wear ear muffs and extra clothing! This is him at the end of the race -- a screenshot from the computer.

David

The Magnolia in the back yard reached its peak display on Sunday:

David

You never know when you are going to discover a memorial plaque in Vienna. This one commemorates the composer Antonio Salieri, who died 200 years ago this year. He may be best-known today for his part in the film Amadeus about Mozart -- not all of which is based on fact. He lived and died in the house that stood on the same spot as the present one, not far from the cathedral in the centre of the city.

On the same day, I rediscovered this little cut through to Michaelerplatz:

Go through the archway at the end of the lane and you come across the remains of an early 19th century house (foreground) with Roman remains in the background:

David

About two months ago, on the first page of this thread, I showed lines being installed for a new tram route. At that time, the work had stopped when it arrived at the main artery that the route crosses.

There things stayed, until recently, when the road was closed and more rails were laid. Sharp eyes will notice that they are not any more straight or flat than the previous ones! Half of the main road is still out of action.

David

On Friday I took a walk along Herrengasse in my adopted hometown of Vienna. It starts at the Opera and passes through several squares. In April I had tried to take some photos in Josefsplatz, which was rather cluttered at the time. This is a view of one of the entrances to the Austrian National Library.

The best shot I had there that day was this one:

But the other day I was interested in a doorway on the other side of the square. This is was made famous in the film The Third Man, starring Orson Wells. The tourists continually walking past perhaps do not know this black and white classic movie made shortly after WW2, when much of Vienna was not yet rebuilt.

Continuing along Herrengasse, there is a nice view of the tower of St. Michael's Church:

We pass through Michaelerplatz. I took this view three months ago. Herrengasse is the left street. The bank was designed by Alfred Loos c. 1912. To the right, barely visible, is St. Michael's church, and the garret window in the top right hand corner is where Joseph Haydn was housed by a generous family after he had been kicked out of the cathedral choir when his voice broke.

Just up Herrengasse I came across something on the sidewalk that I had not seen before: it is probably recent. Similar plaques, called Stolpensteine (stumbling blocks) are found all over the city.

Translation:

1938–1945: AS JEWS ROBBED – EXPELLED – MURDERED

In memory of the District Inspector of the Gendarmerie, Karl Halaunbrenner, born 10 June 1881. He was arrested on 12 March 1938 [only one day after the Anschluss, when Germany anexed Austria], for his Jewish origins and his anti-Nazi stance and deported to Dachau. On 22 December 1938, he was murdered in the Buchenwald concentration camp.

In memory of the victims and in recognition of the perpetrators.

On the other side of the street is the Café Central. Before WW2 this was a meeting place for intellectuals. There is always a queue outside of people wanting to find seats.

David

There are downsides to living in a beautiful city: the worst of them is the constant rebuilding work. Hiding behind the scaffolding, which will be there long after the summer is over, is the Hotel Bristol, just opposite the State Opera House:

David