Reflections on Travel and Other Things

I love to travel. I'd almost forgotten how much until I received a follow on Twitter from someone who spends her life traveling and writing about it. My, how I envy this woman!

On her blog, she had a story about Vienna, Austria, focusing on restaurants, places to visit, things to see. It's been a few years since I last visited Vienna. When I first saw the city years ago, I had the most acute sensation of deja vu. I felt at home. I knew instinctively where things were.

On my last visit there, I had no fear of walking the streets alone. I got to hear the Boys Choir. I loved every moment spent in the city.

Do you have a special place you long to visit? Do you know a spot that is dear to your heart? Is it close to home, like Williamsburg?

"Williamsburg Gardens" - pastel painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

On Saturday, May 4, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., I'm teaching a pastel workshop at This Century Art Gallery Education Center.

This is for artists of all levels from beginner to advanced. Pastels are one of my favorite art tools. If you are in this area, I would love to show you the joy of working with them!

Mary Montague Sikes

A Sunday Stroll

Hi everyone!

This week is going to be short and sweet because I am traveling to the States on Tuesday, March 5th. I can’t wait to see friends and family but will be leaving Vienna after some lovely days. Just a few weeks ago, the world here was covered in snow and we wondered if we were ever going to see sun again. Everything has changed since my last post. We heard an interesting tidbit about the winter we just had. Apparently it was the most sunless winter since 1943. No wonder I kept comparing it to WWII conditions.

Sunday we woke to a fabulous day and decided we couldn’t pass it up. Us and others felt the need to get out into the sun and be renewed. We decided to go on a walk that I know as Beethovengong and it was apparently a place where Beethoven would take his constitutional. According to local lore, he loved this trail as it winds its way toward the vineyard areas in the hills.

Now we didn’t have time to go to the top but we did get some mighty fine pictures. Here are a few for you to enjoy.

This is the trail we were on. The picture was taken when we were going down the hill.

We never could figure out just what this was. We think an abandoned flood control gate.

This is one of the many workers huts one sees in the vineyard area.

The occasional evergreen.

A nice little waterfall in the stream by the trail.

My husband and pup Harry before he got all muddy.

A fantastic view of Kahlenburg. It's a hotel and shops plus it has a fantastic view of the city.

Hope you enjoyed this little look into one of my favorite walks. See you next time!

Lynn

A Day at the Naschmarkt

            First, let me apologize for posting this so late. I’ve had bronchitis that is kicking my butt. The weather here is cold and it’s snowing again. That’s another story...here’s today’s post...

            Nearly every Saturday since we’ve been here, rain or shine, we go to the Naschmarkt. The only time we don’t go is when one of us is ill or we feel we have enough food. It is similar to a Farmer’s Market in the States but much more. In addition to the weekly vegetable vendors, there are flower vendors, bakery vendors, and the inevitable flea market where people show up to sell their goods of all kind. Now, I asked my husband once if these were open during the week and at the time he didn’t know if they were or weren’t as he’d only been there during the weekends. Since I asked, I’ve discovered that all the vendors with permanent places are always open during the week. It’s only those at the flea market who come and go.

            Now, we have a friend who every time he’s in town, he will go to find antique signs at the flea market portion of the Naschmarkt. He has decorated his recreation room with signs of every sort from here. The ones he chooses most often are the signs concerning the train system here in Vienna. He has many U-Bahn signs as well as ones for the Strassenbahnand the Sudbahnhof. All I can say is that his basement where he keeps all these signs must be very, very interesting.

            It’s here that I’ve actually done some Christmas shopping as there are vendors amongst the flea market who have some great things I’d be proud to give as gifts. Some are new shops and some are old but all of them have a unique flavor about them that’s seen in few places in the world. It was at one of the small vendors at the flea market where I got my lovely floor rugs. Here’s a couple of pictures of them but first I'll describe them a little.

            The first one is in our living room. I had actually picked out a bigger blue one but when they showed me this one, I fell in love with it. I also got a good deal on both the rugs. The bigger one actually still has the tag on it from the maker and this is wonderful when proving the worth of the rug. Originally it sold for $2450 Euros whereas I was lucky enough to purchase it for $400 Euros. I’m using Harry for scale as he’s a 20 pound dog that’s only 14.5 inches at his shoulder. The picture is also taken in my living room.

            

            The second rug is actually more interesting as my husband thinks it was done by someone in their home. Many of the oriental rugs you see are actually machine made using the same precision as those made by hand. This one is a little worn and is actually softer to the touch. I love the blues in this one whereas the other one is green. This one is at the entrance of my bed room and is the small of the two.

            

            Here are some of the shops that we frequent, such as vegetable vendors, the flower shop, the Oriental shop and more.

          

            Please note that all of these pictures were taken during the fall as a lot of it is currently covered in snow. Hope you had a great day with me at the Naschmarkt!

            See you next time...

            Lynn