Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Blossoms and a new camera

Roses at Turkenschanz


I've been playing with my birthday present, a Canon EOS Rebel T3i. It's a lot of fun. BUT, I'm feeling the learning curve. I've taken a lot of blurred photos!

A rose in the Volksgarten


Thankfully, it's summer and the parks in Vienna are full of blooming plants. I've been experimenting with flower shots. So much possibility; so much to learn...

In the Volksgarten - An orange iris?
Any thoughts on how best to learn about a new camera?





Thursday, April 11, 2013

A Leiter view


Harlem by S. Leiter

Saul Leiter, the New York based photographer and artist, has come to one of my favorite Viennese museums, Kunst Haus Wien. Yesterday some friends and I paid a visit.

It's hard to describe Leiter as his work spans 60 plus years and covers many genres of photography - from street photos and still life shots to portraiture and fashion. Leiter not only takes photos, he paints.  His paintings are whimsical and unashamedly pretty.

Many of the items you see here are from the late 1950's and early 1960's.

Painting by S. Leiter


Leiter's photos are often provocative, like this street shot of a man facedown on a metal staircase.

Street photo by S. Leiter


Or this fashion photo...  one of my favorites in the collection.

Fashion photo by S. Leiter


Leiter's paintings offer a great contrast to his photos. The paintings, often created with gouache and watercolor, are light, fluid, and playful.

Painting by S. Leiter




Perhaps most interesting is Leiter's fusion of painting and photography. It's exciting to see the two mediums come together to create something that is both seductive and fun. Here is an example...

Leiter's painted photo

The Saul Leiter exhibit is at the Kunst Haus Wien until May 26, 2013. I encourage you to experience this inspiring collection! Now it's time for me to take some photos of my own... :)

Many thanks to Karen for inviting me to join her on this visit and to Kunst Haus Wien for allowing me to take these flash-free shots.


Sunday, March 24, 2013

Expressions of rhythm and color

Tulip and Willow designed by William Morris, 1873


I am a big fan of the decorative colors and patterns from the Arts and Crafts period - swirling vines and twisting leaves of sage green and prussian blue, stylized flowers, birds, and fruits. So when Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts - the MAK - opened an exhibit on English textiles from the period, it was only a matter of time before I was there.

Wandle designed by William Morris, 1884


The exhibit is down in the MAK's basement, where the pieces are protected by glass and low light. The rows of fabric panels are breathtaking. Each piece hypnotizing.

Decorative fabric by Silver Studio, 1898


What an extensive variety of English textiles the MAK has collected! Most of the pieces were acquired during the very period in which they were produced, the late 19th century. Back then the MAK was called the Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry (or die k. k. Österreichischen Museums für Kunst und Industrie).

Decorative fabric, unknown


The MAK's textile exhibit is open until October 13, 2013. If you love textiles and are in Vienna this year, I encourage you to visit the MAK.

Exhibit entrance


See you soon!




Monday, December 31, 2012

When it's Silvester


You know you're in Vienna when… it's Silvester, and the eve of the new year.

"Prosit Neujahr!" in Vienna by Emil Stefanov


On this last day of the year, I have much to celebrate. My family is healthy, my life is full of love, and I have opportunities to learn and grow every day.  

The Austrians call New Years, Silvester - as it falls on Saint Sylvester's Day - and there is no better place to celebrate the new year than in Vienna. 

I can feel the energy rise this morning as the Viennese anticipate tonight's party. In Vienna on Silvester the whole city comes alive. Each marketplace, plaza, and square is a party. Stands and kiosks are erected to present music and food, and sell good luck charms. Lights and banners are strung along storefronts and across streets. Scents of sweet and savory treats fill the air.

New Year in Vienna - Nouvel an à Vienne by Gepat

It gets busy downtown as people gather to listen to music, drink Sekt - Austrian sparkling wine - and walk the narrow streets and wide plazas from party to party. There's pop, techno, and yes, waltz!

As midnight approaches the fireworks begin. The skies of the city come alive in a display of color, light, and sound.  I have never seen a city light up the way Vienna does on Silvester. Some say the Austrians light fireworks to chase evil spirits away.

It seems fitting to end this You know Your'e in Vienna When series on this last day of 2012. In the coming year I leave Vienna. It is bittersweet. I love this beautiful city, yet I am excited about discoveries that await.

So, here's to beginnings... Happy Silvester!


Links to You Know You're in Vienna When:






Sunday, November 25, 2012

When you've got the Gluhwein boost

Warms inside and out


You know you're in Vienna… when you've got the Gluhwein boost.

When days turn nippy in Vienna, the Austrians have just the remedy… the Gluhwein boost!  This mulled wine is a special treat at outdoor Christmas markets during the winter holiday season.  It's pretty tasty!

A cup from Christmas market at Turkenshanz Park


Gluhwein goes down warm and sweet and a little bit spicy, filling you with good cheer - and even good will towards fellow market goers!

From lower left: Gluhwein hut, sweets for sale, roasted goodies, and Gluhwein!


What to have with Gluhwien?  So many choices.  You can go with sweets - gingerbread and waffles - or savory - chestnuts and roasted potatoes.

Want to try making this at home?  Check out this Austrian Gluhwein Recipe from the Austrian National Tourist Office.

Happy Holidays!


Links to You Know You're in Vienna When:



Sunday, November 11, 2012

When there's beauty in a regentag




You know you're in Vienna when…  there's beauty in a regentag.  Regentag means "rainy day" in German.  A regentag can be a wonderful way to see Vienna because - if you pay attention - you' ll see the place transformed.




On a rainy day, light, color, and texture change.  Tones deepen.  Objects shine.



I credit Viennese artist, Friedenreich Hundertwasser for teaching me about rainy days. Hundertwasser loved these days so much that he chose to call his ship The Regentag.  He even added the word to his name!

BTW, if you're in Vienna and want to see some of Hundertwasser's inspiring, colorful, and fun art, take a visit to the Kunshaus Wien.  Do it on a rainy day!

Happy Regentag!



Links to You Know You're in Vienna When:




Sunday, November 4, 2012

When dinkel's in your bread


Multigrain bread with dinkel


You know you're in Vienna when... dinkel's in your bread!

Dinkel is a tasty and nutritious grain, commonly called spelt.  It's slightly nutty and sweet, and quite popular in grocery stores and health food shops around Vienna.

Dinkel has an especially hard husk, which means it's naturally resistant to insects and pollutants.  It's higher in protein and fiber when compared to its wheat relatives.  And it's said to have healing qualities!

I especially like to bake with whole grain dinkel, as it adds a hearty flavor and slightly more dense crumb to breads.

Recently I baked a delicious multigrain dinkel loaf on the first snowy day in Vienna.  Dinkel bread goes great with soups and stews.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups water
1 tbsp pumpkin seed oil (or other seed oil)
2 tbsp honey
2 cups wholemeal dinkel flour
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 rolled oats
1/4 potato flakes (optional)
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp dry yeast

For crust:

1/2 cup nut and seed mix (I use whatever I have around: sesame, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds, rolled oats and cornmeal, etc.)

My seed mix is always handy.  I keep it in the door of the fridge.


Preparation:

Using your electric mixer with a paddle attachment or your bread machine, combine the ingredients – keeping in mind your machine’s instructions.

When kneading is done, let the dough rise for about 45 min. or until it has doubled in size.  (If you prefer hand kneading, see my note on hand kneading in my Best Ever Polenta Pumpkin Seed Bread Recipe.)

Once the dough has doubled, pour it out into a floured surface, give it a good kneading - a couple minutes - and then place it greased bowl, and cover lightly with plastic wrap.  Leave it to rise once more.

Waiting to rise


Now preheat your oven to 210 C (or approximately 410 F).  If you have a baking stone, place it in the oven.

Once the dough has doubled again, scatter the seed mix and then pour the dough out onto the seeds.  Gently roll it over the mixture.  The seeds stick to the dough and create a lovely pattern.

Roll gently over the seeds


Place your seed-covered dough directly onto a hot stone.  (If you don't have a stone, no worries.  Just place the loaf on a baking sheet.)

Bake at 210 C (or approximately 410 F) for 20-25 minutes.

When the bread has turned a lovely dark brown and the seeds look nice and toasted, you know it's ready!

Cooling in at the window.  See the snow outside?


This multigrain dinkel bread is excellent toasted and holds up well as a sandwich.

Top: the crumb; bottom: tomato and cheese on dinkel


I encourage you to try wholemeal dinkel in your next bread recipe!

References:

The Grain Mill Company
Lentz Spelt


Links to You Know You're in Vienna When:


Shared with: Petite Hermine





Sunday, October 28, 2012

Monday, October 22, 2012

When you don't carry a watch

Clock on Schönbrunn Palace



You know you're in Vienna when... you don't have to carry a watch to know the time.  Why?  Vienna has a clock on every block!

Clocks around Vienna


When it comes to the love of time instruments, the Swiss have nothing on the Austrians .  Street corners, bus and tram stops, historic buildings, and especially churches are adorned with clocks.

Church clocks


If you're not a clock watcher, no worries!  Just listen.  Most clock bells ring on the hour, the quarter hour, and the half hour.  Time to go...


Links to You Know You're in Vienna When:

Introducing You Know You're in Vienna When
When excellent wines are but an hour away
When sturm is on the menu
When Turkenschanz turns crimson and gold
When dinkel's in your bread
When there's beauty in a regentag
When you've got the Gluhwein boost
When it's Silvester

Monday, October 15, 2012

When sturm is on the menu

It's on the menu!



You know you're in Vienna when... it's harvest time and sturm is on the menu.  Sturm is partially fermented grape juice, and I must admit, it is delicious!  It is slightly sweet and a bit bubbly.

Clockwise from lower left: the harvest, sturm advert, rot sturm, weiss sturm

Sturm comes in red (rot) and white (weiss).  Red sturm is commonly made from Zweigelt grapes, and the white from Grüner Veltliner.

Zweigelt and Grüner Veltliner grapes


I guess way back in the day, folks just couldn't wait for their wine to be ready, so they broke into the barrel and tapped into the sweet juice.  Who can blame them?

Sturm hut on the Am Hof, Vienna

Today drinking sturm in the fall is an Austrian tradition.  If you are in Vienna during sturm season, I encourage you to try some.  But be quick about it; it is only available for a short time.


Links to You Know You're in Vienna When:



Monday, October 8, 2012

When excellent wines are but an hour away


You know you are in Vienna when... excellent wines are but an hour away!

The hamlet of Unterloiben in the Wachau, home of the Knoll Family Winery


Recently we traveled to the Wachau Valley of Austria in search of new wines to taste.  My brother - visiting from California - was eager to learn about the Austrian wines.  We jumped in the car and headed northwest along the Danube.  Our first stop was Weingut Knoll, whose terraced vineyards run along the wide river.  We had a lovely tasting in the courtyard - I particularly liked the Smaragd whites, especially the Riesling!

Clockwise from lower left, Knoll wines, facade of the winery, Grüner Veltliner grapes, grape cart and tractor


Afterwards, we toured the cellar and strolled up the hill through the vineyards.

From left: the vineyard, grapes with noble rot or Botrytis


I enjoyed seeing how leftover stems and leaves were processed.


Processing Stems and Leaves from Valerie Tonus on Vimeo.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the Knoll family has a charming restaurant just across the street.  There's nothing quite like lunch out in the summer garden amongst the apple trees.

Clockwise from left: apples in the summer garden, pumpkin soup, lunch under the trees, cheese plate


After lunch we hopped back in the car for the 30-minute ride to the Rosner Family Winery in Langenlois, one of the biggest wine-producing towns in Austria.  I had tasted Rosner wines before and enjoyed them.  We met with the youngest vintner in the family - Stephan Rosner - and tasted our way through a number of labels!  Stephan kindly gave us a tour of the operation.

From lower left: Rosner logo, harvest time, Rosner barrel, icon of Pope Urban (often depicted with vine and grapes)


By the time we headed home, our trunk was filled with treasures from Knoll and Rosner.  If you have the time to do a day trip from Vienna, I encourage you to visit Austrian wine country.

Part of our catch.  There's Pope Urban again on the label!



Links to You Know You're in Vienna When:

Introducing You Know You're in Vienna When
When sturm is on the menu
When you don't carry a watch
When Turkenschanz turns crimson and gold
When dinkel's in your bread
When there's beauty in a regentag
When you've got the Gluhwein boost
When it's Silvester

Shared with let birds fly.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Introducing You Know You're In Vienna When...


After over three years living in this wonderful city, it is time to share more!  I have posted pieces on Vienna before, but just here and there.  So, in celebration of my last months in this extraordinary European capital, I am introducing a new blog series, You know you are in Vienna when...

I'll still share recipes, tutorials, and other bits on a creative life, but at least once a week I'll share something about living in Vienna.

Here's my first video, introducing the series...


SquareCircleWorks Clip on 9-18-12 from Valerie Tonus on Vimeo.


Links to You Know You're in Vienna When:

When excellent wines are but an hour away
When sturm is on the menu
When you don't carry a watch
When Turkenschanz turns crimson and gold
When dinkel's in your bread
When there's beauty in a regentag
When you've got the Gluhwein boost
When it's Silvester



Tuesday, July 31, 2012

On the farm in Upper Austria


And on and on it grows



In summer, when you travel off the main highway in Upper Austria or Oberösterreich, it's not long before you find yourself amidst the cornfields.  Corn to the left; corn to the right.

Cornfields close to Bad Hall, Austria


We recently went in search of friends who live on a working farm in Oberösterreich.  We followed our GPS, and we were soon traveling a very narrow winding road.  What the GSP correct?  Corn or mais was everywhere.  It was a corn jungle!

Reaching for the sky


In the U.S. we tend to think of corn as an American food.  After all, corn is native to the Americas.  But farmers in Austria have been growing corn on a large scale since just after the second world war.  I was surprised to learn that - after wheat - corn is the most important annual crop in Austria.  Corn is mainly used as animal feed and for the production of biogas.

Cornfields in Upper Austria


Small farms still exist in Austria.  You can see them as you travel the countryside.  The traditional Austrian farmhouse is built like a quad, four joined structures with a courtyard in the center.  These farmhouses are old, and they are lovely.

Our friend's farmhouse was first built in the fourteenth century.  It has been altered over the years.  Some of its building materials include stones from a nearby church.

From lower left: farmhouse courtyard, stones recycled from an old church, the corn cart, happy farm kitty


How fortunate to have experienced this part of Austria!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Upper Austria - A trip to Steyr

Along the Steyr River
Last weekend we visited Upper Austria and the city of Steyr, where the rivers Enns and Steyr meet.  Steyr is one of the best preserved towns in Austria.  It's square or "Stadtplatz" winds long and narrow like the adjacent Enns River.


Along the Enns River
We were lucky enough to meet a wonderful lady - a friend of a friend - who took us to view Steyr from the heights of St. Michael's Church.
St. Michael's Church, Steyr
The views from above were spectacular.
Steyr viewed from St. Michael's Church
We also entered one of the best preserved Gothic buildings on the Stadtplatz, the Bummerlhaus. To get there from the church, we had to descend a long narrow covered passage.


Descending to the Bummerlhaus
We knocked on the door and much to our surprise the caretaker let us in!  We discovered a lovely ancient courtyard inside.
Bummerlhaus exteriors (left) and interiors (right)
Another impressive structure, just across from the Bummerlhaus, is the Town Hall or "Rathaus", with its Rococo facade.  I particularly liked the creature suspended above the main balcony.  It looked like a lion/goat with flames burning from all orifices.  What is that all about?

The Rathaus of Steyr
The flaming lion/goat of the Rathaus
There are so many lovely details to discover in Steyr.  I have to share a few more!  For example, the house where Schubert stayed...

Schubert was here...


And the building with the cannon ball, a suspended relic from past battles...


The trapped cannon ball
Many thanks to dear friends in Upper Austria for showing us beautiful Steyr.  If you are ever in Austria, I encourage you to visit this picturesque city of red rooftops and rivers.


Walking path along the Steyr River
Do you have a favorite place in Austria?