An afternoon in Vienna

Last Monday on the way from A to B I passed through Vienna and had an afternoon walk, a Topfel Strudel mit Vanilla Sauce and an espresso.

Here are several pictures from my walk. I think the interplay between modern and old is always interesting and it is not the first time I take a picture with electricity cables and churches.

Crosses

Saint Stephen cathedral is beautiful but I have seen it so many times that it has lost its novelty. From this perspective both cathedral and tree are shooting into the sky.

Into the sky

What drew drew me to this composition is the difference of the direction each object is pointing to. One hesitates between the heavenly pointing church spire and the practical left turn.

Which is the right way?

I decided to keep company to this guy for a minute. We both saw it was time to go for a coffee and a strudel.

13:45

The Art of Naming

I have always liked noting the names of boats and yachts Recently I had the chance to visit Zanzibar. Interestingly this guy did not name his boat after his beloved but after the degree of feeling to her - too much.

Too much love will kill you

For several days I used to sit for hours on the beach and observe life there. This ferry boat used to bring several cars, TVs and washing machines. After what happened to Egypt recently one would expect that the name Mubarak would be painted over and that Ruaha (whatever this means) would be the new one. 

The names of the dictators...

This hair hairdresser is located next to the crazy market. The name is obviously a translation from Swahili but I can't think of what it might mean. The owner invited me for a haircut. I refused.

Ready for surprises?

This summer we spent a dozen days on the island of Hvar in Croatia. There is some extremely kitschy fashion for the names of these boats. Ecstasea is a perfect example.

Those modest boats

Fortunately there are still some modest local boats. This one bears the endearing name of Little Ivo - Mali Ivo. I imagine that it was named after his newborn son Ivo.

Little Ivo in Jelsa

Libido Bar

Last drops of honey

Today I thought it would be a pity to miss the sun and warm air so I took the bike for a 2 hour tour of an area I liked in October when we went there to an apple festival and a futile mushroom picking. This outing was a kind of an unexpected gift as I already starting thinking of all kinds of skiing exploits. It was a joy to feel the warm air on my back as I was slaloming between cows.


Today I covered the distance from the village of Mourex to Divonne-les-Bains and from there to Vesancy and back to Mourex where I had parked the car.


I took out the camera only in Vesancy although Mourex would have deserved some pictures.


For some reason I am fascinated by old barn gates and I often take pictures of them. I imagine there was quite some life around these gates several hundred years ago. Today I noticed that the shadows play merrily on the gate.

 

Shadows playing on a gate, Vesancy

These trees are incredibly beautiful in the sun and I wish I knew the name at least in some language.

I wish I knew the name, Vesancy

Apparently not much is known about this castle. It is from the 12th century and first used to be a fortress but later became a simple home of the 'noble family of Vesancy'. Only now I noticed that the church cross is reflected on the left tower.

Le Chateaux de Vesancy

The castle was bought out by the commune in the 19th and 20th centuries and now shelters the town hall. When seeing the RF (Republique Francaise) sign one is once again reminded that the French Revolution took place some 222 years ago.

                                La Republique Francaise where nobles once were

Somehow I like this picture as the dead leaves look like a river of honey. That's how the nature was on this warm 29th November.

A river of honey

These dry leaves are quite nice from close with endless curly forms. They were quite fine in the afternoon sun, I think better than when they are wet and slippery, glued together.

Sunbathing leaves

Baptism of Fire: or from Nyon to Morge

Some 20 days ago was Boris' first true bike trip. His biking career has been very steep: in March he removed the support wheels, in April he got a beautiful blue bike which he started riding in the park, in May - we went out in the streets, late May we went off-road. Come June and Boris was in for a 30 km one full-day ride.

I had full confidence in him, of course, and everything turned out to be fine. The only stressful moment of the whole trip was getting on the train in Geneva and then again getting on the train on the way back in Morge. Somehow we were not on the right platform both times and the time was short.

Boris by Geneva Lake

Boris was riding his bike even when we were all having a break. He can't get enough of it.

Andrej and his new style (pay attention to the socks)

Recently Andrej started dressing by himself. Putting on long socks and pulling them all the way up is one of his signatures. This time he chose two different socks.

Jelica, Jessica and Jovana (JJJ) drinking coffee in Rolle

Jelica in the fields
(almost like St Martin in the fields)

Boris in the fields

Boris and his new shining bike with its beautiful blue colour. Tour de France started yesterday and he missed it but

Lantern in St.Prex - someone made those sharp teeth

Somewhere in the fields