Die Studlhofstiege 2012-07-23 The Studlhof Steps are a famous Jugendstil architectural feature of Vienna's ninth district. BUilt around 1910, they became well known as a symbol of autumn after the publication of the eponymous melancholy novel in 1951. "Wenn die Blätter auf den Stufen liegen herbstlich atmet aus den alten Stiegen was vor Zeiten über sie gegangen... Viel ist hingesunken uns zur Trauer und das Schöne zeigt die kleinste Dauer." (rough translation of poetic German) "When old leaves line the steps, memories of that which travelled over them arise like exhalations. We mourn the passing of much, and beauty seems to last the least" And on another note - why does the picture look like September instead of July? Because of the rain and because of the chestnut blight. On a sunnier note - it is a beautiful day, so I should go take more pictures.

Toy Town 2012-01-26 Between the Danube River and the 'old Danube' recreation water (here at the top) there is an area that used to be flood plain and where the rubble of the second World War was dumped. People built small houses there in the 1950s - most of those have been replaced now by full sized houses. I thought about giving this shot a tilt-shift like tight focus, but since the picture itself has no single focal point, it didn't look right.