Control Tower 2010-08-11: Now this architecture I like. Before the financial crisis, the Vienna International Airport was expanding. They replaced the old 1950s control tower with this. Nice angles and curves that caught the morning sun as we were leaving the airport yesterday. Many thanks for your kind thoughts on our transition. Haven't heard from our son yet after arrival in Chicago - that's probably a good sign. Have a nice day. Update: He arrived safely.
James Cook's Map 2010-08-03: The national ethnological museum has an excellent exhibition of Capitan James Cook's three trips to the Pacific. He was a cartographer before becoming a naval officer, and he drew his own maps. Here is one of them (perhaps 1780 or so?). Not an exceptional picture - no flash allowed, low lighting in the room and it was under glass. I've tried to get rid of noise without removing too much detail.
Ringstrasse Vienna In the latter half of the 19th century, the walls around the inner city were torn down and many federal and municipal building erected. You see here the Heldenplatz and Volksgarten (trees and green, public gardens today), the Parliament in classic Greek style, the City Hall in Gothic style, and the Burg Theater in baroque style. The massive General Hospital looms behind City Hall, and the Vienna Woods form the backdrop. In the foreground is the memorial to the fallen soldiers of the Napoleonic wars.
