like a breath of fresh air

When I went to KHM which is the Museum of Art History here in Vienna, we were wandering around looking at all the different paintings. As that era includes mostly paintings on religious subjects and court portraits, it was one holy or royal family after another. Beautiful paintings but a bit repetitive after a while and all of a sudden there's this:

Fire by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (image from here)

I could have stood there staring at it for hours! Check out this link for a few more paintings and his story. Can't believe Arcimboldo wasn't burnt at the stake at a time when every other painting had a religious subject :) Quite unbelievable for a 16th century painter.
There were three more painting by him so if you ever happen to be in the area make sure to pop in and look at those paintings - they're breathtaking, seriously!
Happy weekend people xx

current obsession

Big Easy Express
Cannot wait to watch this!!! Two of my favourite bands and another one travelling by train through the States making music. Does it get any better than this?

Strawberry-Rhubarb crumble
I made it twice this week haha once with raspberries as I couldn't find any strawberries grown in Austria(shopping can be annoying sometimes, but principles are principles and you can be creative plus it was delicious). There is a wonderful recipe here or just wing it, if you have crumble experience :)

A21 @ EuroCup 2012

image via their webpage

It's been all over the news for the last couple of weeks, that there will be increased sex trafficking over the next couple of weeks during EuroCup 2012.
The A21 campaign launched this campaign in Poland and Ukraine to raise awareness and fight the tragedy about to hit these two countries. Let's not forget that every life is precious, worth far more than rubies and pearls and that 4 out of 5 girls are forced into this business!
Read their post on why A21 do what they do and keep them in your hearts and prayers. The things they deal with is nothing most of us have ever or will ever experience. Let's get behind them and spread the word.
Thanks, you guys are world changers x

playing tourist in and around Vienna

While Dave & Carol were here, I found myself being a tourist again. Always good to have an excuse to  venture out and explore the city a bit more, as I found that you hardly ever do that in the place you grow up in.

We started off in Moedling...

 went on to Gumpoldskirchen...

 and on to Baden...

the rose gardens there are extensive, I think Carol found her happy place :)

ended our night at the Heurigen with a couple of friends & family - you know everyone's feeling great when horrible jokes are being translated and fake accents are being put on haha

The next day brought more adventures in the city...

 Neue Burg museum

we saw the museum of ancient musical instruments, the arms and armour museum and the Ephesos exhibition before we headed over to KHM

taking a break and fleeing the rain at Cafe Demel

Ended our little Vienna trip with some yummy Indian food before we said our good byes and my Aussie family went on to explore more of Europe :)

signing off

I've been down with a horrible throat infection for the last couple days and it doesn't seem to get better :(
So I retreated back to my parents place (rest and relaxation, apart fromone moment when my crazy brother scared the crap out of me! feeling sorry for all neighbours as I screamed my lungs out)  and am watching the European Cup (can think of about ten better things to do but no energy!!) and reading Eric Metaxas' Bonhoeffer biography (so far it's holding up to all the praise and awards it has won).
Happy weekend everyone x

GIANTREE - homegrown music

As Austrian I've complained way too much about the kind of music coming out of our country - with one major exception and a few others haha anyway Giantree is a band that has me excited, quite a bit excited to be honest :)
This song made me go and watch them play last week at a tiny open air event in the city called Donaukanaltreiben. Phenomenal! I even got a free button - honestly who doesn't like free stuff haha It's also great to see girls on stage.
It was a lovely evening and the atmosphere was a very happy one. Summer you are at our finger tips!!
Here are two horrible photos but that's all I got...

Go and like them on facebook or check out tour dates and where to buy their album here, after you can come back and thank me for pointing you in their direction ha!

another quick hike

Last week two of my favourite Aussies stopped by in Vienna. I wrote a bit about them two years ago, while I was staying in Sydney they just became family. It's been four years since I saw them in London, yet it felt like we hung out a couple days ago. Love that!
After two weeks of city sight seeing around Europe they were ready for some greenery, so I took them to the Vienna woods for a little hike :)

there were quite a few hikers and crazy people on mountain bikes around

let's just say our forest is nothing like the Australian bush, so everything had to be documented :)

the wall in the background belonged to a toboggan run built in 1928

My calves were burning the next morning but it was good to get out and be surrounded by nature. Sometimes I forget that having the woods right outside the city is just plain luxury.

More about our city adventures later.