The day started by us wanting to have a stroll in Prater Park behind our hotel. Under some 'pom-pom trees' with flocks of big fat crows, I saw a white apparition in the distance. It was striding with its owner. From its gait and size, I surmised that it must be a husky. My obsession with wolf and wolf-like canine led me to follow it. That dog was fast. After a few bends behind the more heavily wooded part of the park, I lost sight of it at a junction. A dog has led me astray. There were many other dog-walkers in the park. I took to following another one.
We went along a paved road that was pencil-straight and very long. On each side of the road were rows of trees sandwiching unpaved lanes. Beyond the lanes and the peripheral trees were woodlands with branches so thick that even though bare, blocked the sunlight from reaching the leafy ground. (I did not notice the lady in the center of focus in the middle of the second picture when I took it.)
Both on the road and the lanes, horse carriages passed. Some horses cantered proud and straight while others were more unruly, veering to the left and right, requiring constant corrective adjustments from the driver.
Close to the western edge of the park, we saw a patch of these winter bloomers. These looked very much like cabbages to me.
I made a detour to capture The Pig who helped us get back to the hotel in the previous night. The Pig was painted/sprayed on a long continuous wall along the Donaukanal or Danube Canal's walking path. The wall was also filled with long strips of full-size graffiti of many styles and designs including these faces and The Pig.
Gulls lined up along the water's edge. I found them lacking in 'flock instinct'. When approaching them, only those who felt personally threatened would fly and they only did so one by one.
From a convenient shop near The Pig, we bought 24 hours passes and boarded the U-Bahn. I decided to get off in front of the Vienna International Centre.
From the VIC or UNO buildings, we walked towards Donaupark. I picked up a few icons along the way.
Instead of the elaborate classical architectures in the city center, the structures on this island were very contemporary and futuristic in design. I found the simplicity of the modern buildings a refreshing breath of fresh air after being bombarded with so many ancient and medieval architectures from both UK, Czech and Austria. The smooth reflective surfaces on these skyscrapers offered a wonderful counterpoint to the weather worn stones houses of old.
This was the rippling image of Donauturm or the Danube Tower. I turned to its source.
The tallest free-standing structure of Austria stood lonesomely among a park full of the most verdant grass. Another model 'poo-poo dogs' that colonized the district stood guard before it.
Some trees opposite these interesting sculptures in the park were laden with red berries.
Meanwhile some ducks bath in a nearby pond. They hurried into the reeds as I crept closer.
I did set out deliberately to shoot The Pig. I was pleasantly surprised to find some living. breathing and filthy swines. I doubt anyone would dispute the fact that these are some big fat oinksters. They weren't very tall, maybe around 2 feet, but their drooping bellies nearly rub the ground. They were initially shy and ran away as fast as their stumpy legs could carry them but soon warmed up and approached me instead.
One scratched its back against the tree. It stopped to cock its head and looked up as I left.
Walking along some wooden fences with blue berries spilling over from within, we reached another U1 station and hopped on till the very last stop in Leopoldstadt. It looked like a residential area.
We got out, took a look, turned back and left. I shot a crow.
The opposite track brought us back to Donauinsel or Danube Island. It was on this recreational narrow strip of an island that I saw a most perfectly brilliant blue sky. This is the kind of blue that can dispel any blues in the soul.
Brown leafs were neatly piled beside the road in the white lighthouse's shadow. 1 leaf must be doing Kermit proud - green is the color of rebels.
An heir of coming spring hung on and waved slightly in the wind while a big black bird perching on a banister contemplated the future before fluttering off into the wind.
Like the bird, I gazed at the mirror-like river and mused about things. I once met a Kiwi who had lived in the Isle of Wight for more than a decade on his business trip to Singapore. As wonderful as the tropics are, he would rather endure the gloom of UK's infamous rain and its forlorn and brief winter days, if only to savor the true incomparable glories of temperate high summer. Yes, what would I trade to see a day like these (remembering that it is winter now)?
In the distance, there were hills. We set our sight upon them and charted the course on a map with names we couldn't read.
Walking back to the VIC to get lunch, these modern structures provided much appreciated shades on a blue-sky-day.
Onto a U1 we went, swapping to a U4 and taking it to the northern extreme for that place seemed to be the most probable way to reach the hills we saw.
One who enjoys the Halcyon days is never foolish for you won't know when they would next come.
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