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Designqvist was my first big surprise during my shopping trip through Vienna. A whole shop about Scandinavian flatware. My first thought: If one is interested in kitchenware design, visiting the MAK (Museum of Applied Arts) and this shop would be an idea.
The Weihnachtsdorf (Christmas village) at the Maria-Theresien-Platz is situated right between the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts) and the Naturhistorische Museum (Museum of Natural History) and is therefore a fine place for having a break between two museum visits.
The Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) at Spittelberg is probably one of the most famous Christmas markets of Vienna. I like this market especially for its location which is in the middle of a quarter with smaller buildings dating back to the Biedermeier period (first half of 19th century)
This Weihnachtsdorf (Christmas village) is situated at the huge inner yard of a former hospital called AKH. The market offers besides the general stuff a small lane of stalls where one can watch craftsmen at their work. So I spoke with a lady about how to make candles made of honey.
The Christkindlmarkt is considered the largest Christmas market in Vienna. It is located in front of the city hall. Compared to other markets, it offers a lot of stuff for children. For example, there are workshops where children create beautiful things like birdhouses or colourful candles.
The Perchtenlauf (Procession of Perchten) in Judenburg shows several groups who love to run as Perchten through the streets. The local name of such a group is Pass. I’m impressed with how scary the self-made masks look.
Hotel Wiesler is located next to the centre of Graz. After a short walk, guests reach the Kunsthaus (Museum of Contemporary Art) or the central marketplace. From many rooms, one has a fine view of the landmark of Graz, the Uhrturm (a clock tower).
At the Kaiser-Josef-Markt – the oldest farmer market of Graz – I saw this offer for McIntosh apples. Well, the spelling on this label is wrong but the story of these apples is interesting. I was told the famous computer model Apple Macintosh is named after this apple.
Next to the room where I took a workshop in creating hand-made paper I came across this sundial. It is placed at the court of Geras Abbey (Stift Geras). I wonder which castle is shown at that sundial?
The hotel is split in two buildings. One building used to be the granary, the other one the dairy farm of Geras Abbey. Actually I had an excellent view of Geras abbey from my room at the former granary. The hotel is also linked with Geras Abbey by offering a lot of workshops in the rooms of the abbey.
At an exhibition about the history of the fire brigades taking place at Geras Abbey (Stift Geras), I saw this Volkswagen Type 181. It was built in 1974 and was used as service car for the fire brigades in Lower Austria. Reading the story of this car makes me smile: Was this car really called “The Thing” in the US?
View from my hotel room in Geras. I stayed on the first floor of a former ‘Schüttkasten‘. That is a building which was used for the storage of corn in earlier times. From my room, I had this view of Geras Abbey (Stift Geras). Inside the building on the left side I took a lesson in producing hand-made paper lately.