Chic Vienna

Around the 1st of May I had a good friend and her boyfriend staying over for one week. She has decided a few years ago to go into fashion and learn how to sew and design her own and other people’s clothes. As you can imagine, because of this she developed a real passion for fashion and everything that has to do with it.

I have to admit, for me Vienna is not one of the most fashionable cities in the world so I kind of let myself go since I am here and not really followed any fashion or trends. Nevertheless with my friend here, having  a real interest for fashion and clothing we went to visit an exhibition/ fair called “Modepalast” (fashion palace). I have to say I really enjoyed it and even changed my perspective of what one should/ can were in a rather ‘fashion conservative’ city like Vienna. I ended up buying a dress and  by chance going to a similar fair the next weekend: Designmarkt Edelstoff.

I have to say, that what I like about the fashion event in Vienna is the fact that they all still have the crafty, hand-made feeling to it. One can still fell the freshness and improvisation and this is what makes it special.

Now I am actually kind of excited about the Vienna Fashion Night on the 14th of June and about the Vienna Fashion Week in September.

A big thanks to my friend because she turned my mind  fashion again and also because it made me discover that Vienna can be actually pretty fashionable. (and as the pictures are not taken by me this time, a big thanks to the photographer for the great pictures).

My friend trying on a Japanese hat

 

Black See food…near the Alps.

Ok, let us go back to Vienna, after all this blog;has this name in its title…

I was thinking to (re)start with what I always like to know about a city, and this is where can you get good food! If you are expecting the ‘Viennese Schitzel, potato salad and Wiener Sausage’ type of restaurants recommendation, I am sorry to disappoint but this is not where I eat (at least not anymore after the many kilo that I put on while doing so right in the beginning when I got here) and this is also not where the sporty & fit Viennese people eat (at least not all the time, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to call them sporty and fit in this article).

So what do Viennese eat? Mostly everything that has “bio” in its title but besides this they eat a lot of international, especially middle eastern, oriental food. This is why I am at this point also pretty hooked on humus and having it as often as I can together with the good veggies that usually come with it.

My favorite restaurant, that happens to be 3 to 5 minutes from my home is therefore a restaurant that doesn’t serves Austrian dishes but Georgian ones. And it  seems that this restaurant doesn’t only appeal  to me as a daughter of the Black See but also gathers a lot of personalities from the intellectual scene here in Vienna. Therefore, it often happens that well-known writers spend long hours (Viennese style) at a table there and so do I for a few years now.

What I absolutely love and almost always  take  while there is the “Georgische Antipasti” which is a plate including four specialities: two types of eggplant roles, one stuffed with feta cheese and the other one with a sort of nuts mousse, one beetroot salad and one beans salad all sprinkled with lots of parsley and with some corn salad on the side, or more exactly in the middle of the plate.

The coffee is also one of the reasons for which I get to call this place my favorite. If you like milk-coffee (again Viennese style) this is a place where you get a Caffe Latte with 3 to 4 fingers worth of milk foam.

Ok, enough talking about food, as I for one am starting to get hungry. These are some photos that I took one saturday morning while having breakfast there so that you can see that I was right about the coffee

Madiani at Karmelitermarkt Vienna

Obsession

I do not know what it really is, maybe is my latin blood (who knows if i actually do have any in my family tree) but Italy has become an evident obsession of mine. I have counted and since i moved to Vienna I have been to Italy 8 times already. And no, I do not have any business there and no relatives; actually, while there, or whenever talking to an Italian, i am even self-conscious about my nationality and the fact that Romanians do not have the best of images in my ‘crush’ country. Nevertheless I somehow end up planing most of my vacations in “La Bella Italia”. Easter, my birthday, my boyfriend’s birthday, my mother’s birthday, my honeymoon; these events all seemed logic for me that I share with Italy. I feel there maybe like one feels when he is visiting a rich cousin that has a wonderful stylish home. You feel like you are still with family just that it looks so much better than your own home. Well this rich cousin is for me Italy. I feel that i understand Italy  (a lot better and faster than I understood Austria) -in the end our languages are so similar, we have the same loud mouth, the same bad temper, bad driving skills but also friendliness, joy of life and love of beauty. Just that this cousin that has the same roots as me, has had the luck to have extreme wealth…and culture…and style…This is where I start finding it a little bit unfair but as I am not an envious person i decide to still go and visit him thinking that this style belongs a little bit to me as well and also that maybe, just maybe all this beauty is contagious…

breath of fresh air

Vienna is nice but one of the nicest things is to get away from home and see other new places, and now that Vienna has become home for me I tend to get enthusiastic about seeing everything that is around it.
In the past 2 months i have visited 2 very contradictory cities: Amsterdam and Rome. They are as different as two highschool sweethearts that are using a total different type of seduction but are both as attractive and make it hard to compare an choose one of them. Rome is like the pretty popular girl who is looking very stylish but is playing hard to get and has actually less to offer beside her ravishing beauty. Amsterdam instead, is like the sporty natural girl who seems less attractive at a first glance but who disarms you with her unsophistication and genuine style. Yes indeed you read me right, Amsterdam is first of all simple! Uncomplicated, friendly and accessible. The drug and prostitution clichés are of course also true but what i thought i understood now while seeing Amsterdam for the first time is that the regulations there are not the result of a lusty, party society but pure & simple accessibility. Every repression only makes the vice more attractive and alluring. If one has a wish, need or pleasure, Amsterdam is the city that doesn’t want to censure it, is the city that wants to make life easy and fresh and so much more uncomplicated then we people who live down south think it can be. Enjoy the freedom!

back for good

They say the one thing that you shouldn’t do if you want your blog to be successful is to become inactive. I would say it is allready too late for this after a 2 year absence but now i am back for good (at least from time to time;)) changed, refreshed and in a new language for those who are dear to me but accidentally not Romanian.

Ultima zi de vara in Viena

Vara se apropie de sfarsit in Austria. Septembrie este rareori o luna calda aici ci una de toamna, precum scrie si in calendar. Vienezii incep sa mentioneze apropierea toamnei chiar din mijlocul verii, ceea ce nu este total gresit deoarece oscilatiile de temperatura si ploile dese pot aduce temperaturi de 15 grade in mijlocul lui August; asa cum s-a intamplat destul de des si luna aceasta.
Dupa ceea ce anunta prognoza meteo, se prea poate ca ieri sa fi fost ultima zi cu adevarat de vara din anul acesta. Ce au facut austriecii intr-o astfel de zi calda? S-au bucurat de soare, apa, plaja si nisip. Da, e adevarat, Austria nu are mare cum avem noi deci apa este de obicei, apa unei piscine, a unui lac sau cea a Dunarii, plaja este improvizata si nisipul e de multe ori adus, dar asta nu inseamna ca aceste locuri nu au farmecul lor aparte.
Un astfel de loc unde vienezii se relaxeaza sub razele soarelui, pe o fasie de nisip, cu un pahar de vin in mana este Donaukanal. Aici apar in fiecare an, precum ciupercile, noi si noi sezlonguri apartinand teraselor si localuri ce ocupa malul Canalului Dunarii.
Cateva imagini cu cele mai interesante si in voga terase ieri inainte ca toamna sa se abata peste noi.

Cea mai noua si populara locatie a Canalului este noul restaurant cu forma unui vas de croaziera ce a fost construit in primavara aceasta in portul de plecare al vapoarelor ce merg spre orasul “geaman” al Vienei, Bratislava.

Badeschiff-Piscina din mijlocul apoi.

Lounging area- Tel Aviv Beach-misunand de oameni ieri seara

Ringul Vienez

Viena este un  oras  simplu de vizitat, ea a avut grija sa isi insire impozantele cladiri monumentale in mod ordonat, intr-un singur “inel” ce inconjoara centru istoric. Si nu, nu este o intamplare, ele au fost create asa cu intentie. La intentia cui? Ei bine, la intentia celui pe care noi il stim ca fiind devotatul sot al Imparatesei Sisi,Kaiser-ul Franz Josef. In 1857, el a intocmit  un  decret care incepea prin, intre timp devenita deja faimoasa, fraza: “este vointa mea”. Vointa lui a fost ca pe locul unde inainte se afla zidul de protectie al orasului sa fie construita un bulevard cu cladiri impozante care sa fie reprezentative pentru puterea Imperiului.

Acest bulevard trebuia sa  reprezinte maretia si grandoarea Imperiului, sa fie o strada de promenada si nu neaparat una cu caracter functional(transportul de marfuri) iar cladirile situate pe aceasta strada trebuiau sa fie ca o expozitie a trecutului si prezentului marelui Imperiu Austriac. Tocmai din aceasta cauza, cladirile de pe Ring au fost construite sub marca tuturor formelor arhitecturale europene din ultimi 2000 de ani; stilul acesta purtand numele de “Historismus” (Istoricism). Astfel, o parte a Hofburgului  (resedinta de iarna a imparatilor si actualul palat prezidential)  aminteste de Coloseum, Parlamentul aminteste de templele grecesti iar muzeele in oglinda din piata Maria Theresia construite dupa modelul renascentist cu influente baroc au fost inspirate de  Catedrala Sf. Petru din Vatican.

Cam care ar fi aceste perle ale Vienei insirate pe siragul ce inconjoara cea mai veche parte a orasului?  Pai cele mai importante dintre ele ar fi:

Hofburgul- cu poarta sa exterioara ce il leaga de Ring,

Parlamentul inspirat de cladirile Greciei Antice,

Opera Vieneza -construita in stil neorenascentist,

Muzeul de Istorie Naturala si Muzeul de Istorie a Artei-construite in oglinda in piata Maria-Thersia si inspirate de stilul Renasterii italiene,

Rathaus- Primaria vieneza construita in stil neogotic.
Acestora li se mai alatura alte cladiri importante din aceiasi perioada precum: Burgtheater (Teatrul Imperial), Universitatea, fostul Minister al Apararii, Tribunalul si “Postsparkasse” (banca de economii a Postei).