July 6 - 187/365
8/16/10
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| 50mm lens, f/5, 1/640, ISO 400 |
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
May 25 - 145/365
6/18/10
Canon PowerShot SD600
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Another day of nothing but travel as we made our way from Frankfurt, Germany back to Baltimore, Maryland via Philadelphia. Pictured here is my passport and our ticket stubs for the trip from Germany to Philadelphia. We had a great time in Germany and Austria, but there is still nothing like home sweet home!
May 18 - 138/365
6/16/10
18-55mm lens @ 33mm, f/10, 1/200, ISO 200
Our second day in Vienna was spent touring three of its amazing palaces - the Hofbug, Schönbrunn, and Belvedere. The Hofburg was the regular home of the Hapsburg royalty, and the Schönbrunn just outside of the downtown area was their summer home (away from the stench of the city in the summer heat). This photo was taken at the last palace we visited, the Belvedere, which was the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Eugene was initially rejected from the French court of Louis XIV because he was "short and ugly", so he instead offered his military service to the Austrian Hapsburgs where he went on to become one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history. This photo is of the view Prince Eugene enjoyed of the city of Vienna from the Belvedere... not bad, huh? :-)
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May 17 - 137/365
18-55mm lens @ 18mm, f/5, 1/25, ISO 800
After one night in "Sound of Music" country, we made the long drive from Obertraun to Austria's most famous location, Vienna. We had been anticipating the beauty of Vienna and were surprised at the enormous size of the city and the surprising modernity of it. There were indeed many elaborate baroque style buildings, and of course the famous Hofburg palace which we toured the following day, but still it was not the jolt back in history that we had suspected. Still, we enjoyed touring the elaborately decorated palaces of Emperor Franz Josef and his troubled wife, Sisi, and sipping coffee in Vienna's high ceiling plus cafes. Today's image is of one of the churches that we stopped in to see in Vienna, Augustiner Kirche, a great example of the amazing Gothic architecture that was so prevalent in both Germany and Austria. It was also the site for many royal weddings, including the wedding of Franz Josef and Sisi, and the French Emperor Napolean to the Austrian Princess Marie Lousie. I especially loved this church because of the beautiful golden chandeliers.
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May 16 - 136/365
18-55mm lens @ 32mm, f/5, 1/40, ISO 200
"The hills are alive....." Welcome to Salzkammergut, the Lake Region of Austria, also fondly called "Sound of Music" country since it is the region that best represents the beautiful countryside featured in the movie. Since my husband is NOT a big fan of musicals (in fact, he almost abhors them), we did not spend time touring the "Sound of Music" sights, but we did stay one night in the lake region. This image is of a town called Hallstatt, and the town we stayed the night in, Obertraun, was just 5 minutes away across the lake. Despite the gloomy weather that was continuing to plague us, we enjoyed the beautiful views of the alpine villages set on the lake with the majestic mountains jutting up in the background. These towns were also well known for serving fish freshly caught in the lake, so we welcomed the opportunity to take a break from our pork-focused diet. Hallstatt is also known for its large salt mines which has been a huge source of income for the town for thousands of years, but unfortunately we arrived in town too late to take a tour of the mines. Still, we enjoyed the serenity and beauty of the Salzkammergut.
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May 15 - 135/365
18-55mm lens @ 42mm, f/5, 0.6sec, ISO 800
Today we went from Germany back into Austria, where we remain for another 4 days. Our first stop was Salzburg, best known for being the birthplace and family home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The town itself was beautiful and the streets were lined with wrought-iron signs and elaborately decorated buildings. We had a number of amazing experiences in Salzburg, making it difficult to choose just one photo to represent our day there. In the end, I chose a photo from an evening dinner concert that we attended. Since both my husband and I enjoy classical music, we wanted to enjoy a concert in the hometown of Mozart. While it was probably a tourist trap type of place, the Mozart Dinner Concert evening was still full of talent, candelight, good food, and lots of fun. The dinner was broken into 3 musical acts, each followed by a food course serving dishes that would have been served in Mozart's time. Musical pieces from "The Marriage of Figaro", "Don Giovanni", and "The Magic Flute" were performed, and in our opinion one of the most talented individuals performing was the lead violinist shown in this photo. Definitely one of the most memorable evenings during our trip and a great way to fully experience Mozart in Salzburg.
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May 12 - 132/365
6/11/10
18-55mm lens @ 34mm, f/4.5, 1/30, ISO 500
Ooh la la.... oh wait, that's French, and now we are in Austria. But regardless, this image is of one of the most historic chocolate cakes. The Sacher torte was created by 16-year-old Franz Sacher in 1832 on a short-notice demand from Prince Clemens Lothar Wenzel Metternich of Austria. The young chef quickly whipped up the now infamous Sacher torte which quickly became a dessert commanded by Austrian royalty, including the Empress Maria Theresia of Austria. Needless to say, being the chocoholic that I am, I had to have my very own piece of this historic chocolate cake. While I can't say that it was the best piece of chocolate cake I have ever had, it was still fun to eat a little piece of Austrian history in the town of Innsbruck, Austria. :-)
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May 3 - 123/365
5/3/10
28-135mm lens @ 60mm, f/4.5, 1/8, ISO 800
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