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Eclipse at 23:11 CET

Last night provided a brilliant opportunity for much of the world (except Australia) to witness a spectacular total lunar eclipse. Unlike most other astronomic events is even happened at some reasonable hour – around midnight (Central European Time).

So I decided to stay up late and try my best to capture a few moments of the lunar eclipse which was announced to be “the best in years”. First my gear was installed by the window, then I installed myself in front of the TV. Some late night films and a drink were to be excellent company to pass the time during the eclipse.

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Lights at dusk

After visiting some Viennese christmas markets around the city centre, I went to Schönbrunn palace to take in the clove & cinnamon scented atmosphere against the crepuscular backdrop of the Imperial palace at dusk.

See all images in the Christmas markets 2 album below:

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Belvedere christmas market

When the days get shorter in the 0.3% of the planet (*) taken up by Germany and Austria our teutonic friends flock to the Christmas markets, where they meet their friends, colleagues and office mates to consume liberal amount of a sweet sticky substance called “Punsch”.

Lacking an empire of their own the Germans left it to British sailors to introduce the spicy, fruity and intoxicating beverage to Europe. During the winter months “Punsch” makes a worthwhile investment into one’s body weight and core temperature while greasing the wheels of social intercourse. These days it is sold in a myriad varieties at Christmas markets all over Germany and Austria and other neighbouring countries.

Lights in the trees

Over the last week I headed out a couple of times to capture the magical Christmas atmosphere at some of Vienna’s best-known Christmas markets.

I am planning to visit more locations over the next few weeks and more photos will be posted here.

The first album includes

• Karlsplatz (in front of St. Charles Church)
• Museumsquartier (home of the Leopold collection and other museums)
• Rathausplatz (town hall square)
• Schloss Belvedere (spectacular baroque palace)

See all photos in the album Christmas markets 1 below:

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Ask any person from the US or the UK about films related to Austria and they will name these two classics – “The Sound of Music” and “The Third Man”. The funny thing is that most Austrians or Germans have never seen these films, while they are must-see timeless classics in the anglo-saxon hemisphere. It has to be said, however, that these were english-language films made by american and british companies.

Josef statue

The filming locations of the Third Man

Tired of being pestered about details from the film by holidaying americans I decided to rent “The Third Man“. I had been led to believe that the enture film was set in the sewers of post-war Vienna, which was disappointing at first, but I did recognise a lot of details in the background, which I just had to explore further.

A local tour company offers guided walks through the city which retrace the history of the making of the film and visit several of the locations. The tour was joined mainly by american toursists and Gerhard, the guide did the narration in german and in english.

Harry Lime in the door

Apart from interesting trivia about the making of the movie, our guide had a wealth of knowledge about the post-war era of allied occupation.

In the film, Harry Lime is involved in a smuggling racket and he uses the underground sewers to move between the anglo-american and the russian occupation zones that divided Vienna between 1945 and 1955.

The sewers of post-war Vienna were narrow tunnels of 4 feet high by 2 feet wide that were filled with 3 feet of smelly effluent. Most of the older inner-city houses still had vast cellars and basements dating back to the times of the Siege of Vienna and the Battle of Vienna when the populace hoarded food and wine for those bleak times when ottoman forces washed up against the shores of Christianity. These cellars were generally interconnected and the whole length of some streets could be traversed underground. It was there and not in the rat-infested sewers that most the smuggling took place.
The famous scene where Harry Lime is hunted down in the underground was actually filmed in the vaults of the covered Wienfluss river and the actors who were super stars of their era did not actually get down there themselves, but sent stunt doubles instead.

The walk took us to the house of Harry Limes appartment, the Hotel Sacher and Cafe Mozart. We saw the door where Harry revealed himself for the first time and learned that the column he vanished in was installed on the square “Am Hof” by the film crew and didn’t actually lead anywhere.

See more photos of the tour in the Third Man tour in Vienna album below :
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Karlskirche

Sometimes I go out on a mission specifically to take some photos, at other times I simply happen to have my camera with me. The latter was the case when it got dark last Friday as I strolled past the St. Charles Church in Vienna. Having no tripod of my own I asked a tourist couple from the Czech Republic to let me use theirs. That’s how I took the beautiful photo on the left.

Danube

When I got home I looked for more photos that I had taken at night in Vienna to make a little album. Most were taken without a tripod by resting the camera on handrails, lampposts or dustbins. Some were even taken hand-held at high ISO settings.

See more night time photos in the Vienna at night album below:

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