Despite the title, few of my photos are recognizably Vienna, other than the ones of the ornate St. Stephens cathedral. As you can tell by my photos, I'm much more interested in nature than the works of man people.
Most natural history museums are rather dreary collections of dusty stuffed animals. The Vienna Naturhistorisches Museum has its share of that, but it is redeemed by being in a magnificent huge old building and having a lot of other exhibits besides stuffed animals. (Vienna seems to have the most magnificent huge old buildings of any city I've seen.)
On the way to the NHM we stumbled on the Schmetterlinghaus butterfly house. We always enjoy these so we were happy to discover it. But we were quite disappointed. It's not very big, and there weren't many butterflies. The paths were narrow, which meant there was little room for the crowds of people and rampaging children, especially when everyone tried to congregate around the few butterflies and get close enough to take photos with their wide angle phone cameras. On top of that, my camera was cold from being outside and so it immediately fogged up and didn't really clear until just as we were leaving. The one half decent photo I got shows another thing I didn't like - most of the flowers were fake.
I was happier taking pictures of the fall colors in the park next door. Three guys on a park bench thought I was crazy taking so many photographs of trees and leaves, and that Shelley was an amazingly patient tolerant spouse. Both are true :-)
I thought these leaves looked familiar with their triangular shape. When I got home and did some research I found they were Gingko (also known as Maidenhair) trees. It is the only species left in its division with fossils dating back 270 million years. It's native to China but is now widely cultivated. One of the reasons they are planted is for their bright yellow fall colors. (They're also quite hardy.) They were familiar since Innovation Place has the only outdoor Gingko tree in Saskatoon.
We also visited the Aqua Terra House of the Sea Zoo, in a unique old building that was originally a World War II anti-flak tower. It had several walk through areas where the animals and birds were in the open with you. Although these larger areas sometimes make it harder to spot the inhabitants (especially the birds) I like the more natural environment and the chance to take photos without glass or bars. The entire zoo is indoors, which we appreciated since it was cold outside but that meant the usual struggle with taking photographs in dim light. Some of these are quite grainy although that doesn't show up as much in these small versions.
These San Francisco garter snakes had quite different coloring than the ones we get here.
Always tricky to catch the birds as they flit about. And often they are above you and silhouetted against the bright sky.
This shot combined two of my favorites - turtles and reflections :-)
I like the pattern and texture of this next one. Can you guess what it is?
People watching.
For some reason I didn't manage many good ones of the aquarium exhibits. This one looks like a Northern Pike. (Despite its appearance, it was alive and under water.)
Chameleons are another favorite. I love their swiveling eyes and the slow measured way they move with their unique grasping feet.
Shelley wanted to visit the big outdoor Christmas market in front of city hall. Personally, I had no desire to hang out in the market - it was full of mass produced junk and unhealthy fast food and wall to wall crowds. The only good part was that they sold various hot punches, mulled wines, and ciders. The price includes a deposit for the reusable ceramic mug which is refunded when you return it. (Or you can keep the mug as a souvenir like Shelley did.) While Shelley toured the market I wandered in the nearby park and took more photos of the fall colors.
We also visited the main outdoor Tiergarten Schönbrunn Zoo, which claims to be the oldest zoo in the world. We enjoyed our visit, although like any outdoor zoo, it would be better in the summer. Quite a few of the enclosures allowed photographing without glass or bars which I always appreciate.
I think of flamingos as a warm climate bird, but these didn't seem to mind the cold weather. (I see from the distribution map that they some live in cooler climates.) If you zoom in on this photo you can see the sieve-like edge of its bill that is used to filter feed. Curiously, I see flamingos are related to grebes.
The red panda was familiar from "Phoenix" at the Saskatoon Zoo. It was fun to watch them out wandering around. Quite the claws!
The cheetah was also a cooperative subject. I'm not sure what it spotted that made him crouch and raise the fur on the back of its neck.
Hooded crows were common in Corsica but I never managed to get any decent photos of them. Finally these ones bathing stuck around long enough for me to photograph. This one was still wet from its bath.
The spectacled bears were out and about as well.
Interesting painting in the monkey house.
And that was the end of our trip, from Vienna we flew home.
See all 57 photos as a slideshow or overview
Most natural history museums are rather dreary collections of dusty stuffed animals. The Vienna Naturhistorisches Museum has its share of that, but it is redeemed by being in a magnificent huge old building and having a lot of other exhibits besides stuffed animals. (Vienna seems to have the most magnificent huge old buildings of any city I've seen.)
On the way to the NHM we stumbled on the Schmetterlinghaus butterfly house. We always enjoy these so we were happy to discover it. But we were quite disappointed. It's not very big, and there weren't many butterflies. The paths were narrow, which meant there was little room for the crowds of people and rampaging children, especially when everyone tried to congregate around the few butterflies and get close enough to take photos with their wide angle phone cameras. On top of that, my camera was cold from being outside and so it immediately fogged up and didn't really clear until just as we were leaving. The one half decent photo I got shows another thing I didn't like - most of the flowers were fake.
I was happier taking pictures of the fall colors in the park next door. Three guys on a park bench thought I was crazy taking so many photographs of trees and leaves, and that Shelley was an amazingly patient tolerant spouse. Both are true :-)
I thought these leaves looked familiar with their triangular shape. When I got home and did some research I found they were Gingko (also known as Maidenhair) trees. It is the only species left in its division with fossils dating back 270 million years. It's native to China but is now widely cultivated. One of the reasons they are planted is for their bright yellow fall colors. (They're also quite hardy.) They were familiar since Innovation Place has the only outdoor Gingko tree in Saskatoon.
We also visited the Aqua Terra House of the Sea Zoo, in a unique old building that was originally a World War II anti-flak tower. It had several walk through areas where the animals and birds were in the open with you. Although these larger areas sometimes make it harder to spot the inhabitants (especially the birds) I like the more natural environment and the chance to take photos without glass or bars. The entire zoo is indoors, which we appreciated since it was cold outside but that meant the usual struggle with taking photographs in dim light. Some of these are quite grainy although that doesn't show up as much in these small versions.
These San Francisco garter snakes had quite different coloring than the ones we get here.
Always tricky to catch the birds as they flit about. And often they are above you and silhouetted against the bright sky.
This shot combined two of my favorites - turtles and reflections :-)
I like the pattern and texture of this next one. Can you guess what it is?
People watching.
For some reason I didn't manage many good ones of the aquarium exhibits. This one looks like a Northern Pike. (Despite its appearance, it was alive and under water.)
Chameleons are another favorite. I love their swiveling eyes and the slow measured way they move with their unique grasping feet.
Shelley wanted to visit the big outdoor Christmas market in front of city hall. Personally, I had no desire to hang out in the market - it was full of mass produced junk and unhealthy fast food and wall to wall crowds. The only good part was that they sold various hot punches, mulled wines, and ciders. The price includes a deposit for the reusable ceramic mug which is refunded when you return it. (Or you can keep the mug as a souvenir like Shelley did.) While Shelley toured the market I wandered in the nearby park and took more photos of the fall colors.
We also visited the main outdoor Tiergarten Schönbrunn Zoo, which claims to be the oldest zoo in the world. We enjoyed our visit, although like any outdoor zoo, it would be better in the summer. Quite a few of the enclosures allowed photographing without glass or bars which I always appreciate.
I think of flamingos as a warm climate bird, but these didn't seem to mind the cold weather. (I see from the distribution map that they some live in cooler climates.) If you zoom in on this photo you can see the sieve-like edge of its bill that is used to filter feed. Curiously, I see flamingos are related to grebes.
The red panda was familiar from "Phoenix" at the Saskatoon Zoo. It was fun to watch them out wandering around. Quite the claws!
The cheetah was also a cooperative subject. I'm not sure what it spotted that made him crouch and raise the fur on the back of its neck.
Hooded crows were common in Corsica but I never managed to get any decent photos of them. Finally these ones bathing stuck around long enough for me to photograph. This one was still wet from its bath.
The spectacled bears were out and about as well.
Interesting painting in the monkey house.
And that was the end of our trip, from Vienna we flew home.
See all 57 photos as a slideshow or overview
