Schloss Schönbrunn

Schloss Schönbrunn, at least at first glance, reminds me of the Palace of Versailles, and like Versailles it is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.  It is one of the main tourist attractions in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

A former imperial summer residence, it has 1441 rooms and 45 of those are open to the public.

A funny coincidence, the card was sent to me through Postcrossing by someone called Eva and when I was 14 I stayed with a girl named Eva in Vienna on an exchange arranged by my school.

Not just a staircase

Not just a spiral staircase, but a double spiral, the twin spiral staircase at Graz in Austria.  It is in the castle complex in the north-east corner of the city walls.    The staircase, originally created by Peter Parler, was built between 1499 and 1500.  It isn't the only one of its type nor the oldest to be found, but it's important because of the quality if its design and detailing.

Graz is the second largest city in Austria, after Vienna, and its historic centre is a World Heritage Site.

Girl, reading

I can so realte to this little girl who wanted to go to the party, wanted to play in the sand, but didn't want to put the book down!

And we shall have snow 3: - Austria

The bridge over the river Enns with the monument to raftsmen and a view of Spitalskirche and Michaelskirche.

Spanish Riding School

.

This brings back so many memories for me, all from one month of the summer I was 14.  That was so many years ago and yet one postcard can bring it all back.  I was sent on an exchange for four weeks to a family in Vienna to improve my German.

The family I was with were incredibly kind and showed me all they could, and one of the highlights was a visit to the Spanish Riding School, die Spanische Hofreitschule, the oldest school of horsemanship in the world.  There they give stunning displays of dressage on white Lipizanner horses in their equally stunning riding hall. 

I don't know how much my German was inmproved but I had some unforgettable experiences.  The Spanish Riding School was one of them.

Not so much snail mail......

.... as tortoise mail.  Sent to me very recently from Austria.  Irresistible! You can't help but smile.

A post for Weekend Mailbox run at Gemma's Greyscale Territory. If you have any mail related post, go on over and join in.

Steyr

As a young teenager, I spent a month in Austria on an exchange organised by my German teacher through the Anglo Austrian Society.  Really, I didn't know enough German to be able to make the most of the experience but later I realised I had absorbed more than I'd been aware.  I ended up being far more comfortable speaking German than French though I'd been learning French far longer.

Because of having spent some time there, I'm always delighted  when a card arrives from anywhere in Austria.  That's happened only three times, and all three times were this month.  I don't know what's happened - a sudden spurt in Postcrossing membership in Austria?

Steyr wasn't one of the places I visited but I wish I had.  It is an ancient city situated on two rivers which meet at the centre of the city.  There is also a canal, the Wehrgraben shown on the card, which was built to power many different mills and did so for hundreds of years.  It is an area rich in industrial history.

The new cathedral at Linz

In spite of it's appearance, this really is a relatively new cathedral which is in Linz, in the north of Austria.  The building was started in 1855 and the finished cathedral was consecrated in 1924.  It can hold 20,000 people and is the largest cathedral in Austria.  It would have had a higher spire but when it was under construction, no building could be higher than the cathedral in Vienna.  It is therefore 2 metres shorter.

Post for me

From Austria a few weeks ago, a lovely yellow letter box.  Yellow seems a popular colour for letter boxes.  They are yellow in France too, but not quite so bright.

Augenblicke - moments

A beautifully captured view of a cabin window, found in Montafon, near Vorarlberg, Austria, an area known for skiing and hiking.  It was sent to me from a village called Dalaas (I had to look twice!) and dated 12 December 2008.

Windischgarsten, Austria

This is an unused card that dates from the 1980s or so.
Luftkurort und Wintersportort
4580 Windischgarsten
Ober-österreich

I managed to guess what Wintersportort means but I didn't know that Windischgarsten is a health resort as well as being a winter sports centre.

UNESCO WHS week: Vienna

Postmarked Wien, dated 23 April 2009.
Wien - Stephansdom
Vienna - St Stephen's Cathedral.

Vienna developed from early Celtic and Roman settlements into a Medieval and Baroque city, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, as well as the late-19th-century Ringstrasse lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks. 

 St Stephen's Cathedral is in the heart of Vienna and stands on the ruins of two previous churches.  The north tower was originally desinged to match the massive south tower, but the building was stopped.

When I was 14, I was sent to stay with a family who lived just outside Vienna.  I was taken to see so many beautiful places in the city, the cathedral being one of them.

UNESCO WHS week: Graz

Postmarked Graz, dated 8 April 2009.
Graz - Steirische Landeshauptstadt
Blick vom Rathaus auf den Hauptplatz und den Schloßberg mit Uhrturm.
That roughly translates as Graz - Styrian capital
View from the Town Hall on to the main square and the Castle hill with clock tower.

The old centre of Graz is included on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list because it:

reflects artistic and architectural movements originating from the Germanic region, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean, for which it served as a crossroads for centuries. The greatest architects and artists of these different regions expressed themselves forcefully here and thus created brilliant syntheses.

and

The urban complex forming the historic centre of the city of Graz is an exceptional example of a harmonious integration of architectural styles from successive periods. Each age is represented by typical buildings, which are often masterpieces. The urban physiognomy faithfully tells the story of its historic development.

 It is also regarded as a university town, with six universities and 44,000 students.

Oberau-Wildschönau, Austria

Postmarked Oberau-Wildschönau, dated 27 December 1977.

Oberau-Wildschönau geg. Schatzberg 1901 m Tirol

A suitably snowy scene for the approach to Christmas (suitable from my point of view but not for those of you from warmer places or the southern hemisphere).