Hidden Los Angeles » Vacation

ESCAPE – (G)Luck for the New Year

lynnster — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:00:10 +0000

I’m leaving Vienna early tomorrow morning to head back to Los Angeles. I had so much on my plate and so many photos to sort through I’m going to blog most of it after the fact, but that’s life. And yes… I know HiddenLA isn’t supposed to be about Europe… but it’s my blog and I’ll write about what I want to, so there! I’m ready to be back home and wander the streets of L.A. again, but it’s so incredible to experience familiar holidays through the eyes of a totally different culture. It’s something I want to share.

Case in point… New Year’s in Austria (named Silvester, after St. Sylvester) is a much different animal than we know. The New Year is all about pigs here. Yes, pigs. Well, pigs and psychadelic mushrooms and clovers and chimney sweeps and ladybugs and frogs. Or any combination of those items… the more the better. Also, it’s *especially* lucky if the pigs are either fornicating or showing their boobs. You think I’m kidding? CLICK ON THE BOXED IMAGE BELOW LEFT to check out a photo gallery of just a few of the New Year gifts I saw in Downtown Vienna today. Hover on the images to read the captions.

Another odd thing… New Year’s Eve tradition here includes tv viewing of an old British comedy sketch called Dinner For One which is far more famous here than it is in Britain. And on the morning of January 1st, television viewing tradition has nothing to do with football and a flower parade, rather the Vienna Philharmonic seranades the citizens of Austria with waltzes by Strauß. You think I’m kidding. I’m not. The concert is broadcast around the world to an estimated audience of one billion. Check out the link below to get a sample… and feel free to clap. ‘Cuz that’s tradition too.

Click here to view the embedded video.

IMAGERY – Memories of Diana, Pont de l’Alma, Paris

lynnster — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 02:16:31 +0000

Ever since her death in the tunnel below, people have scrawled messages to Princess Diana on the Pont de l’Alma bridge.

Click to see larger image.

ESCAPE – Paris Christmas Market

lynnster — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:18:04 +0000

I’d originally planned to go to the Christkindlmarkt in Vienna today, but jet lag took me over and I missed it. I’m a bit sad about that because the lights are so wonderful and the photos would’ve been amazing. Fortunately, I did walk through the Paris Christmas Market yesterday and got photos of that. It’s not quite as festive but the two markets are similar… the Vienna version just features more wood and lights. And there’s far more Jagermeister and expensive Christmas trinkets of all shapes and sizes. And *much* less foie gras. But the Paris Market is still quite festive as you’ll see in the album below.

(FYI, here in Austria, Christmas is celebrated on the eve before so I’m going to be offline for a day or so. I hope you all have a great holiday! I’ll post more soon!)

Click on the square image below to see 24 captioned pictures of what can be found at the Paris Christmas Market. To read the captions, just hover over the images. :)

ESCAPE – I love Paris in the winter, when it drizzles.

lynnster — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:55:39 +0000

I’m posting this a few days late due to a bad internet connection. I’m in Vienna now, but let’s just pretend I’m not…

I found myself wandering through Paris just *obsessed* with using my new camera… playing with the shutter speeds and apertures and all of the other little tricks. I can’t believe how far I walked in two days. For me, the weather was perfect… I was wearing three or four layers, but I was never uncomfortable. The sky was drizzling in a way that made all of the lights magically glow at night, but it never rained so much that I rushed indoors. There was ice on the ground, but not enough to slip on. All in all, they were perfect winter days and nights. I very literally took hundreds of photos, and I’ll spread some of the best over a couple of posts. Today I’ll post my favorite rainy night photos…

NOTE: Due to some problems with WordPress’ photo album feature, I moved these photos into a different album. Just click on the square image below to see eighteen pretty pictures.