It's been awhile since I joined in Postcard Friendship Friday, aka PFF, but when this postcard was included inside the holiday card I received from my wonderful friend, Francessa, I thought it must be a part of PFF this week.
Francessa lives in Vienna where this scene was photographed, as noted on the back of the card, by Carl Anders Nilsson. The back of the card has only this short description: ALTWIENER CHRISTKINDLMARKT AUf dER FREYUNG/WIEN, orOld Viennese Christmas market at Freyung. I think it looks like a magical place for Christmas/holiday shopping.
Francessa feels as close as a sister to me yet we still haven't met in person. So how did our friendship begin? you might wonder. Blogging! I have high hopes that our intentions to meet will be realized in the future. It's one of those things I expect will happen, although I can't see how or when at this point. Even if a summer visit to Francessa's beautiful home village in the Alps or a holiday stroll with her through the Altwiener Christkindlmarkt didn't happen in 2009 our friendship has grown in richness as we've shared our lives through long, long emails and exciting real mail. We even have one of those stories that will be fun/funny to recall years into the future, the kind that old friends seem to always develop along the way. This vignette is topical, being holiday-related.......
Austrian Customs actually confiscated my Christmas present to Francessa in 2008 and it took some months before all was settled to their/her satisfaction. It was only then that she emailed describing the hassle she had been through! What a great friend; she didn't want to worry me. There's a lesson here: do not send anything made of crystal to a friend in Austria, the land of Austrian crystal which, according to wisegeek, "is not a trademark in and of itself, but it might as well be. The generic term is indelibly linked with Swarovski crystals, produced in a factory in Wattens, Austria." Here's some additional info from the wisegeek article:
. . . (Swarovski) entered the American jewelry market rather late, in 1977, but has emerged as an icon. Austriancrystal has a reputation for fine worksmanship but is also less expensive than jewelry made from precious stones. Austriancrystal also earned international attention during the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, when a mouse figurine crafted by Max Schreck from chandelier parts morphed into the mascot of those games, as well as launching a new product line of Swarvoski figurines. Swarovski's own corporate symbol has evolved from an edelweiss flower to a swan.
The Swarovski empire has also proved a boon to tourism in Austria. Kristallwelten (Crystal World), a museum and showroom devoted to Austriancrystal, is the second most-visited attraction in the country. . .
Now that you've seen a sample of Francessa's great taste in postcards you may want to visit her blog, Francessa's Thinking, where you'll learn more about this teacher, researcher, and bilingual commuter/traveler. You already know that she is not in the international crystal trade!
To my dear friend, Francessa - thank you for the beautiful postcard!
To all of you - happy PFF!
And to me - a long-time favorite song, ever since I was a crazy child
(actually, a crazy 25 year old).......
And you know that when the truth is told
that you can get what you want or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get half through
Why don't you realize,. Vienna waits for you
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?
Note: This is a video of a PowerPoint presentation. In order to be able to read all slides you must make them full screen (click button on bottom farthest right). Once the presentation is full screen you will be the operator of the slides. Click the large arrow bottom left to start, and pause to read the text. To continue you will need to advance to the next slide by clicking on the small double-arrows pointing right.
As it is already Sunday, July 26, in Vienna - where Francessa is waking up to her birthday, I'm posting this now. Francessa shares her birthday with Carl Gustav Jung. The video shows us a little of what made Jung tick. To see what makes Francessa tick visit her blog, Francessa's Thinking.
I hope every hour of this day is splendid for you, my friend.
We wrote sporadically from 6th-8th grade, then lost touch. She is on my mind each Christmas when I unpack the one gift I have from her (I wonder what I sent to her.....something nice? nothing at all?), a candle holder accented with tiny pine cones. Since Francessa (Francessa's Thinking blog in Vienna) and I have become friends over the past blogging year I've wondered where the old letters from my pen pal might be stored, and I came across them in one of my file cabinets last week. I saved fewer letters than my memory told me I did, and I'd forgotten that she sent quite a nice group of postcards, adding a note that said she hoped I didn't mind if some of them were used. Today's postcard is one of them.
Francessa has already checked on my pen pal's girlhood name in the town where she wrote the letters. No luck so far. But the search is on for Rosmarie Gugler who lived in Mauer-Ohling, Austria, in 1962.
A site called Vienna Waits for You, in a page of info about the Giant Ferris Wheel and the new Prater Ferris Wheel Square, begins: You may want to visit this landmark of Vienna in the footsteps of the immortal movie “The Third Man” or simply enjoy the view of the city from almost 200 feet up. One thing is certain – only when you have taken a ride on Riesenrad are you really in Vienna!
A tourist who did exactly that provides a review at this site:
Well, the first thing to recommend about the Riesenrad - or giant ferris wheel to you and me - is that it was built in 1897 by Walter Basset, an Englishman! Hurrah!! It has become one of Vienna's most iconic landmarks solely due to the famous film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel 'The Third Man'. It might not be sought out by thrill-seekers but it certainly is by film buffs. If you haven't seen the film you might find yourself seriously underwhelmed, but if you've long savoured Joseph Cotton's celebrated scene with Orson Welles you wont leave the city without taking a turn on the wheel. . . I braved my rather sad fear of heights to go on the Riesenrad and was remarkably calm until the wind rocked the closed wooden carriage as we rested at the 12 'o clock position. Hardly bungee-jumping I know but I was suitably pleased with myself..and no, I'm not going back on it!
One further word, the Prater park is perhaps a touch on the seedy side (quite safe though) - aren't most funfairs?- and hardly in an elegant part of Vienna, so perhaps a daytime trip is best for the faint-hearted!
So, of course I wanted to include a scene featuring the Riesenrad from the 1949 film-noir, The Third Man, the mystery thriller that won the Oscar back then. (No, I haven't seen this movie, and, yes, I sure will after this.) The video clip I found at You Tube is really choice, not only for the perfect film it glimpses but for the oh-so strange English subtitles offered. When I read this quote below from the movie, well, you'll see ....... Grab a seat and enjoy!
Opening narrator: I never knew the old Vienna before the war with its Strauss music, its glamour and easy charm. Constantinople suited me better. [Scenes of black market goods changing hands] .........
......... Now the city is divided into four zones, you know, each occupied by a power: the American, the British, the Russian and the French. But the centre of the city that's international policed by an international patrol. One member of each of the four powers. Wonderful! What a hope they had! All strangers to the place and none of them could speak the same language. Except a sort of smattering of German. -Source: imdb.com
