Thursday, September 22, 2011

Wednesday: Oberlaa

Wednesday afternoon we went to Oberlaa, a big park in Vienna's 10th District.

It wasn't always a park. Prior to 1974 it was vineyards, woods, ponds, and fields. B used play there as a child, before the park was built, and many Austrian films were shot there in the days when the area was used as a film location.

Now the huge park features many different gardens, ponds, fountains, and meadows. And, on its fringes, a modern spa called Therme Wien.

The first area we visited featured model homes, all of which are mostly prefabricated and then assembled on site. I like a modern architectural style but most of the houses we saw were more or less traditional in appearance.

I liked this house the best.
Unfortunately it was closed so we couldn't look inside, except through the windows.

A shot through the window.

There were a lot of bunnies hopping around, or sitting around eating the grass. I like bunnies. One of my flaws.

We walked along several quiet ponds.

I also like ducks, who may be the bunnies of the water.

There are a lot of places to sit and read.

Many people were enjoying a walk with their dogs.

This happy boy would fetch the ball, bring it back to the edge of the pool,
drop it, and his human would toss it back in for him.

This was the dog's-eye view of the stepped series of pools he played in.

A couple enjoying a stroll through the beautiful Oberlaa.

We enjoyed wandering through the park and finally came to the spa, Therme Wien. We went inside to take a brief look around; the Austrians are apeshit for these spas the way Asians are apeshit for acupuncture----it's so much a part of their health system, they can't understand why other Western countries with Canada as a northern neighbor and Mexico as a southern neighbor aren't also apeshit for spas. Answer: pampered rich people do like spas, but the ordinary person is as likely to visit a spa as he is to get an Armagnac enema.

But in Vienna, your average Joe or Jane makes it a point to visit a spa for a massage, sulphur baths, mud treatments, sauna, etc. as both a preventative measure and as a healing measure following illness or accident. Go figure. Different cultures.

I'd actually been on the edge of Oberlaa once without realizing it, last year while riding around on a Sunday afternoon. Now that I've been there, I plan to spend time in Oberlaa once I move here...and all the other great parks in Vienna, too.