It’s cold and you can’t see a thing. Nonetheless, a million people visit Times Square on the last day of December. And this year was no exception. They see the famous New Year’s Eve Ball descend from the flagpole atop One Times Square. In 2008 I was there too. It was great. I did see the famous ball and the fireworks. But it was a long and cold wait…
Anyway, Happy New Year!
If you want to know why New York City is like magic during the Holidays, just look at the photo above. It’s the famous Rockefeller Christmas Tree (the photo is from 2008).
Merry Christmas to you all!
Today you’ll get a quick glimpse of Christmas in Vienna. This video includes the largest and most famous Weihnachtsmarkt of Vienna, the Christkindlmarkt, on the square in front of City Hall (Rathaus). Also you’ll see two streets decorated with thousands of lights (Graben and Kohlmarkt). Last year I visited these places many times.
December 19, 2010. It’s the day I returned from Vienna after doing an internship at Coop Himmelb(l)au. I remember this day very well. Not because it was my last day in Vienna, but because of the flight back. Europe experienced extreme winter weather. Temperatures dropped below minus ten degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). Almost no international flights were possible from and to most European airports. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, my destination, shut down for a period of several days. Tens of thousands of passengers stranded at airports throughout Europe.
I was worried my flight would get cancelled too. At 5AM, a cab drove me to Vienna Airport. It took less than ten minutes to check in, drop off my luggage and get through customs (my personal record). Relaxed as I was (I was prepared for the worst), I made my way to the gate. It turned out my flight was one hour delayed, which made me really happy. Why? Not because it’s delayed, but because this meant my flight wasn’t cancelled!
It turned out all passengers who would use Amsterdam as a stopover were denied access to the plane. Only 16 passengers (out of a sold-out 100 seat plane) boarded the plane. Since I’m tall, I immediately asked for a seat with more legroom. “Of course”, the stewardess answered. “We have many empty seats, so you can sit at 1A”. And that’s how I ended up being in business class, together with just one other passenger. Immediately after take off, the blue business class curtain closed and all business class people (yep, thats two people) were catered by our private stewardess.
Before this day started, I prepared myself for any scenario imaginable (believe me, I have a big imagination). This included (but was not limited to); overcrowded airports, no flights at all, not being able to land in Amsterdam, spend a night at the airport, boarding the wrong flight, flying to Amsterdam via Dubai or the States, you name it, I thought of it. There was just one scenario I didn’t think of. I mean, who can imagine an almost empty airport, not having to wait in line at all, an almost private plane, business class seat and a personal stewardess. Wow, it was the best flight I ever had.
Anyway, this story is meant to introduce OneMinute number thirteen. It’s a video about Vienna, the city I lived in for several months. This video starts with a 28 seconds long shot (no, it’s not boring at all!). I attached my small Panasonic camera to my bike and filmed the exterior of the Austrian Parliament in one single take. Enjoy!
During the past years I visited many football stadiums. Not because I like football that much. No, I just like to check out the architecture (and my brother is the biggest football fan out there, which definitely comes in handy). I went to some of the biggest stadiums like the ones of FC Barcelona and AC Milan, visited stadiums with a great history like the Fulham Stadium in London and went to very advanced stadiums like the Amsterdam Arena which has a removable roof.
This summer I visited the stadium of Arsenal Football Club in London (or Emirates Stadium as it’s named officially). It’s not the biggest stadium out there (it seats ‘only’ 60.000 people), it doesn’t have the biggest history (it opened in 2006) nor it’s the most advanced stadium (it doesn’t have a removable roof so to speak). Nonetheless, the Arsenal stadium is one of the most beautifully designed stadiums I ever visited.
Just to mention a few; I love the curved roof, the exterior glass and the concrete walls in combination with the Arsenal-red. Although many stadiums are (sadly) designed like bunkers, this one seemed very transparent. Please enjoy OneMinute number twelve.
