A large marble fountain - called Fontana della Barcaccia - at the bottom of the Spanish Steps decorated with many large pots of pink Azaleas and people walking up and down. Description of the fountain: "The sculptural fountain is made into the shape of a half-sunken ship with water overflowing its sides into a small basin. The source of the water comes from the Acqua Vergine, an aqueduct from 19 BCE. Bernini built this fountain to be slightly below street level due to the low water pressure from the aqueduct. Water flows from seven points of fountain: the center baluster; two inside the boat from sun-shaped human faces; and four outside the boat. According to legend, as the River Tiber flooded in 1598, water carried a small boat into the Piazza di Spagna. When the water receded, a boat was deposited in the center of the square, and it was this event that inspired Bernini's creation.[1] The fountain is decorated with the papal coat of arms of the Barberini family as a reminder of Pope Urban VIII's ancestry." Wikipedia

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Azalea Time at the Spanish Steps
Early Spring in Rome, Italy
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #ECK #Photography
#VienneseEscapes
#Scape #BloomScrolling #UrbanGaze
#HumansOfBlueSky #ClassicMono
#ColorADay #CyanTues
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontana...

A vista of St. Peter's cupola and buildings of Vatican City on a rainy evening in spring, an old Roman bridge crossing the mighty Tiber, the river flowing alongside trees in young greens.

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🌙 Safe and Peaceful Night, Good People Everywhere! 🌙

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Rome in Springtime
I'll take a rainy evening in Rome
over a perfect sunset any time!
Rome, Italy
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #ECK #Photography
#VienneseEscapes
#Scape #Vistas #UrbanGaze
#ClassicMono #Monochrome

A black and verdigris amphora, its top covered with a sand-filled bowl, wooden sticks in the sand, a glass and a plastic bottle places between those, a plastic and a paper cup each placed upside-down on sticks. A cigarette butt or two may have been pushed into the sand.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Man Appeared in the Holocene
The present impact of the Human Species
On an amphora in Rome, eons later
Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy
#EastCoastKin #ECK #Photography
#PhotographersofBlueSky #VienneseEscapes
#UrbanGaze #Rome

A black and white photograph of the Spanish Steps decorated with many large pots of Azaleas and people walking up and down.

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🌙 Safe and Peaceful Night, Good People Everywhere! 🌙

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Azalea Time at the Spanish Steps
Rome, Italy
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #ECK #Photography
#VienneseEscapes
#PalacesandGardens #UpstairsDownstairs
#Scape #BloomScrolling #UrbanGaze
#HumansOfBlueSky #ClassicMono

A stone pillar topped by a globe with a carved fleur-de-lis, a row of pink azaleas placed on the steps leading up to Piazza Trinità dei Monti.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Azalea Time at the Spanish Steps
Rome Italy
#EastCoastKin #ECK #Photography
#PhotographersofBlueSky #VienneseEscapes
#PalacesandGardens #UpstairsDownstairs
#Scape #BloomScrolling #UrbanGaze

Cappuccino in white porcelain cup with saucer, pastry with raisins too, on a small plate with napkin.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Cappuccino with Pastry, Anyone?
Caffè Tazza d'Oro in Rome
Famous, yes, but they do roast and brew great coffee!
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #ECK #Photography
#coffee #PhotographersofBlueSky
#VienneseEscapes

A Roman coffee bar captured from above. A coffee drinker at the counter is checking the mobile phone. The barista is busy at work. Bruno is not at work today.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Bruno Non C'è!
Favorite Coffee Bar in Rome
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #ECK #Photography
#coffee #PhotographersofBlueSky
#VienneseEscapes

A yellow blooming flower lit by the evening sun on wall in Rome's center.

A statue's back, with a wide gathered skirt at the edge of a popolar square in Rome.

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🌙 Safe and Peaceful Night, Good People Everywhere! 🌙

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Piazza Capranica and Piazza del Popolo
Historic Center of Rome, Italy
Images © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #Photography
#PhotographersOfBlueSky
#VienneseEscapes #UrbanGaze

Next to ancient columns, on the steps of a church, three nuns offering trinkets.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Flea Market, the Roman Way
Rome, Italy
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #Photography
#PhotographersOfBlueSky
#VienneseEscapes #UrbanGaze
#HumansofBluesky

A quiet Roman street, buildings in typical terracotta shades, with pots of greenery in front of entrances and trees hanging over garden walls.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
On the Ides of March
Sunday Morning in Via Margutta, Rome
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #Photography
#PhotographersOfBlueSky
#VienneseEscapes
www.almanac.com/ides-of-march

Several upside-down wine glasses reflecting Venetian palaces.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
"Hold Fast to Dreams" *
Venetian Glass Reflections
Venice, Italy
Image 2008 © Merisi Vienna
#eastcoastkin #photography
#VienneseEscapes #Venice #Glass
#Reflections #monochrome #blackandwhite
* Langston Hughes

Big sky with white cloud ships, a large fishing net on the Tuscan Coast.

⭐ Good Night, Good People Everywhere! 🌙

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Marina di Pisa
Tuscany, Italy
17 Oct 2008 © Merisi Vienna
#eastcoastkin #photography
#VienneseEscapes
#BlueSkyArtShow #Clouds

Two women, both wearing black skirts, one an emerald green, the other a red polo-shirt, a beige resp. a black bag, walking along a canal on a sunny day in July.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Where to?
Two friends in Venice, Italy
1 July 2009 © Merisi Vienna
#eastcoastkin
#humansofbluesky
#photography #VienneseEscapes

Towards sunset at San Marco Basin, view of the sea, a rable with aperitivo and mineral water.

Campari Orange drink.

Bright yellow paper lampion against a dark blue sky!

‪VIENNESE ESCAPE INTO THE NEW YEAR
Finally, la Riva degli Schiavoni!
We shall watch the sun go down
while we enjoy an aperitivo!
Images © Merisi Vienna
#VienneseEscapes #Venice #Italy
#EastCoastKin #Photography
#PhotographersOfBlueSky
Susan @sdcushing.bsky.social

An old green clock with an angel face shows 4:38PM, aperitivo time is near! To the right a piece of terracotta painted wall and blue sky.

A round table with coffee cups, woman sitting around it, outside, through the large window, also people sitting down.

And here, the first apéritif and next to it a cup of espresso.

‪VIENNESE ESCAPE INTO THE NEW YEAR
Fellow travelers, as much as we enjoy the coffee bar,
I suggest we move on, aperitivo time at
Riva degli Schiavoni beckons!
Images © Merisi Vienna
#VienneseEscapes #Venice #Italy
#EastCoastKin #Photography
#PhotographersOfBlueSky
Susan @sdcushing.bsky.social

1) Cappuccino with a Fritella ('Frittella is a type of Italian fried doughnut made from dough, typically with raisins, orange peels, or lemon peel in them.' - Wikipedia, see link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frittella_(doughnut)

2) Un caffé macchiato (espresso with milkfoam)

3) Un caffé (black coffee - espresso) Used to be that when one ordered "espresso" in Rome, the barista would answer that they were not a post office that sends parcels via express mail" - one had to order "un caffé" to be correct. Not entirely serious, but a nice memory.

VIENNESE ESCAPE
We have arrived in Venice,
now, which coffee would you like to order?
Image © Merisi Vienna
#VienneseEscapes #Venice #Italy
#EastCoastKin #Photography
#PhotographersOfBlueSky
Susan @sdcushing.bsky.social #BlueBrew
#cappuccino #espressoMacchiato #espresso

A gondola, still moored at a Venetian canal; a gondoliere working at untying the knot. Reflections on the water, a fence along the canal.

VIENNESE ESCAPE
Heading to Venice,
will you join me?
Image © Merisi Vienna
#VienneseEscapes #Venice #Italy
#EastCoastKin #Photography
#PhotographersOfBlueSky
#ClassicMono #Monochrome

Two orange persimmons with three leaves and a yellow quince on a white plate on a tablecloth with yellow and orange flowers.

ONCE UPON A TIME
Dreaming of Zora at "Grandmother's House"
Years and years of staying in Paradise with her
Quince and persimmons fresh from the garden
Duino, Friuli–Venezia Giulia, Italy
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #Photography #Duino
#Autumn #VienneseEscapes

Childhood memories lasting into adulthood and I cherish these fond memories! My 'little' sister and I used to 'disappear' into the backroom of Zauner at Pfarrgasse, sneaking a cup of coffee away from everyone else. In the photograph, an oval shiny silvery tray with a white porcelain cup and saucer, filled with coffee, a small jug with milk and a glass of water topped with a down-turned coffee spoon. The secret of this "Kaisertorte" is that everything is top quality, and it is not cloying, just on the right sight of sweet.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Coffee and Chocolate Cake, Anyone?
Emperor's Torte: Shortcrust pastry base with
chocolate caramel cream and marzipan 🤎
Café-Pâtisserie Zauner
Esplanade, Bad Ischl
Salzkammergut, Upper Austria
#VienneseEscapes #Salzkammergut
#Zauner #BadIschl #Kaffeehaus #Kaisertorte
🤎 see ALT 🤎

Rows of dark brown wooden outdoor tables and chairs on an elevated terrace on a plateau, affording a view of the woods in autumnal finery down in the river valley. The tables are wet from the overnight rain, the woods in the valley disappear at some point in the mist. The scenes is framed at the top by branches of Sycamore trees.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
A misty morning high on a plateau
above the Inn river, river forests down below.
The Inn serves as a natural border
between Austria and Bavaria.
Inn River County, Upper Austria
Oct 2007 © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #Photography
#Scape #Innviertel #Autumn #VienneseEscapes

🔆 🔆 🔆 🔆 🔆 🔆 🔆 🔆 🌤️
Blue sky in Vienna but for a few delicate white clouds dancing on the sun's nose - and I am dreaming of having coffee at the ultimate sunny place in Cherokee, the
Sassy Sunflowers Bakery & Cafe.
#EastCoastKin #Sunflowers #VienneseEscapes
#Photography

A window, painted light green, reflecting the greenery outside, framed by green and yellowing leaves of a tree outside.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Old Farmhouse Window
Open-Air Museum Niedersulz, Lower Austria
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EASTCOASTKIN #PHOTOGRAPHY
#WindowsOnWednesday #VienneseEscapes

Interior of an American Bakery and Cafe, at the edge of the Qualla Boundary of the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina. The walls are painted a striking sunflower yellow, a large window with pumpkins and a yellow daisy plant, a single sunflower in a vase. The September sun is streaming in, painting everything an even warmer yellow, the shadow of the wrought iron table with two chairs in front of the window paints curlicues with its shadow. This is one of the most welcoming places I have encountered in the whole of the Carolinas, besides, the coffee is world class (yes!) and their soups and sandwiches is the stuff of dreams when one is hungry. I once also had a peanut meringue pie, delicious! The visitor park and the museum of the Qualla Boundary of the Cherokee Nation is what I am dreaming of visiting again, together with the Sassy Sunflower. Here is a better description of the extraordinary fare at its cafe: "This American deli cafe will add a spin to your everyday run of the mill soup, sandwich and salad. They add a dash of sassy to every plate that simply can not be matched. Come on in fresh baked desserts like a chocolate torte and wash it down with the most satisfying fresh brewed coffee you have ever enjoyed." And so on, for more: https://www.heysmokies.com/businesses/sassy-sunflowers-bakery-cafe/

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Coffee, anyone?
On this grey morning in Vienna,
I'd rather be heading to the
Sassy Sunflowers Bakery & Cafe *
A favorite, forever 💙
Cherokee, North Carolina
#EastCoastKin #Sunflowers #VienneseEscapes
#PhotographersOfBluesky #Bloomscrolling
* See ALT text

A garden with small and large trees, red and orange roses to the right, to the left, further back, a leaning statue.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Roses and Blue Sky
Giardini della Biennale, Venice, Italy
Image © Merisi Vienna

#EastCoastKin #BlueSkyMonday
#Roses #Bloomscrolling #VienneseEscapes

A shallow bowl on a purple hand-dyed tablecloth with four purple artichokes and two oranges, a red apple to the right and three yellow lemons in the left background.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Autumnal Table Decoration
Dining Room of a Reconstructed Roman Villa
Carnuntum Archeological Park
Lower Austria, 20 miles east of Vienna
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #Photography #StillLife
#VienneseEscapes #Carnuntum

A bubbly fountain creates circles in the basin of blue water, small yellow leaves floating on the surface.

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Main Square Fountain Pool
Watching the bubbling water soothes the soul
Mistelbach, Lower Austria
Image © Merisi Vienna

#EastCoastKin #photography
#ColorADay #BlueTue #SleepySep
#VienneseEscapes

Pedestrian promenade along the river Traun, large London Plane trees, two females walking in opposite directions.

Red Geraniums lit be the sun, in a window flower box, frame the people sitting outdoors in the sunshine.

SEPTEMBER
'It seems these luminous days will never end.
The city, which was almost empty during August,
now is filling up again. It is being replenished.'
James Salter, "A Sport and a Pastime"
#EastCoastKin #Photography #JamesSalter
#VienneseEscapes #Salzkammergut

A shaded row of stores and home entrances, lit by the golden late afternoon light in a square in a small town by the Adriatic Sea, Fano (Umbria, Italy).

SUMMER AFTERNOON
Fano, Le Marche, Italy

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon;
to me those have always been
the two most beautiful words
in the English language."
Henry James

#MerisiVienna #Italy #EastCoastKin #Photography
#Summer #LeMarche #VienneseEscapes

A young woman in a bandeau dress taking two dogs on a walk in Rome. My text written in 2009: Princess Ann had to move to Rome, to discover that she could do some of the things she had always wanted to do. All day long, if she wanted to! In the opinion of Her Highness, two small dogs were fine, even for a princess, and took them out of the palace on long walks without a chaperon. Henry James was right, the Princess thought - while putting the key in the keyhole of the dove-coloured door of her terracotta palace - "there are days when the beauty of the climate of Rome alone suffices for happiness". * * Henry James, Italian Hours Photographed by Merisi on a Roman Holiday in September 2009 Image and text © by Merisi Vienna

SOMETIMES SHE DREAMS IN ITALIAN
"... there are days when the beauty of
the climate of Rome alone suffices for happiness"
Henry James, 'Italian Hours'
Roman Holidays Sept2009 © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #Photography #VienneseEscapes
#Monochrome #ClassicMono #Rome

Looking up the watchtower from down below, several people standing at the rim, some of them in the process of taking a photograph. "Recognized as a National Historic Landmark, the Watchtower was constructed in 1932. Architect Mary Colter’s design takes its influences from the architecture of the Ancestral Puebloan people of the Colorado Plateau. This particular tower was patterned after those found at Hovenweep and the Round Tower of Mesa Verde. Colter indicated that it was not a copy of any that she had seen, but rather modeled from several." "With painstaking detail, Colter directed the placement of each rock and architectural accent in the Desert View Watchtower. Using mostly locally sourced rocks and reused timber, the tower appears to grow organically from the rim of the canyon itself, paying homage to the techniques and styles of local tribes while utilizing modern-day equipment and materials to strengthen the internal structure." "The view from the Watchtower provides a unique perspective of the eastern portion of Grand Canyon. From here, looking to the northeast offers a distant glimpse of the Colorado River's transition from the relatively narrow Marble Canyon to the north into the much wider, broader expanse of Grand Canyon." https://www.nps.gov/places/000/desert-view-watchtower.htm

VIENNESE ESCAPES
Grand Canyon National Park
Desert View Watchtower
Designed by Mary Colter in 1932
South Rim, Arizona, USA
Image © Merisi Vienna
#EastCoastKin #photography #VienneseEscapes
#PhotographersUnited #BlueskyArtShow #skyline
See ALT text for more!