Friday, June 24, 2005

Wiener Nostalgia

Karen Moody, one of my long lost roommates from Vienna, just reappeared in my Inbox with this story, about how some Vienesse artists have covered signs and advertisements in bright yellow fabric to bring attention to sign pollution in the city. This installation is taking place on popular Neubaugasse, just a few blocks from our old apartment in the 6th District.

A few blocks in the other direction lays Vienna's Naschmarkt, a fabulous open-air market, where I once screamed when, pointing to some skinned rabbits hanging in a stall, Kurt Jankofsky said, "Look, Nancy! Puppies." Other gross things at the Naschmark include huge crates of fermenting sauerkraut. Nauseating. But the market that stretches for several city blocks and also sells spices, cheeses, nuts and food from all over the world is not without many charms. Everytime I pass a Falafel stand in New York, I hear the voice of the Naschmarkt's many Falafel hawkers calling, "Ke-bab! Taaaaaasty Ke-bab!" Zoom Vienna has a series of photos from the Naschmarkt here.

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