Gasometers Don’t Exist
The title of this post is borrowed from an old copy of the Meccano Magazine.
But type gasometer into Wikipedia and you get redirected to gas holder. The origin of the name is given here in Wikipedia. It was supposedly coined by the Scot; William Murdoch.
But they do exist in Vienna and even have their own Metro station called Gasometer.
They are really one of the best examples of converting a redundant structure into something useful. There’s more about them here.
The last time I saw these structures, was when C and I came to a christening in Vienna. We wondered what the virtually derelict brick structures were as we took the train to the airport.
In Search Of Lise Meitner
Lise Meitner is one of my heroes and as she was born in Vienna, I had to see if I could find her birthplace. She was supposedly born at 27, Kaiser Josef Strasse according to a web site I found.
This was the nearest I could find.
In Search Of Lise Meitner
I would assume that the house has been knocked down.
I’ve just looked from my home computer and I was looking in the wrong place.
I really should have taken it with me or searched for an Internet cafe.
Spittelau
In Vienna if there is one place I had to see, it is Spittelau.
You walk out of the station of the same name and it’s there, only a kilometre or so from the centre of Vienna.
When you first see it, you think it is some weird work of art or even a chemical plant designed by a benign Devil.
It’s actually a waste incineration plant, which provides district heating and to be fair it’s more beautiful than SELCHP.
The world needs a lot more Spittelaus. As they often do, the Japanese are copying the ideas in Osaka.
It is a superb example that shows the close relationship between art, engineering and architecture.
Can you imagine the fuss, if they decided to build a plant like this at say Silvertown in East London? On the other hand, the plant shows that refuse incinerators can be good neighbours.
Every large city should have it’s Spittelau!
Around Vienna Cathedral
The hotel was close to Vienna’s impressive cathedral, St. Stephen’s.
It was from this square that I got on the U-bahn.
The King Is Dead
I stayed at a hotel, I’d used before with C.
The King Is Dead
It was a rather waste of time, as the room I had was noisy and very hot. with little ventilation. but I suppose the wi-fi was good and free.
From Bratislava To Vienna
I left Bratislava on Wednesday morning. Not by train, but by taking a fast boat on the Danube.
The fare was just twenty euros and it was a very pleasant trip, that took you from one city centre to the other in about seventy-five minutes. As there are three ropund trips a day, you could easily stay in one city and visit the other.
I was particularly fascinated by the fishermen’s cottages along the banks, where they use nets to get the fish.
I have tried to nake all of the bridges, but information on the web is a bit lacking.
The Anonymous Widower 