Frozen mirror

Belvedere palace, Vienna

My parents say that I was born a bit after dawn in the coldest day of the year. I have a birthday today and instead of the typical shots of flowers and pralines, I decided to show you this :)

The place:

Belvedere is probably the most spectacular palace in Vienna. The building in the picture is actually Upper Belvedere. A bit below this palace is Lower Belvedere (which is nowhere near that picturesque). The name of the place means “Beautiful View” and indeed, the whole city of Vienna is visible from Upper Belvedere.

This palace was built by Prince Eugene of Savoy, the general who managed to break the Ottoman siege of Vienna (I’ll not go further into the details of the battle or the contribution of the Polish king John III Sobieski…). After the end of the war, Eugene of Savoy built this place – to be always able to see the city he saved. It is said that the palace roofs look like Ottoman tents.
Today Upper and Lower Belvedere are art galleries. Upper Belvedere is undergoing restoration to get its imperial glitter back (they managed to restore the lobby and the ballroom so far but work continues).

I’m not exactly a fan of art galleries (maybe because I understand nothing of paintings) but here you definitely have a lot to see. If not other paintings – here is the original of “The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt (I think that was the most expensive painting in the world because of the amount of gold Klimt used) and many other famous and beautiful paintings (can’t quote many names but I remember the paintings).

The story behind the shot:

Belvedere is a beautiful place, regardless of the season. This view is a classic. Or not quite – especially when the lake is frozen or is freezing.

As always on location, the itinerary is totally crammed, to say the least. So I had a few moments to snap the half-frozen lake – the park in enormous. By the time I came back (45 minutes later) – the lake had frozen and there was a blizzard.

Photoadvice:

It’s not a difficult shot, you just need to keep the horizon straight. Any lens will do:)

P.S. Tonight, if you have the time and the right mood at hand, have a drink to my health :)
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