merchants & musicians

March 1, 2013April 9, 2021 mike 0 Comments

On my trip to Europe I brought two cameras, my Pentax SLR and my Olympus mirrorless camera. In Prague I ended up using the SLR for most of my pictures but in Vienna I ended up using the mirrorless camera exclusively. I took the subway a lot in Vienna, and didn’t want to have to carry a bag with me, and the smaller Olympus camera fit in my jacket pocket. So all these shots were taken with the Olympus, and most of them were taken at the Nachsmarkt, the famous international market in Vienna.

Sometimes I just smile and point at the camera and usually get a nod saying it’s okay to take a picture. I did that for most of the street musicians I saw in Vienna. Maybe it’s just me, but the smaller camera seems less threatening. So I’m more likely to ask before taking a picture with it, whereas with the SLR I tend to use the long end of my zoom lens to take candids from far away. And in truth the smaller camera is good for candids too, you just need to be less shy about it and move in close.

An accordion player at the Stephansplatz.

There seemed to be a good number of these stands around Vienna, selling potatoes and roasted chestnuts. They also sell this patty thing, that looked a little bit like a McDonald’s hash brown. I actually liked the little patty thing, although I couldn’t figure out what it was made of.

This lady apparently knows how to handle sausages.

I’m not sure I’d ever buy a watch at a flea market. It looks like shady business.

I can honestly say this was the best bouillabaisse I’ve ever had in my life. That’s probably because I’ve only had it twice in my life (although I’ve had a fair amount of cioppino, which is sorta the Italian American version.) But it’s also because it was really tasty and hearty, they heaped the seafood into the bowl pretty generously (although maybe that’s because I was taking a picture of the process.)

This guy almost sliced his hand off trying to look at my camera while slicing up the pork shank I ordered.