Araneus diadematus, the European Garden Spider or Diadem Spider. Found this one hanging in it's fancy web constructed on the outer wall of my parents' house... the irony of me lamenting over not finding any spiders lately is not lost on me ^^;

Anyways! Here we see two distinct features - The fancy pattern of white spots forming a cross on the abdomen, and the stunted third pair of legs, common for the genera, built for web-weaving and climbing purposes.