Vienna Waits for You

Third trip to Vienna, and I love it more each time.  Beautiful in a way that Paris can only hope to be, clean, sophisticated, yet mannered and civil. 

Nothing starts the day like a Brauner.  Strong espresso, served in a small cup, on a silver platter.  Cream, sugar, a biscuit and a glass of water accompany it, no matter the place.  The Viennese have a delightful habit of an 11 am coffee break.  I take advantage.  

I took E to the Albertina Museum, thinking she would be bored, but I was wrong.  She loved it all, especially when I showed her that when you look at a painting up close, then stand back, it’s entirely different.  There was a large Max Weiler exhibit, so she had fun interpreting his works, and what she saw in each drawing.  Max’s work involved the use of crayons in his later years, so perhaps she could identify with the medium!  Luckily, there was a temporary exhibit of the Batliner collection so we also saw a few Monets, Picassos, Russian abstracts, and some really lame “contemporary” art – code for ‘painting an entire canvas in one color and selling it for a fortune’.  I have no appreciation for modern art.  The whole thing is set up in Prince Albert’s former palace (no, not the one in the can), so we get to see the Hapsburg staterooms, also.  Bad wallpaper, everything trimmed in 23.5 carat gold, fancy fireplaces for the times, marble staircases. 

We decided to brave the Sacher Hotel for real Sacher torte.  We lined up, cattle-like, with the other tourists and were finally given a table, I read the menu, and discovered coffee alone would be 6e.  Time passes…no waitress comes to our table.  So, we bailed.  I had a recommendation to try the Landstmann Café…from the 1880s and Freud’s favorite.  2 subway stops and we were out of the tourist hell, and on a gorgeous, sunny patio, next to the Burg Theater and the Rathaus.  The smell of flowers from the park carried in on the breeze…lovely.  Sacher torte and Kracherl, a local elder-flower lemonade were enjoyed, for much less than at the Sacher Hotel.  We actually got treated like customers, too.  The café has a large clientele of politicians and journalists, so it was entertaining to people-watch. We took a walk through the Rathaus’ gardens, filled with flowers, palms, and fountains, while admiring the beautiful architecture of the Rathaus.  So many parks in the city, and they’re all safe and absent any homeless villages.  

We decide schnitzel is in order for our last night in Vienna, so we trek off to SchitzelWirt, which has the best in town IMO.  Putenschnitzel all around (turkey), sitting out on the patio.  Inside, there are many large tables, and no one gets one to themselves.  You find a table with room, and join whoever is there.  I don’t mind that, but it’s a smoking establishment, and the air is blue.  Outside is better.   

We have not eaten enough today.  We hoof it over to Zanoni Eis and yes, again with the patio.  E has a kid’s concoction called a Pinocchio, which is homemade strawberry gelato, decorated with whipped cream, sprinkles, ice cream cones and smarties.  I opt for the Pfeffermint Pokal, better known as the liquid After Eight.  Chocolate  ice cream, peppermint schnapps, chunks of chocolate, whipped cream.  Yes, it’s a good thing we walked so much today.  Did I mention my blisters?  Time to go back to the hotel and pack and watch German music videos. 

I’m going to miss my hotel shower.  The shower head has LED lights in it that change according to the temperature of the water.  Green is cold, blue is warm, red is hot.  Don’t need a light on in the shower, and I never have to worry about the kid burning herself.  Awesome.  

Also, going to miss Vienna’s transit system.  1.8e per ride, half price for kids.  That covers the huge subway system, the regional trains, trams and buses.  It’s also clean, safe, on-time and comfortable.  If you want people to use the transit system, it has to be like this.  It must go where you need it to go!  They also allow families to travel on one fare, during the weekend.  Why on earth would you drive?

May I also say that Vienna (like many European cities) manages to balance bike lanes and sidewalks brilliantly, and Vancouver could take note?  It’s a complicated  engineering  feat, but it goes like this:  take one sidewalk.  Draw a line down the middle.  On one side, stencil a picture of a bike.  On the other, stencil a picture of a person.  Voila!  Bike lanes that don’t interfere with traffic OR pedestrians!  Well, unless you stray into the bike lane, in which case you will get yelled at by an angry German guy.  So I’ve heard.