For our summer trip this year we decided to travel to Austria. We had Vienna, Salzburg and Hallstatt on our list of places to visit and each exceeded our expectation. I don’t think Austria is high on most people’s list of places to visit in Europe but my hope is that after reading this post (and the next, I needed to break this post into two to do it justice :)), you will find something interesting to visit there.
I have been fascinated by Austria’s rich history for a while- from being one of the greatest empires to being a catalyst of WWI to getting annexed by Nazi Germany during WWII, Austria has survived it all and Vienna specifically has remained as one of Europe’s most prolific cities. You can see the resilience of the city in its beautiful historic landmarks, palaces, art, cafes, and gardens. You see its resilience when you walk by a church and the sign on its entrance says how it was bombed during WWII but has since been restored, much like the rest of the city that has been restored both culturally and artistically through the centuries. Some of the greatest minds in the field of music, art, science have not only left their mark in Vienna but in the rest of the world.
Vienna is divided into twenty three districts. We stayed at the Grand Hotel in the first district, which is the historic center of Vienna known as the Innere Stadt (old town), only a couple of blocks from the famous Vienna Opera house (which unfortunately is not in session during the summer months but was open for the public to visit with a guide), we were also walking distance away from most notable landmarks and numerous museums (there are over 100 museums in Vienna) . The best part about these museums is that many of them are housed in old Imperial palaces; making the experience even more enriching. Although there have been many notable Austrian artists- Klimt for me is the most recognizable. His most famous work of ‘The Kiss’ hangs at the Belvedere Museum as a part of his collection of 24 paintings, all of which reside in this museum. We also visited the Natural History Museum that resides in the Museumplatz (yes, there is a whole museum plaza in Vienna).
The other thing that Vienna is full of is cafes! Let’s start with the one I had been wanting to visit for years- built in 1863, Café Central is one of the most iconic cafes in the world. Many famous writers, poets, intellectuals like Freud and some infamous political figures like Stalin and Hitler also visited this café regularly to discuss the ongoings of the world. Over the years, Viennese have definitely kept up with the café culture and the proof of that is at every street corner that boasts of new and old coffee houses/cafés.
One of our favorite experiences in Vienna would have to be visiting one of the oldest Churches in Vienna- St. Peter’s Church- for a classical string quartet concert. Known as the “City of Music” of its time for its classical musical heritage, the concert lived up to its heritage. With the beautiful back drop of the gilded altar, the Violinists were absolutely amazing and the whole experience was well worth booking a month ahead (I used Viator).
Apart from just roaming the streets of Innere Stradt, which is also packed with shopping stores and food places, we enjoyed trying some of Austria’s well known desserts (even though, I have not been a dessert person for a year, I did indulge in a bite or so)- from apple strudle to sacher cake to more unique dessert like Demel’s Kaiserchmarnn, we tried the most decadent desserts. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how even as a vegetarian I was able to find pretty good food- from pastas to delicious potato salads (that generally came as a side of Vienna’s world famous Weiner schnitzels that my son had pretty much for every meal), food was actually not a problem for me to find. Even the McDonald’s had ‘McPlant’ burger as an option and Burger King had their own version of a veggie burger. Apart from the food, my husband enjoyed the Austrian beer- many of which were ‘unfiltered’!
As a former Psychology student, of course I couldn’t have left Vienna without visiting Freud’s house (where he also practiced). Hailed as the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud truly dedicated his life to the science of human psyche. Even though, the infamous couch he used during his sessions is now housed in the Freud Museum in London, it was so interesting to see his practice room, desk and many artifacts that still remain in the only place he called home; he lived in Vienna for 78 years until he was forced to leave in 1938 by the Nazi regime.
Vienna was also home (for the later part of his life) to one of world’s most influential musicians of all time – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He spent the last ten years of his life in Vienna but more on him in the next blogpost. There are many monuments dedicated to him throughout the city.
Home to the rich and famous of the centuries gone by, being in Vienna felt like stepping into the part of history that in many ways has shaped our world today- thank you Vienna for all your contributions.
Totally Rad 
Leave a comment