 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Vienna
The City That Endures By Nancy & Eric Anderson Photography by Authors
Ms. Draxler and Mercer may be right. Many of the streets in the inner city are pedestrian-only and residents and tourists walk them with abandon in a freedom seldom experienced in the land of the automobile, the United States. People sitting outside the cafés drinking their coffee seem in no hurry which is true for the waiters as well. Café owners are not in a rush to turn their tables over. Traditionally you can take forever when you sit in one of Vienna's celebrated cafés: read your paper, read theirs, do your crossword puzzle, write a letter or just plain sit and vegetate. And if it seems a bit high to pay 3 Euros (€3) for a small coffee it may be more the result of the persistent weakness of the US dollar. What Europe wants for its € you can usually get in the States for a $ and sometimes even for 50 cents. Otto Ernest Wiesenthal, is the owner of the Hotel Alstadt at Kirchengasse 41. It's in District 7 where prices are less, his especially so. He defends Vienna's prices. "There are 16 major cities in Europe," he says, " more expensive to live in than ours. Look at London, look even at little Bratislava; they are all more costly than Vienna." And, one could say, a lot of those other cities are not half as interesting as Vienna. So what would interest visitors in this city, Austria's capital? What might be a Top Five things to do that would be memorable in the former capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire? First: Experience the City of Wine and Dine "Tourists see us as the home of wiener schnitzel, frankfurters and potato dumplings, "says a native sitting beside us on Austrian Airways as we circle to land, "But we've had immigrants coming for almost 700 years to serve in the Imperial City of the Habsburgs and it shows in the variety of our restaurant menus." He nods and sits back contentedly in his seat and adds, "We are the only city in the world with a style of cuisine named after it: Viennese!" "What about Peking Duck?" we say. "That's a menu item not a cuisine," he replies and returns to getting ready for landing.
Actually wine making in Vienna goes back farther than the Habsburgs. It started with the Romans and Vienna remains the only capital city in the world with significant wine production within its city limits. Vienna also created the celebrated sachertorte, a chocolate concoction first served in 1832. The delicacy's history is so important it brought a lawsuit between the Hotel Sacher and the patisserie Demel as to who has the right to the term "Original Sachertorte," The issue was resolved in 1965 in favor of the hotel. We sampled both. The Demel was relatively less expensive but a bit dry; the hotel version came with cream and was preferred. Neither would win an American State Fair pie competition. Second: Enjoy the Capital of Music It's said that at any time of day or night in Vienna, someone, somewhere is playing Mozart's music. His statue, one of seven of classical musicians standing in the city, is the most photographed memorial in Vienna. The stark apartment he rented is a popular visit for tourists but it lacks any of his furniture and doesn't compare as an attraction with the house where he was born in Salzburg. But Vienna is a city of music that lives. Its reputation even brought Beethoven. Here he knew he would have an audience. He is buried in the Central Cemetery.
This city of 1.7 million people supports four opera houses. It has 50 different musical events every day and the Musikverein, the Golden Hall, presents an almost unbelievable 600 concerts every season. On our recent visit the Mozart Orchestra played Vienna favorites from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik to the Overture to the Marriage of Figaro. Arias were sung by the soprano Lydia Rathkolb and baritone Christian Rudik. It was fun in this, at times, formal city to see the camaraderie and lightheartedness of the orchestra and how well it responded to its conductor Ewald Donhoffer. Third: Embrace the History of the Imperial City Most European capitals readily demonstrate their antiquity but Vienna is special. The more than 640 years' history of the Habsburgs and the trajectory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are not subjects traditionally taught in US schools yet American tourists keep bumping against those topics in other countries from Serbia to Switzerland. Well, this is the center of the story.
It's tempting for those with limited time to hurry through the Winter and Summer Palaces of the Habsburgs, visit perhaps one church then think they've "done" Vienna and indeed the palaces and museums surely epitomize the city. There is, of course, more. The former stables of the Habsburgs is now a vast complex called the MQ for MuseumsQuartier and any one of the museums could occupy a half day. In addition, Sigmund Freud lived at Bergasse 19 from 1891 to 1938 and his house is now a museum. And the café where he had his daily coffee, the Café Landtmann, is still there because this is a city that endures. Fourth: Walk the Ancient Streets Thirty percent of Vienna was destroyed in the Second World War yet much of the new architecture blends harmoniously with the older buildings. Vienna claims 60 percent of the city is green space but the most interesting area for visitors to walk through is that around St. Stephan's Cathedral. A fire in 1258 destroyed a basilica founded on this site in the 12th century. The Gothic cathedral that arose in its place was damaged during an Ottoman siege in 1683 then subsequently bombarded by the Russians and even the Germans as they retreated from the city in 1945. The restoration was completed in 1948 - although we've always found some repair work going on every time we've come to Vienna. Most guided walks either start or end at St. Stephan's. Some of those streets of the inner city are more than 400 years old. Don't forget to look up. A few blocks north east of the cathedral, for example, lies Schönlaterngasse (the street of the nice street lamp). A replica of the lantern is there, the original's in a museum. At Number 7 high on the wall of a former bakery, a plaque and a concrete figure that for all the world looks like a rooster identifies the basilikenhaus. Here in the Middle Ages a deadly monster, the basilisk, was thought to dwell, a creature whose breath and glance were fatal. Indeed occupants of this house had died probably due to methane gas escaping from the 13th century well. In the legends of this street a baker went back into the building with a mirror and killed the hated thing by showing it its own reflection. That may be a myth but what is not fiction are the gouging charges of some of the restaurants there. The Zum Basilisken restaurant at Number 5 charged us €2.70 for one bottle of water, €2.70 for two rolls, €2.20 for two pats of butter and €1.20 for, as the waiter said, "use of cutlery." And that €8.80 total comes to US$12.60 before you even reach for the menu. We are familiar with the French concept of le couvert, the charge for a place setting, but were disappointed seeing it in our beloved Vienna.
To benefit from any walking tour you should buy a good guide book that also has a walking map. Such guides will take you to the 1693 Plague Column; the narrow (30 foot-wide) but tall-steepled church Maria am Gestade; and the Hoher Markt, Vienna's oldest marketplace and public site for hangings. The market also has the famous Ankeruhr clock that was featured in Orson Welles' movie The Third Man. Don't miss the former Greek section of the inner city, the Griechengasse or the 1737 Donner Fountain whose undraped Goddess of Providence so offended the Empress Maria Theresa. A half mile to the south by the Karlplatz rises the massive 1727 Church of St. Charles. The church's beautiful frescoes are being restored and stairs and elevators are provided to let visitors ascend to what seems the very heavens themselves. From this height they can gaze over this majestic city in all directions even to the North as if seeking the magic of The Blue Danube. Fifth: Cruise the Danube Itself Strauss got the melody right but not the color. The Danube is more green brown but its mystique haunts any visit to Vienna. The rivers played a vital role in the trading histories of cities and the Danube's convenience had a large role in the growth of the Habsburg Empire. Many one-day Danube cruises are available in Vienna but nothing beats a longer cruise that would take you deep into the legends of Austria and Central Europe. Uniworld's 361 foot-long River Countess, for example, sails either east ending in Bucharest or west and north to Amsterdam (www.uniworld.com). The first part of the latter cruise takes passengers through the tranquil Wachau Valley, perhaps the prettiest part of Austria.
The captain of the River Countess, Jord Zwaal, a young Dutchman who now lives in Bavaria introduces himself to his 134 passengers the first night and declares, "My family has sailed on rivers for many generations so I am keeping up its traditions." Zwaal is fiercely proud of his crew of 38 - his new family. Literally! He has recently married Julie, his hotel manager and passengers bask in their warmth. He waves his hand at the scenery passing
by on the Danube. "This is like a movie opening outside your
cabin," he says. If so it must be a comedy because everyone on
board is smiling. Well-run cruises have that effect on people. |
sked what makes her city special, Eva Draxler, a spokesperson for
the Vienna Tourist Board (
Tell Eric what you think of his article. In the meantime, here are some of the feedback we have already received:
|
Stay tuned.
This site is designed and maintained by WYNK Marketing. Send all technical issues to: support@wynkmarketing.com
|
