Ute travels:24 HOURS IN VIENNA

When I lived in Vienna as a student,the main thing I got to know were pubs,bars,clubs and other more or rather less cultural venues. Now,only sporadically returning as a ‘tourist’,I have the opportunity to explore Vienna from a different viewpoint. I am still not very keen on the standard tourist attractions such as the Stefan’s Dom,Schloss Schoenbrunn or the Hofburg. I have seen them as a child or teenager and have never had the urge to go back fighting for space with masses of tourists from all over the world. However,I tremendously enjoy the excellent restaurant and food scene in Vienna,the beautiful parks,the outskirts of Vienna with small vineyards and the great art museums and exhibitions.

My last trip was predominantly focused on food (who would have guessed?) and the arts. While I have blogged about the two lovely restaurants I ate at (Artner and Holy Moly (to follow),here some suggestions on what to do in your 24 hours in Vienna. (but fear not,there still will be plenty of food!)

From Hotel Das Triest,take a walk through the Schleifmuehlgasse to the wonderful Naschmarkt. In the Schleifmuehlgasse,have a Viennese coffee at the Alt Wien Kaffee while relishing the wonderful smell of the freshly roasted coffee beans.

You better be hungry when arriving at the Naschmarkt. If you like London’s Borough Market,you will love this more than 200 years old Viennese food market. You will find stalls of the freshest and most appetizing fruit and vegetables,spices,cheese,fish and meat and whatever else you can possibly think of. A lot of the stall holders are from Turkey or former Yugoslavia,so you will be able to get wonderful specialties from these parts of the world.

Don’t eat too many snacks from the market stalls though as you might want to sit down for lunch at one of the many restaurants within the market. Traditional Viennese,Japanese,Turkish,Thai,Noodles –you name it,you’ll get it. I used to waste days away during my student years drinking Weisser Spritzer (white wine spritzer),talking with friends and watching the world go by in some random restaurant or cafe at the Naschmarkt. On Saturdays,the market extends further along the Wien Zeile,where the adjacent flea market takes place.

Now finally some time for culture. Walk up the Getreidemarkt and visit the Vienna Secession. The Vienna Secession was an art movement founded in 1897  by a group of Viennese artist including Gustaf Klimt and Koloman Moser. The architect Joseph Maria Olbrich,also part of this movement,built their exhibition house with the distinct golden dome,now called ‘Secession’. Nowadays it exhibits modern artists (we saw some interesting video installations and some rather questionable pink furniture) and the highly recommended Beethoven Frieze by Gustaf Klimt.

You have then almost reached the Museumsquartier (MQ). Formerly court stables,it is now hosts Vienna’s most interesting cultural space. With 60 000 m² it is the 8th largest area for modern art and culture in the world. In summer you can lie on big colourful sunbeds,in winter the sunbeds make place for stalls selling Gluehwein. The space accommodates a range of museums,cafes and restaurants. We visited the Leopold Museum,which hosts the most extensive Schiele exhibition as well as works by Klimt and other artists from the Viennese Jugendstil movement.

After all this culture it is time for some shopping. Thank god the MQ is located at the beginning of Vienna’s biggest shopping street,the Marierhilfer Strasse. Imagine Oxford Street,just much less busy.

I guess you might get hungry while doing your shopping,so for an Italian snack pop by at Bar Italia (Marierhilferstrasse 19-21,1060 Wien). Time for the Vienna fashion drink Aperol Spritz (which is basically prosecco or white wine spritzer with a shot of aperol),some lovely panini,tramezzini or insalate.

Vienna is famous for its coffee culture. There are more or less traditional coffee houses on every corner where you can savour Viennese coffee specialities and gorge some  of the world’s most famous desserts. The home of the Sacher Torte is the Hotel Sacher,but you will get a less touristy and cheaper coffee house experience at places such as the Cafe Ritter (see below),Cafe Landtmann or any of the places in this list. Like everyone in the UK has a local pub,in Vienna you have your local coffee house,where you spend hours over one coffee,reading the paper,catch up with friends,and ever so often move on to spritzers and beers making the afternoon coffee into an all-nighter. Be well aware though that the grumpy,unfriendly and sometimes far past retirement age waiter belongs to the atmosphere as much as the coffee,the smoke and the old drunk somewhere in the corner.

Let’s finish this eventful day with a posh drink over the roofs of Vienna,at the Sky Bar in the First District. It is buzzing later in the evening at weekends,but pleasantly empty for a atmospheric pre-dinner cocktail.

I now say good bye and cheers while I am enjoying this of Aperol Spritz,see you soon in Vienna I hope!

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