Grand Wien

By Chris Sarcletti

City: Vienna

After being on the road for 2 weeks and traveling through parts of 5 different countries, it is hard to say what you expect when arriving at the last destination on your itinerary. I have been in this situation before and it is impossible to predict how you feel or how much energy you will have left at the end of a vacation that pushes into its 3rd week. While you still feel good because you are on vacation, you may also feel travel weary and sometimes that weariness can lead to you not enjoying your last stop as much as you wanted to or should have. At least not as much as you enjoyed Dubrovnik a week ago or Budapest just a few days back.

Well, it was 10 AM on a Thursday morning and only an hour ago we were accosted as part of a Hungarian toll way blockade that we encountered after leaving a gas station. After filling up our tank one last expensive time, a man in uniform waved us aside before we were able to make it to the toll way when he noticed that we didn’t have the ‘required’ vignette on our windshield which is required to drive on Hungarian highways. My Dad attempted to deal with a situation that was full of uncertainties. Not only were we asking ourselves ‘What did we do wrong?”, we were also very much wondering, “How and the hell are we going to get out of this?” In addition, my Dad had one other relatively major thing to consider, “How am I going to communicate with this person who is about to ask me questions I probably don’t know the answer to knowing that she will only understand half of my responses?” As my Dad attempted to deal with this tense situation, I had a pointless and short-lived argument with my Uncle. While he maintained that we were being targeted because we were tourists and Americans, I maintained that he had no idea what he was talking about and that there were probably not a whole lot of Americans driving through Hungary. I guess I was just getting tired of the victim mentality he was assuming, but little arguments like these are not uncommon after traveling with the same people for over two weeks. In any case, we paid the attendant 55 EURO for the vignette and were back on the road in about 10 minutes. I must say that my Dad did an excellent job of navigating around a potentially difficult situation. With all of us perturbed, for one reason or another, the car was a bit quiet as we made our way back onto the toll way towards Vienna. We were only a couple hours away at this point and I was hopeful that the excitement that had been a part of our trip to this point wouldn’t extinguish amongst the annoyances that are a part of being around the same people for 2 weeks in addition to the general tiredness you feel after a long trip.

We had rather little trouble meandering into the middle of Vienna as we just followed the ‘Zentrum’ signs to the Ring which is right in the middle of the city. Once we got on the ring, we didn’t have much of a problem finding the Opera House and then Avis which was across the street. Unfortunately, the small self inflicted scrape on our car was noticed by the person examining the cars and while that didn’t mean much right now, it most likely would eventually result in more money when the bill came in the mail. However, for now we were free of our car and ready to explore the city.

Within minutes of exiting Avis, we were immediately thrust into the heart of Vienna as we passed the Opera House and looked for a place to have lunch. We hadn’t even made it to our accommodation yet and still had our bags in hand as we poked around looking for a place where we could satiate ourselves. Walking around and really seeing Vienna for the first time, my mind began to wander as I thought to myself,

‘Well, if Budapest is a grand city, I don’t really know how to describe Vienna. Magnificent, amazing, stunning? Whatever the term, my first impression is that this is one of the most impressive cities I have visited. It belongs in the same class with the big boys and when I say big boys, I mean London, Paris, New York, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. Yes, Chicago is undoubtedly a great city even if it is my hometown.’

As it was nearly 1 PM, our bellies were grumbling and the first decent looking place
would surely have to suffice for lunch as we would not be carrying these bags around for
long on an empty stomach. Of all places, we ended up at an Australian pub across the
street from the tourist information office near the Opera House. With the fantastic Sacher
and Mozart Cafés within a stone’s throw away, it is actually quite a shame that we ended
up eating hamburgers, French fries and meat pies for our first meal in Vienna. I can’t
even say the fries were frites. That said, we spotted empty seats outside the pub, and as
an added bonus, there was room for us to set out luggage down. This looked like
much less of a challenge than trying to carve out an area at one of the crowed cafes in the
vicinity. After our enjoyable, but mediocre lunch, we hopped a cab and found our way to
GAL apartments. The cab driver made a few quick lefts and rights and passed over a
bridge spanning a small arm of the Danube river when we spotted the Grosse
Moehrengasse street sign. One more left turn and we were in front of our new “home”.
After checking in and enduring the normal minor difficulties one encounters when
checking into a residence in another country, we opened the door to a truly wonderful
apartment. It was clean, efficient and perfect for us. As splendid as the apartment was, it
was not a time for relaxation and we were all aching to get back out into the city center to
take in as much as possible on this beautiful day.

We made our way back out into the city in search of Tram #2. Based on the description of the Tram 2 route in my guidebook, I thought a spin on Tram #2 would offer us a nice introduction to the city since the tram circles the outer ring which encompasses many of Vienna’s major sights. A Viennese appetizer if you will. Well, if this was an appetizer, it was a tasty one as this quick 25 minute tram ride made me very ravenous for more. Seeing one magnificent building after another in addition to a slice of the meticulously maintained City Park will do that to you. I hadn’t been in Vienna for more than two hours, but the grandeur that Vienna is famous for was already plainly obvious to me. The numerous monuments I saw while riding on the tram created a buzz inside me that perforated throughout my entire body. I was just excited to be here and experience the city. It is rare for me to arrive in a city and have that special feeling that is almost hard to describe if you haven’t experienced it yourself. It feels good to have it again. Amazingly, I didn’t feel tired or annoyed anymore. Instead, I actually felt invigorated.

Three hours and lots of walking later, I was sitting in an area that had absolutely the most
magnificent string of cafes I have seen anywhere. I had been walking around the Graben
and Kohlmarkt areas and was enamored with what was going on around me. What else
could I do but sit back and take it all in? Sure, there are overpriced shops and restaurants
in this area where the food costs more than it should but this is to be expected when you
are in ‘the place to be’. As over hyped as these types of areas can sometimes be,
Vienna’s hot spot deserves the hype, and then some. There were various types of street
entertainers, a group of break dancers and ample opportunities to people watch. With one
café after another and ominous, massive St. Stephen’s Cathedral looming over your
shoulder, no matter where you are sitting, you have a good seat. Whether it be afternoon,
morning or night, this is definitely the place to be.

As for St. Stephen’s Cathedral, I guess you could almost describe its Gothic interior as
“Batmanesque”, if that is a word. I was in shorts but decided to bend the rules
and walk inside because I needed to see what was inside of this hulking structure.
As much as I hated acting as if I didn’t see the sign that clearly indicated ‘No Shorts’, my
guilt quickly faded when I saw the impressive interior of the church. The church’s spire
undoubtedly stands out from the skyline from many vantage points throughout the city,
clearly pointing to a spot that is not to be missed. We spent the rest of the evening in this
wonderful area. First there was coffee, then beers, then dinner and then more beers. At
some point, there may have been a gelato also. Sure, there was more to see but we didn’t
feel like seeing it right now. We were content where we were at and were immersed in
what was around us. Between it all, there was much people watching and almost as much
monument gazing. What a place to relax.

At the end of the night, we followed the street to its end until we were but a few blocks
from our apartment. As we approached our apartment, crossing the river, I even saw a
man made beach down a flight of stairs on the banks of the Danube. It looked like they
were setting up a stage for some music over the weekend. Another wonderful Wien
surprise as there seemed to be one around every corner. I could get used to this.

After resting leisurely at another fine café and enjoying a gorgeous berry tart and fine Viennese coffee for breakfast, it was now time to explore more of Vienna’s public transportation system. Oh and that berry tart for breakfast? I couldn’t go on looking at one beautiful pastry after another without biting into one and decided that there was no reason to wait any longer. It was well worth it as this pastry tasted every bit as good as it looked. We had no problem determining where we needed to go as we hopped on the U4 subway line without even having to ask a random person a question and were on our way to the Schonbrunn Palace.

Schonbrunn was the Hapsburg’s summer palace and is one of the most impressive sights I have seen in any European city I have visited.

This museum celebrates the palace's best-known tenant, Emperor Franz Josef I, who lived here for much of his life. Franz Josef was very much loved by the people and had a strong belief in maintaining connection with them. He was not above allowing commoners to come into his quarters to express grievances or offer suggestions for the good of the empire. He was also a believer in the virtue of hard work as it was not uncommon for him to begin his workday at 5:30 AM and end it late at night, only taking Sundays for rest. This is very impressive as many emperors lived a life of luxury and did little to try and strengthen the empire they inherited. This museum also devotes considerable attention to one of Franz Josef's wives, Sissi. She is better known as Queen Elizabeth of Austria. The Schonbrunn museum openly tells the sad story of Sissi's poor mental (and eventually physical) health -- including a 19th century-style eating disorder where her only sustenance during the day was strained raw beet juice. So much for the life of luxury!

The opulence and grandeur that were so obvious in the 40 rooms we toured were, to some degree, expected. I guess what really surprised me was how much style Franz Joseph, Marie Antoinette and Sissi amongst others brought to this magnificent palace. Maybe I expected impressive but boring décor that suited that period of time so long ago. Instead, I found tasteful, imaginative décor in nearly every room. In one room, there were lacquered plaques brought in from China with stories of daily life unfolding within the lacquer they were inlaid in. In many of the rooms, there were enormous, beautiful landscape paintings depicting various facets of nature. In other rooms, my neck started to hurt because I was analyzing the details of the impressive paintings that adorned their ceilings. If you were decorating a palace today, you might want to contact Marie Antoinette for some suggestions. Well, maybe not as she followed her husband to the guillotine at the age of 37, although I don’t think her design preferences had anything to do with that.

One room I particularly remember had a blue and white design that was exquisite with every intricate detail perfected. Amazingly, the paneled woodwork in this room was of the same blue and white design and color scheme that was present throughout the room. There were probably over a 100 different panels in the room with Asian daily life sketches in the same exact color pattern within each panel. All were unique. Can you even manage how long it would take to do something like this? It is amazing to me.

Every room was fantastic with no expense spared. There was one beautiful painting after another done by artists who were specifically commissioned to please the royalty with their wonderful talents. A young Mozart even performed at this fantastic summer residence at the behest of Maria Theresa and her consort, Francis I.

As impressive as the inside was, I was actually overwhelmed by the palace grounds surrounding the fortress. There are no terms to describe how perfect the grounds are. I was fascinated by the vibrant colors of the beautiful flowers and the thousands of bushes and trees trimmed perfectly, one in the same way as the next. I guess you could call this a museum garden. The colors of the flowers can only be described as robust. In one section, the violet color of the flowers was so vivid that it made me stand and take notice as it almost looked like the pedals had been ground up and poured onto the lush green grass. The paths that intertwine between the maze of trees and gardens seem to be endless. Maybe they are. I can only dream of living in Vienna and making my way to Schonbrunn for a Saturday jog that would continue for hours on stretches of paths that dissect the rows of trees and extend in every direction. For those lucky enough to call Vienna their home, this is actually a reality since the grounds are open to the public and free to enter. This is also an area to sit with a loved one and hold hands as a place this beautiful must be romantic. And it is. The benches on the paths look like they should be part of a portrait that includes a lonely man reading or a loving couple embracing. The paths don’t stop either. Instead, they veer right and left repetitiously until they converge at the magnificent Gloriette war monument. This monument stands tall and proud at the end of a path that a parade of people follow to the top. From afar, it almost looks like a parade of ants making their way up to a forbidden palace. The palace grounds have many other features -- most notably the old Viennese city zoo. I call it old because is has been continuously active since 1852, which means that it made it through two World Wars that both damaged Vienna. There is much more to the palace and the grounds than I have described as this is a place you could really spend all day at. I feel fortunate that I have been able to see and appreciate the magnificence of this inspiring site.

As we rode the U4 metro line back to the Schewedenplatz transportation hub where we began this excursion, I sat quietly as I felt a sense of peace after seeing so much beauty in one place. As I sat, I also salivated quietly in anticipation of a lunch I had been craving. Ever since we arrived yesterday, I have taken special notice of the Doner Kebab stands near each metro station and thoughts of sinking my teeth into one of these gorgeous sandwiches had been ruminating in my head for the last 24 hours. I was ready for and about to indulge in a purely Viennese lunch. Ok, not really. Historically, it would be more like a typical Turkish lunch although there have been slight variations added to the döner kebab to satisfy the tastes of the many countries that now call the “kebap” one of their favorite fast foods. This includes Germany, Austria, UK, Ireland, France, Australia, Finland, Canada and Japan. Unfortunately for me, the US is not included on this list. So, what is a döner kebab? Well, the words döner kebab literally mean “turning roast” and this is the name given to a Turkish dish made from lamb, beef or chicken. In many cases, there is a combination of lamb and beef together. It is essentially the same dish as a shawarma or gyros with slight differences in the type of meat and spices used. Generally, a döner kebab sandwich is served with a salad made from shredded lettuce and includes toppings such as onions, tomatoes, eggplant and maybe some hummus if your lucky. Usually there is a choice between a hot sauce (sambal or a red chili paste based sauce) or a yoghurt sauce containing garlic (like tzatiki sauce) and herbs. In some cases, sheep’s cheese or feta is thrown into the mix. The reality of it is that the döner kebab has become one of the world’s most popular fast foods. It deserves merit alongside the Australian meat pie (which surprisingly I ate yesterday), the American hot dog and the cevapcici sandwiches that seem to be an inherent part of the fast food pyramid in every Central European country I have visited. In addition to the wonderful taste of the sandwich, it is a bit of an “experience” watching the kebab “attendant” carve the meat off of the cone of beef or lamb or chicken. In any case, my lamb and beef sandwich was wonderful as it was packed into a roll with hummus, eggplant, lettuce, onion and spicy red sauce. It really hit the spot.

After lunch, we meandered up Rotenturnstrasse to Graben and then to Kohlmarkt. We took in more of the fabulous café atmosphere in this veritable temple to people watching and shop browsing. Eventually, we strolled up to Michaelerplatz towards the beautiful domed entrance to the Hofburg Palace. As you walk towards the dome, it’s hard not to stop for a minute to really look at and appreciate its beauty and stature. We walked through the palace grounds eventually and continued on until we ended up at the Rathaus. Located in front of the impressive City Hall building, this area has picnic tables in between 2 rows of ethnic food stands selling everything from Mexican taco salads to different kinds of pasta combinations to bratwursts and chicken stir fry. For us, it was a great place to stop and have a large beer in the sun. For the rest of the afternoon, we just savored wonderful Vienna. Inevitably, we ended up enjoying the café culture and wonderful weather as we couldn’t think of a much better way to spend an afternoon.

We spent the evening in a local suburb called Grinzigen where we visited some wine bars, better known as heurigen. So, what is a heuriger? Well…..

Heuriger is the name given to many Austrian wine-drinking locales where patrons can experience the most recent year's wine. A heuriger has legal limitations different from those of a tavern or restaurant. Only its own wine can be served and it can only serve a limited selection of food from a buffet. Additionally, a heuriger can only be open a certain amount of time during each year. In areas like Grinzigen where there are many heurigen, it is usually guaranteed that there will be at least one or more of these wine gardens open. Most heurigen have music which is typically provided by two Heurigensänger who typically play the guitar and accordion. They walk from table to table looking for tips and will perform on request any songs from their limited repertoire for the benefit of all the guests who are present.

Getting to Grinzigen was extremely quick and easy. We took the U4 subway line to the last stop, hopped on tram 38 and hopped off at the Grinzigen stop. I wish public transportation at home in Chicago was this seamless. We jumped off of the tram with a few other nervous tourists wondering if this was the place listed in their tour book with the wine “bars”. I took a chance and told them emphatically that this was Grinzigen to provide them with some relief. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if we were at Grinzigen, but the 3 or 4 successive heurigen I saw to my right as we drove through the village told me that we had a fun place to spend the night, whether it was Grinzigen or not. Well, this was the right place and this town was ripe with charm.

Grinzigen is a small, suburban village that it is full of character. I felt like I was in a town somewhere along the Romantic Road in Germany. It was hard not to be taken in by the winding streets and neat buildings, each one different then the other and possessing its own character. However, the real reason we were here was to visit the wine gardens and that is what we did.

We walked into at least 7 or 8 wine gardens and had a drink or something to eat at 4 of them. Some might say they all look the same. After all, they do all have a large outdoor seating area that is lush with trees and filled with tables and chairs where patrons can enjoy food, drink and each other. From the garden area, all of the patrons can see the backside of the restaurant. The buffets inside the restaurant are overloaded with various cold cuts, salads and cheeses in addition to hot items like pork and beef roast, lamb shank, potatoes and all sorts of vegetables. The violin and guitar music is charming and was even accompanied by some live singing at one of the places we visited.

However, as similar as the heurigen appear to each other at first sight, it didn’t take but a few moments to realize that they all had their own identity. Whether it was the food, music, wine or atmosphere, each place we visited had specific nuances that gave it its own flare. Inevitably, each venue ultimately succeeded in offering a comfortable enough environment to relax in that it would be very easy to spend an entire night in one place eating and drinking without getting up from your seat to go anywhere but the washroom. It would be a drunken night, but a good one at that. I particularly enjoyed being amongst the local population on this evening. There were definitely a few tourists relaxing in the wine gardens we visited, but the majority of the people enjoying conversation, wine and food were locals. It was Friday and they were probably ‘letting go’ a bit after a long week at work. We did our best to blend in and didn’t have much of a problem. We found a seat at a table, plopped down and ordered a glass of wine. Not too difficult, huh? All of the wine is from the region of Austria surrounding Vienna. We stuck with whites and most fell somewhere between a Riesling and a Chardonnay. They were nice and very drinkable. We enjoyed the atmosphere, music, wine and food. At one place, we had a fine cheese plate that hit the spot before settling into some spare ribs at another heuriger we visited. Between anything we ate, there were many glasses of wine. It was about 10 PM and we were feeling a bit tipsy when we decided to make our way back to the tram stop.

Twenty quick minutes later, we had boarded and deboarded the tram, transferred to the metro and were back in the middle of the city. Five minutes later we were standing on the banks of the Danube Canal with a beer in hand listening to a live Latin band and watching people dance in the sand. All of this and we were a 5 minute walk away from our apartment. What else can you ask for? The Viennese use the Danube canal for everything its worth with portable bars, live entertainment and ample opportunity to relax, flirt, talk, dance or gaze into the river. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday evening and I can’t think of a better place to spend it in. Every Viennese citizen is very lucky to call this city their home.

It’s my last day in Vienna, a city known for its coffee, cakes and café culture. That meant one more morning sitting at Julius Meinl, Café Mozart or one of a thousand other cafes on the corner of every street enjoying a pastry and a nice flavorful cup of coffee. Instead, I put my head down like a bad boy being scolded, walked into Starbucks and ordered a Venti cup of over roasted bean juice to go. I couldn’t even bring myself to order one of their pastries. You ask why?

Well, although Starbucks isn’t my first choice for a caffeine fix on the way to work, I don’t boycott the place either. It has more to do with ‘giving in’, which is something one has to do when traveling in a pack of three for an extended period of time. After hearing my Uncle Bob talk about the illustrious American cup of coffee that he had been yearning so ravenously for the last 15 days, it would have been impossible for me to just walk by Starbucks and act like I didn’t see it. When I saw Starbucks sitting there, right next to a fine Viennese café I might add, I swallowed and took a deep breath and said, “Do you want to grab a coffee at Starbucks this morning Uncle Bob? I am sure you can get an American cup of coffee there. We can get it to go and walk in the direction of the Museumplatz.” Graciously he said, “If that is what you guys want to do, I am fine with that.” Given the fact that Bob hasn’t made one decision regarding any restaurant, café or sight we have visited in over 2 weeks, he wasn’t about to take a definitive stance regarding the cup of coffee he coveted for what seemed like an eternity. Well, I made it for him and walked into Starbucks.

In all honesty, I was having a difficult time understanding his fascination with an American cup of coffee. We are sitting in fantastic cafes in a city renowned for its coffee and café culture and somehow our discussion constantly turned to American coffee. Actually, it is a bit ironic as American coffee isn’t exactly held in high regard throughout the world. When he asked the servers at a couple places if he could get an American cup of coffee, as if they didn’t know what it was, they would just look at him and say, “What, isn’t it just a coffee with or without milk?” He would say, “Yes, I like it black.” They would respond, “No problem.” I guess my point is that the only thing that makes a cup of coffee American is the fact that it is 2-3 times the size of the normal size cup they bring to the table. In Europe, the size of the cups is usually a bit smaller than the size of the cup of coffee you would get at a typical diner in the United States. By the way, the coffee in Europe is a hell of a lot better because it actually has taste. I guess if Bob wanted 3 cups of coffee, he would have to pay for them.

Starbucks in hand, we began our walk up the street in the direction of the Musuemplatz towards our first destination of the day. We were going to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. This is a world class art museum displaying some of the Hapsburg’s art collection. After another splendid walk, we arrived at the museum quarter, which is impressive in more than a few ways. The natural history museum is directly across from the Kunsthistorisches Museum and is an equally impressive architectural structure. The grounds between the two museums are a fantastic place to lounge, relax, read, kiss and basically enjoy your surroundings. It is another one of Vienna’s fantastic park areas with trees that look so perfect that they must have been trimmed by someone extremely anal and an abundance of people watching opportunities. From the exterior, the museum is a massive, detailed and impressive architectural structure. You know, the kind of building that looks like it has been there for hundreds of years and is meant to make everyone that passes by it stop in their tracks and look while commenting to their friend how impressive it is. Upon buying my ticket and walking into the museum, it quickly became obvious that the paintings and sculptures within the museum are housed within one massive sculpture itself. Looking up at the beautiful dome inside the museum, it seemed I should be in a church instead of an art house. There are beautiful marble pillars spanning from floor to ceiling with intricate details and color patterns that demand your attention for at least few seconds, no matter how much you want to walk by, ‘get on with it’ and see the paintings. See, for someone like me who is not an art historian but just a spectator who appreciates art now and again, you sometimes have this feeling that you ‘have’ to see a certain gallery or museum and you hastily run through it in an effort to “get it over with”. You still appreciate what you see, but not nearly as much as you should. On this day, I didn’t want to do that, didn’t attempt to do that and fortunately didn’t repeat my past errors.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum demanded that I savor the moment and the masterpiece in front of me at nearly every stop I made. I had a similar feeling running through me when I was at the Schonbrunn Palace. It really is a special feeling and not one I experience often. I guess I could give you a quick overall recap and tell you that I was as impressed with what I saw at this museum as I was at any other major art house I have visited in the past including the Louvre, Orsay, Prado or Vatican museums. The collection is truly world class and speaks volumes about the taste of the Hapsburg rulers. However, that would be too broad of a description as this museum deserves more than a paragraph summary.

The half of the museum dedicated to Italian art is fantastic. I was particularly impressed with some of Pablo Veronese’s massive paintings that are startling by their size and presence as well as the stories told within. Mantegna’s 'St. Sebastian' painting of a Christian martyr standing erect, perfect and stoic, despite being needled with arrows, is awesome. The fact that the painting is three dimensional with roads receding into the distance and floor tiles beneath makes it that much more impressive. Parmigianino’s "Self-Portrait” is really a revelation based on its creativity and ingenuity. He paints himself while gazing into a convex mirror and reproduces this pose on a convex piece of wood. The wood appears exactly as Parmigianino did when he was actually staring into the mirror. On the other hand, Raphael’s ‘Madonna of the Meadow’ is absolutely precious. The colors in this painting are so soft and inviting, it feels as if you want to jump into the painting. Almost! I would describe Caravaggio as a man’s painter. I have no idea what he looks like but in my head, I picture a husky cigar smoking, whiskey drinking, well spoken, no-nonsense bastard. Well, whatever he looks like, he holds nothing back in ‘David with the Head of Goliath’ as David holds Goliath’s severed head in his hand and pushes it forward to the front of the painting. The face of Goliath is none other than Caravaggio himself. This is an astounding and strange self-portrait.

As I exited the Italian Renaissance section of the museum, I could have left altogether and been satisfied, but what fun would that be. There would definitely be some contrast in the Northern Renaissance section of the museum, although I was pretty sure I had seen the best of what the Kunsthistorisches Museum had to offer. Well, as is typical in matters of this kind, I was once again wrong. Pieter Bruegel and Peter Paul Rubens had something to say about this. Bruegel’s slice of life scenes tell stories the way only a storyteller can; only instead of using a pen, Bruegel uses his brush to paint images. I particularly liked the stories he told in the ‘Peasant Wedding’ and the ‘Peasant Dance’. In the ‘Peasant Wedding’, the wedding cuisine is much more the focus than the forgotten bride and the ‘Peasant Dance’ portrays some pretty clumsy clogging. There was another painting by an artist that was not familiar to me, Albrecht Durer, which was stunning. His ‘Altarpiece of the Trinity’ is so beautiful, colorful and perfectly geometrical that it deserved 5 minutes of my undivided attention. With Christ forming a triangle framed by clouds that are structured in a triangular landscape and three sided crowds of people, he achieved perfection in describing the Trinity. He didn’t stop there though. He actually painted himself as a small figure standing at the bottom of the painting in the right hand corner holding a plaque pronouncing that this masterpiece was painted by Albrecht Durer in 1511. He is the only mortal in the painting and behind his small figure there are roads that recede into the distance. Durer’s figure stands in a different dimension while the ‘divine’ happening described above takes place in another dimension. He does an excellent of job of separating the divine from the mortal.

I left the museum feeling as content as I’ve ever felt after leaving an art museum. From here, we headed to the Rathaus in front of the City Hall for some lunch. We had a beer here yesterday but I was determined to try the food which looked so scrumptious. With so many dishes calling my name, it was tough to choose what to pick and enjoy in front of the tremendous City Hall building. After much deliberation, I passed on another kebab sandwich and the bratwurst that looked so good and instead chose a fried potato, onion and bacon dish that was served with German style coleslaw. It was fantastic and I washed it down with a half liter of ‘light’ beer. As I enjoyed lunch, I absorbed the activity in this area on this beautiful and busy Saturday. There were kids playing and eating and families and couples laughing and enjoying the weather, food, drink and atmosphere. If you ask me, they looked pretty contented in their environment.

After lunch, we were left again without much of a plan. We wandered around the Ring for a bit, popped into a café for a coffee and eventually found ourselves walking into Vienna’s lush city park. It was no wonder to me that this place was as fantastic as every other part of the city I have seen. Stadtpark has beautifully manicured paths to run or walk on, gardens to stare at, ponds to contemplate over and of course a lot of people watching. You may be saying to yourself, “I have been to a lot of parks that have that.” Very true indeed, but did those parks have live classical musical concerts almost every night the weather permits, a beer garden, a café overhanging the primary garden area, street artists and roaming musicians? I took a moment to absorb the atmosphere with a stein of Spaten in my hand and came to a very simple conclusion. I am in love with Vienna. It has stolen my heart. I am as wrapped up with Vienna as I ever was with Amsterdam or Paris and I never thought I would find a city that impressed me as much as Paris did. I was wrong though. It has taken me far too long to see this wonderful city but I am lucky to be here now.

As we headed back to our apartment to get ready for our final dinner, I looked into the distance and saw what looked like a substantial beach on the banks of the Danube. It looked as if people were relaxing in lawn chairs and enjoying drinks and music. As I got closer, I realized that I wasn’t seeing things and there was a rather large beach area on the banks of the Danube River that had been created. There was a large Strandbar with mellow, funky music that reminded me of Portishead and Morcheeba playing overhead. In addition, there were people relaxing with drinks on lawn chairs spread out onto a nice sandy beach. These are the kind of lawn chairs and the kind of environment that just beg one to sit down and stay for a while and that is exactly what we did. For the next hour or so, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as we relaxed and chilled. This is one more example of how Vienna utilizes every facet of its gorgeous city to the utmost. Finding this area was just another pleasant surprise hidden within this amazing world class city.

Honestly, there is no reason for me to be taken aback by the treasures I have found around every corner in Vienna. Any guidebook would tell you as much. The real reason I am surprised is because this is my first time visiting Vienna after traveling to so many other places. I guess sometimes you think you’ve gotten to the point where you wonder to yourself what is it that you will see that will continue to stir that travel bug inside of you. Well, after seeing Vienna, it is good to know that the craving and desire to see the world are still alive and well inside of me.