Weekend Getaways
Vienna – There are ladies wearing lace gloves and elegant hats, as well as girls in dreadlocks and heavy boots. Queues to opera compete with crowds in night clubs. This is what Vienna’s like.
In the heart of Vienna there is a baroque cathedral with a soaring tower. It is a perfect signpost for the lost tourists. Opposite you can find modern trade centre, Haas Haus, which is entirely made of glass. The local community ironically describes it as crushed glass.
If you are keen on shopping, particularly in posh shops, then Graben is will be perfect place for you. You can buy here, or on the nearby Kohlmarkt, Gucci bags, Ferragamo shoes or Cartier necklaces.
Some people say that Vienna was slightly xenophobic but I suppose the city has a lot reasons to cultivate its snobbery. Here Gustav Klimt painted one of the most famous kisses of the world; here Freud created his theory of dreams. In this city Strauss composed the most beautiful waltzes including By the Beautiful Blue Danube, Beethoven wrote Eroica and Mozart The Marriage of Figaro.
Vienna has also wonderful cafés. They serve coffee in hundred different ways. You should know that schwarzer will be coffee black as a tar, brauner with a tad of milk and finally mélange – half coffee half milk. Some of the cafes, like the famous Sacher and Demel, are 200 years old.
Even if the whole Vienna went to sleep early, there is always the Jewish quarter where life begins after midnight. Between Rabenstein, Ruprechtplatz and Seitenstettengasse there are plenty of clubs and bars. The atmosphere reminds Italian discos in hot summer nights. In Havana Club where people dance to torrid Latino-American rhythms the waiters serve exotic drinks decorated with tiny umbrellas. Here we can drink in honour of Francis Joseph!
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