How to enjoy yourself in Europe’s musical tomb. Vienna, Austria
ienna is the self-proclaimed city of music. Mostly, what I heard were endless footfalls echoing off the cavernous stone and concrete boulevards near the Staatsoper and monumental Hofburg Palace. It was easy to get lost and I quickly did so, having to retrace 20 mins of walking around one building just because the sidewalk dead-ended into another huge monolith.
When you walk down the street it feels like every fourth shop is Beethoven’s café, Strauss Pizzeria, Mahler Bookshop or the display windows are full of Mozart pictures: Knee socks, pinched noses and white wigs set in Victorian doll lace.
1. Things to see
The coolest thing we saw was the statue of a giant pink rabbit, like the solo piece of our century dropped into an early one. Some cities you arrive prepared for and others you just land and wander – like someone who finds themselves dropped on mars. Vienna was Mars. Sometimes it’s okay to just end up in a city, be lost, and never really find it.
We organized an eBike tour because my partner was getting tired of walking. It seemed both like a way to orient ourselves and cover a lot of ground. This was my first electric bike – a regular bike but with an electric motor so as you peddle it helps you out. We arrived at the tour 20 min late as once again we got lost in streets that all looked the same. Luckily 30 seconds after getting there another tourist came in – out of breath. Late as well. Off we rode after a short primer to avoid running over people as much as possible.
The rest of the day was a blur, there was one magnificent white building gilded with architectural icing followed by another one, then another one, cobbled streets to make your teeth chatter, ornate lampposts, a symphony hall were an Asian girl was posing for photos in her wedding dress, a moribund statue of death draped in a cape with an empty space where the face should be in honor of Mozart Don Giovani. (A happy selfie posing by death is hard to pull off!)
The bike tour took us to the top of a hill that overlooked all of Vienna, the water, the bridges. Fantastic vista but those always tend to fall flat in photos, you have to be there to see it. Even then It’s hard to take in.
The next day we headed for the famed Vienna zoo. Google said it was open until 5 pm but after a very long boat ride and longer walk we were told the zoo was already closed that day. When we opened Google to show the attendant that their website said it’s open till 5 she shrugged in the manner that says – ‘hrm, that’s Google, this is reality,’ and turned away.
Our run of luck didn’t end there. We visited one of the many tourist shops selling tickets to the Staatsoper and other music venues only to find there were no performances, or there was standing room only with obscured views. I couldn’t imagine standing through 90 min of Mozart while looking at a column. So, more walking through enormous boulevards looking at oxidized green statues of oversized men on oversized horses.
I did get to visit my first butterfly garden, which was just that; an enclosed garden kept humid and warm with various butterflies flitting about. It was 14 euro for two people and it took about 10 min to tour the garden, not sure it was worth it. Then there was a park, statues of cherubs, a stern-looking Goethe, and all the international shops selling all the expected brands. In all, Vienna seemed kind of faceless, we were never really drawn in. Or, never able to connect. I guess that happens.
We went back the next day to the zoo and it was open. Good news!
Bubble blowing in the square
View from the top – eBike tour
Around town, and on the boat to the zoo.
The scary, smiling, yellow horse
Couple standing at edge of river
John Lennon wall
Just Vienna
Palmenhaus Schönbrunn
2. Nightlife
Vienna has a Buddha Bar, so of course, we hit that. My travel partner loves sushi and drinks. You can count on Buddha bar to be a dark, quiet oasis of overpriced comfort food. Not quite as good as the Budapest Buddha bar, but always a good eat.
We also tried out Loos American bar which served up great cocktails in a subdued ambiance and then an underground gin bar.
Loos American Bar or Buddha Bar
3. Spend
We didn’t spend much in Vienna, except for the required magnets as that was about all we could fit in our carry-on suitcases. We stayed at Motel One Wien-Staatsoper, which looked great in photos but turned out to be a self-service type hotel. It’s pretty depressing when your room doesn’t even have a mini-fridge. But, the bar downstairs served cold beer and drinks.
4. Food
Almost every time I read about a great unknown restaurant I get suckered. In this case, it was ‘Said the Butcher to the Cow’ – an all-meat restaurant that was supposed to be divine. Unfortunately, like many reviews I think sometimes they’re just pressured to find the ‘next new thing’ – our meat was akin to trying to eat lahar – we ended up with fast food.
Ice cream & burgers
5. Getting Around
Walking, lots of walking 😉
6. Costs
Typical for a European city, more expensive than Eastern Europe and less than Paris.
7. Tips
I don’t think Vienna is one of those cities you can just show up in, walk out your door and find entertainment – like Paris, or Amsterdam. You have to plan ahead, book tickets, and have an agenda. There’s probably a LOT going on, but it’s behind closed doors – or either we missed the wild nightlife area of the city.
I think if we had booked concerts ahead, picked a better hotel we may have had a better time. Vienna was concrete and stone fortresses that seemed to want to keep you out rather than let you in. Much of it seemed geared towards the busloads of tourist that crowd off, gobble up postcards of Mozart then jump back on the bus.
Other sites about Vienna:
