the city
beer halls
wine taverns
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Two days ago Vienna was named by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the 2nd ‘most liveable city in the world’, behind Melbourne, and keeping company with three other Australian cities and three Canadian cities in the top ten. It’s an impressive accolade for a place that people confuse with a small town in Italy… are you gonna ride a gondola?

Lise and I were there last week. As a tourist I can’t comment much on liveability but I can say that it’s a very civilised, very pretty city.

sights & sites

I haven’t been in Europe for some time so I found the architecture, the sights and the culture really different and eye opening.It was exciting to see my continent through fresh eyes and to feel amazed by the previously familiar.
As we walked around all the buildings, regardless of their function, seemed to be blessed with impressive architecture: columns & arches, multi-paned multiple windows, beautiful stonework. Some years ago I was chatting to an American girl on a bus to Guatemala, she was saying that Europe’s churches had her “on her knees”, and those words were ringing in my ears as I walked around Vienna and its iconic churches. There are also many squares with fountains, monuments or cafes surrounded by tubs of flowers, trees and ivy ranging over the walls, and these plazas breathe space and restfulness into the city. Everything feels steeped in history, Art and gracefulness: there are roaring cathedrals and ornate buildings that absorb your attention but at the same time simply crossing the road – over tram lines and cobbles – also feels like a brush with culture.

You can easily stroll through Vienna’s main city highlights and, although there are very efficient looking trams & buses winging around, the immediate suburbs and their attractions are also within walking distance. The Danube River runs past Vienna’s outer suburbs and the Danube Canal runs closer to the city. It’s a pretty enough water-way providing excuses for pop up cafes and bars.
Green spaces can also be found in the city centre and there are a couple of large parks further afield. We visited the Augarten in Leopoldstadt, it’s quite a formal space – the paths are in grid formation and the trees in proper rows – but the flowers are meadow-y and the lawns aren’t over manicured. Atelier Augarten, the restaurant/ bar at the South Eastern end of the park is in a great location, has charming service and does a delightful rosé by the glass.

flavours

Speaking of refreshment… Vienna is the only metropolis to produce enough of its own wine to have a true identity. Viennese wine is specifically Viennese, not Austrian and only a tiny proportion is exported, the vast majority is sold and consumed locally.
The climate and terrain here lends itself to white wines, the typical bottle being Grüner Veltliner. We tasted many different whites & rosés, each one was delicious, some better than other but no ‘misses’ at all, I can only recommend Viennese wine. The dining culture is relaxed – The Book said that restaurants, bars and coffee shops were hard to distinguish and that they often blend in to each other – that was absolutely our experience. We were staying in Wieden and it’s particularly true of this area where you can find civilised on-pavement dining & sipping from 10am to 2am.

The beisl and the heurige are the two traditional eateries in the city. Beisl are beer cellars purported to specialise in a range of ales & lagers and schnitzels & other beer hall foods. We found they served good salads and pasta dishes too. It’s a distance from the city centre but Silberwirt had particularly good food.

Heurige are wine taverns typically located near vineyards in pretty, leafy settings, serving crisp, local wine and providing buffets that focus on pork and vegetables. We went to Grinzing which is a charming little area, lots of rustic red brick contrasting the creeping vines. I think we were the youngest people within twenty kilometres (South American waitors aside) but it really was all very lovely. We ate at Heuriger Reinprecht and I had the best risotto I think I’ve ever eaten: grains, fennel, peas and Grüner Veltliner, it was nutty, tasty goodness.

In addition to the traditional venues there were lots of other places to choose from. We had sachertorte (& espresso) at a street café, wine (& espresso) at a pop-up summer bar on Kunstplatz, pasta at a Spanish café in Leopoldstadt and wine (& espresso) in Augarten. Around and about we saw heaps of Asian options, highstreet brands and plenty of Billas for good ol’ grocery needs.

…find your dreams

I’m in Switzerland this week and I’m really pleased about how things have worked out because I couldn’t get enough of Vienna – its landscape, sights and architecture – and Switzerland is a close comparison. I’ll be recommending Vienna to a lot of people, I’m qualified to say it’s highly visit-able, and maybe I’ll comment on the liveability in the future.

x lucyvontrapp

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