Well, I've reached the last stop on my tour. After Vienna it's back to a life of full-time study. I'm scared but excited.Jeepers creepers but Vienna is hot. I've only been here two days but each afternoon has tipped 37 degrees. I was not expecting this. I thought I'd need a jacket. It's making for some hardcore sightseeing.Here is a beautiful sunset over the city that I caught from my room the first night. I'm obsessed with clouds and the sky, as I have talked about here before.
My parents came to Austria on their honeymoon. All they did was eat cakes. To honour them, I went to one of Vienna's most famous cafes, Cafe Landtmann. I got a great seat on the terrace overlooking the fine Burg Theater. The building shone pure white against the blue, cloudless sky. A friendly, polite waiter (Paris, take note!) brought me the house specialty chocolate torte and a coffee. The cake was delicious - not too sweet, not too heavy, and just the right size portion to go with my rich Austrian coffee.
To give you an idea of what bad value parts of Turkey were, what I enjoyed in this famous Viennese institution was just one euro more expensive than a bad coffee drunk at a plastic table under a Coca Cola parasol in Istanbul! But I'm not bitter...
.JPG)
Vienna is said to be a city of cafes and culture. I would change that to a city of readers and drinkers. There are bookshops (especially secondhand bookshops) everywhere. And as for the drinking, it's massive. Though I've been here on working days the actual streets seem almost deserted. On the other hand, the terraces of the many, many cafes are thronging. It's a nice way to live. But I saw someone order a beer at 8.30am this morning and no-one (but me) batted an eye.
I love the trams here. Some are really old school - no aircon, clanky bell, original wood interior. The transport system is excellent. As a tourist you can get the Vienna card which offers unlimited travel for three days at a very reasonable price. Riding the buses, trams and trains seems to be under the honour system: You buy a ticket and validate it yourself, but there are no gates or turnstiles. In theory, you could travel without paying (like my poor aunts unknowingly did in Prague and nearly got arrested!). I haven't seen a single ticket check.
The Belvedere gallery above is one of the best I have ever been to - not too big or intimidating, lots of great art, and a barqoue setting that you think will be distracting but in fact houses the works very well. I have tonnes I want to say about some of the pieces but I might leave that for another time.
Coffee and cake
My parents came to Austria on their honeymoon. All they did was eat cakes. To honour them, I went to one of Vienna's most famous cafes, Cafe Landtmann. I got a great seat on the terrace overlooking the fine Burg Theater. The building shone pure white against the blue, cloudless sky. A friendly, polite waiter (Paris, take note!) brought me the house specialty chocolate torte and a coffee. The cake was delicious - not too sweet, not too heavy, and just the right size portion to go with my rich Austrian coffee.
To give you an idea of what bad value parts of Turkey were, what I enjoyed in this famous Viennese institution was just one euro more expensive than a bad coffee drunk at a plastic table under a Coca Cola parasol in Istanbul! But I'm not bitter...
The Upper Belvedere Gallery
Vienna is said to be a city of cafes and culture. I would change that to a city of readers and drinkers. There are bookshops (especially secondhand bookshops) everywhere. And as for the drinking, it's massive. Though I've been here on working days the actual streets seem almost deserted. On the other hand, the terraces of the many, many cafes are thronging. It's a nice way to live. But I saw someone order a beer at 8.30am this morning and no-one (but me) batted an eye.
I love the trams here. Some are really old school - no aircon, clanky bell, original wood interior. The transport system is excellent. As a tourist you can get the Vienna card which offers unlimited travel for three days at a very reasonable price. Riding the buses, trams and trains seems to be under the honour system: You buy a ticket and validate it yourself, but there are no gates or turnstiles. In theory, you could travel without paying (like my poor aunts unknowingly did in Prague and nearly got arrested!). I haven't seen a single ticket check.
The Belvedere gallery above is one of the best I have ever been to - not too big or intimidating, lots of great art, and a barqoue setting that you think will be distracting but in fact houses the works very well. I have tonnes I want to say about some of the pieces but I might leave that for another time.
No comments:
Post a Comment