Home to Mozart, Beethoven, and D-money, much art, and cake like buildings, Vienna, is awesome.
Viens à Vienna! (I know, I know, that slogan is pretty awesome too, thanks).
No truly, Vienna is steeped in art, history, culture, butter and sugar. There is so much to see, feel, and taste. We were there 2.5 days, walked >40 km, had lots of cake, and we loved it. I thought I could live there!
Day 1:
Had to finish some office work, so sat at the furniture cafe. The air was buzzing with a startup vibe, with lots of young people, heads bent, some speaking softly, and some others furiously typing on laptops. Almost infectious!
Then we hung out by one of the river canals, with layers and layers of planned graffiti (which is the only acceptable type of graffiti). Checked into the Airbnb at Leopoldsgasse, district 2, nice and quiet and close to everything.
Dinner at the Lugeck restaurant, which is right at the square next to this statue, but a Tourist trap and Swiss priced! The real schnitzel place (Figlmueller) is in the alley next to it!
Followed by dessert at the cafe Zentral, great decor, live piano, Apfel strudel, Sacher torte, and absolutely lovely.
Day 2:
Brunch at the Vollpension cafe, which looks like somebody’s grandparents living room inside (with industrial piping). It’s run by old people and for old people.
Trust me have cakes for breakfast here- they were out of the world!
Then we did a walking tour with a local guide, which was also quite nice. The guide mentioned that the Habsburgs (ruling family) were very ugly because of in-breeding. Made me think the Indian kingdoms were very wise on this regard.
Portrait of Cici at the Albertina. Her life was pretty sad.
Some more of Vienna:
Cafe Demel: This display is made of sugar! And these guys have a museum of their creations downstairs. 
Some famous sculpture which looked like profiteroles (if one is still in sugar mode)!
The museum quartier (below). Remember the queen points towards the art museum. 
View from the Belvedere palace
Then we went and saw “the kiss” and other Klimt work at the Belevedere palace and I fell in LOVE with his style. The kiss is golden and full of textures. No print or photo can ever do this painting justice. And yet thousands of people photograph it everyday.
The Belvedere palace, Vienna screams of royalty.
Then a walk on the ring road, a quick stop at Cafe Landtmann (Freud’s hangout) for a Brauner (espresso in Viennese?), some more walking through the first district with all the pretty buildings, and it was time for dinner.
The Anschluss balcony (Hitler announced annexation of Austria in 1938 from there). No one has been allowed on the balcony since.
The main shopping street in Vienna – so secular, a cheap sandwich place (Nordsee) and Dior next to each other. (Prada and D&G were next door).
Day 3:
We visited the Albertina, saw Durer’s prolific work, some Picassos and some other beauties:
Green wall: Dürer’s! He did so much work in so little time, and also used the newly invented printing press to his full advantage for outreach.
Painting by August Macke. The paint must be atleast an inch thick. I absolutely loved it for its simplicity and the intensity of its colors.
This was one of the last paintings of Picasso. The painting is way more impressive in real life. The placement of colours, the angles, truly exquisite. I stared at it for almost as long as the kiss, but without being shoved by other tourists.
Lunch at this world famous hot dog ( brat-wurst) stand right outside the Albertina. Look at the queue!
Then a quick stop at the national library, which had free entry (and LOTS of crowd) because of Austria’s national day.
An afternoon stroll through the Schönbrunn palace gardens, some more cake, watching the sun set over Vienna, and it was time to go.
Vienna was the seat of the Holy Roman Empire, and then the Austrian-Hungarian empire for several centuries and this sense of royalty still lingers in its buildings, city planning, and the pride in people. The strokes of its artists are everywhere:
I would rate Vienna as the most European city. If you are planning a Europe trip, you know where to stop for a bit.
C’est Bien-na 😛
bunnygoespoppoppop 