Austria's wonderful capital Vienna spreads along both sides of the 'Blue' Danube at the very foothills of the Alps. The city is a smorgasbord of Baroque with a dash of art nouveau. Circling the old town is the striking revivalist architecture of the Ringstrasse Vienna's main boulevard. These buildings range from the charming Opera House to the monumental Natural History Museum. Nestled throughout the city are the graceful art-nouveau buildings of turn-of-the century architects Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos. The buildings are one of the many remnants of the artistic and intellectual flowering that took place in Vienna at the turn of the century. Of course the buildings and the city's history is only a backdrop for the daily culture that can still be found in the concert halls opera houses and cafes.
The heart beat of the city can be found along Ringstrasse. Vienna is a 19th-century invention. As one walk around the area one has to take a break at a sidewalk cafe and have one of the city's superb pastries. The Viennese invented cafe society and there is no better pastime than to linger over a torte read a newspaper and watches the Viennese. Each caf' has its own personality; while the lavish cafes inside the Ringstrasse are most impressive the smaller ones just outside have a charm and authenticity that should also not be missed. Don't just try only coffee one can even try the Austrian fruit teas and black teas; they are so flavorful that one will wonder what one has been drinking all these years. Other cafes that are not as stodgy and expensive as the ones on the Ring are the illustrious, beautiful and comfortable Cafe Sperl; any of the cafes near the Naschmarkt, Freud's house, the house designed by Wittgenstein, and gorgeous St. Charles Church which a must visit site Hawelka; Brauenerhof, where the lacerating and hilarious writer Thomas Bernhard spent his mornings; and many others. While the Biedermaier pulse of Vienna, long associated with the upper-middle class and collective repression, may be found along the Ring, its darkly satirical flip side is found in these and similar haunts.
If the Ringstrasse is the pulse of the city the old city is the heart. This is where the city's main attractions are located and this area being a pedestrian zone it is also a great place to stroll. For an overview climb the bell tower of the St. Stephen's Cathedral. The cathedral built in 1258 is easily identifiable by the zigzag pattern of its roof tiles. Between St. Stephen's and the State Opera House is Karntnerstrasse Vienna's main shopping street. Nearby is the Albertina museum which houses more than 200 000 drawings and works by Albrecht Durer among others. At another corner of the old city is the Hofburg Palace a massive complex that contains the Burgkapelle - the chapel where the Boys Choir sings Mass, the Stallburg - where the Spanish Riding School performs on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings the Imperial Treasuries - Habsburg Crown Jewels- and the elaborate Austrian National Library. All this and much more is Vienna.
