Wonderful Vienna

Wiener Hofburg - Orchestra Concert at Hofburg Imperial Palace, Gustav Klimt paintings at Belvedere, Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens, the Royal Treasury (a must-see!!!! it was simply amazing to see all the jewels, crowns, relics, garments etc), cakes and apple strudel, St Stephen's Cathedral, people-watching in Altstadt, wurstelstands, H&M store (best selection in Europe)

Quick Tips:

First thing you do when you get there, buy the 'Vienna from A to Z' guide from the Tourist Office. It lists all the sights on the map with a brief description. Whether you are wandering aimlessly, or targeting major sights, it's worth it to have the handy guide in your hand.

Best Way To Get Around:

Get a 24-hour or 72-hour ticket if you plan to use public transportation throughout the day. Remember to validate tickets before entry to S or U-bahns or on buses and trams. It is very convenient to use public transport - we used it to get to and from the train station, as well as to the palaces.

You cannot beat this location, within 2 blocks of Stephanplatz and right inside Old Town. Our room had huge with windows facing the street, which was a little noisy one night due to a trendy restaurant downstairs. Very clean, good breakfast, and very friendly reception. The woman at reception gave good directions and transportaion advice, and even refered us to a good doctor for an emergency. Very friendly and a good bargain. Most hotels within the Ring are very expensive and most often, you have to resort to staying outside the Ring. It was so nice to wake up and just walk to places right in the center of the city!

We stopped here for coffee. It is on the main street in Old Town, where stores and tourists fill the area. The cakes lured us inside. We had a chestnut cake and some kind of mocha torte (called Karl V Torte-it had the most beautiful portrait of the King on a piece of chocolate). Delicious...they also had apple strudel and chocolate truffles as well as marzipan. Of all the stores in that area, I thought the cakes here were more delicately made and the interior of the store attractively decorated. Beware, you may spend hours deciding which cakes you want to order!

This was the one expensive meal we treated ourselves. Usually weary of guidebook suggestions, we checked out the area of Old Town and came across this restaurant. The entrance is deceiving, as there is a myriad of rooms and corridors on various floors. It was only after we got to the hotel and checked our Frommers guide that we discovered the restaurant dates back to 1700s and has underground passages.

We each ordered a specialty on the menu-they both came with mushrooms in season only for a month in the fall time. We had the liver soup (rindsuppe mit leberknodl) and veal steak with potatoes and mushrooms (schweinsmedaillons auf eierschwammerlsauce mit petersilienerdapfel)

There were both casually dressed and business people. We sat downstairs in a cellar like room-it was intimate with low light. Our waiter was nice and attentive. Try to order the daily specials, which are all in German. Ask nicely for your waiter to translate or for his suggestions.

This magnificent palace is easy to reach. Take the U-Bahn 4 to Schonbrunn. This was a summer palace and bears the most influence from Empress Maria Theresa (you'll hear about her everywhere - she was also the mother of Marie Antoinette of France, the one who lost her head during the French Revolution). This place is huge, though not as big as Versailles. However, we saw Schonbrunn first, so we were truly impressed.

You enter the grounds through a large gravel stone courtyard with a wonderful fountain on one side. Very grand entrance. I would recommend the Grand Tour, a longer tour than the Imperial Tour. Grand Tour takes you through 40 state rooms, including my personal highlights, private apartments of the Emperor and Empress, children's nursery, Hall of Mirrors (they said this is where the child Mozart first played for the Empress) and Napolean Room, where the great leader used to live and where his son died. Once you buy the ticket, you can only enter the palace at the stamped time. We had to wait about a half hour, which we spent outside wandering the gardens. Then, when you enter, remember to stop by on the right (before the stairs) to pick up a free audio-guide in your language.

Some rooms got really crowded-we arrived around 1pm so maybe that's a prime time for tours. There were a lot of European and Japanese tours, so just be patient and ease your way through. I found the Imperial Apartments quite a shock that the Emperor lived in such simple quarters. In such a grand space, he seemed to only occupy those two rooms. This is a must-see if you are in Vienna. If you've been to Versailles, then you may be disappointed. But bear in mind the extraordinary history behind this, and you will enjoy it just as much.

We were so disappointed we couldn't see the State Opera that we almost ignored the young men dressed as Mozart who approached us outside the Opera House. It was past noon and they were luring us with 'Tickets for tonight'...we were not interested! However, we started a conversation with one of them, a pharmacy student selling tickets as a side job. He showed us the palace hall, the program (Mozart, Strauss, soloists from the State Opera) as well as our student price (less than $20 each with free seating). We were sold. That night, we had the most wonderful time, excellent music, a bit of comedy skillfully woven in, and the most beautiful grand concert hall...it was like a dream. SO, if you can't get standing room at the opera (we were there on their night off) give those guys a try. Arrive early to get a good seat and you will not regret it! These ticket sellers are all dressed up and can be found outside the Opera House or places where lots of tourists can be found. There are different venues and orchestras-feel free to shop around. They are very friendly and are interesting to chat with.

When my sister mentioned the Treasury, I had zero interest. I didn't want to spend my last morning in Vienna looking at jewelry. But I was completely immersed from the first room onwards. Try to arrive very early (opens 10am, closed Tue) or you will meet the chaos of tours. The recorded guide is included with the entry ticket-input the number of the display and the history will be given.

We saw royal crowns with the most intricate gold carvings, gems of unbelievable size and quality...best of all, there were paintings with the crowns worn on the heads of numerous states. (Crown of Charlemagne was one of them) There were also the official bedroom and crib of the Habsburgs, the most amazing embroideries of christening robes, coronation robes, shawls. There was the Agate bowl, this green transparent huge bowl from Constantinople and something called the Ainkhorn, which looks like a huge elephant's tusk. It was said to be of a unicorn (i think proven false!). There was a beautiful armoire which held the keys to various places where the remains of the Habsburgs were kept (they liked to spread themselves around the city-organs in a church, bodies somewhere else, that's a different story altogether). On the front of the cabinet, there was a small carving of Christ on the Cross, and it was the most beautiful, most fluid carving I have seen. It was carved from one piece of ivory. There are also many relics, like wooden pieces of the holy cross, part of the nail, and piece of the clothing from a saint...the list goes on. At the end, there were these amazing tapestries, it was just amazing. We alloted one hour but stayed more than two. I highly recommended stopping here.

Health Consult, (Helferstorferstrasse 4, im Schottenhof, tel: 535-6464)

What a weird entry, you may think, but in case anyone is caught with a medical problem in Europe, fear not. I caught a terrible cold and chest congestion in Venice and by the time I arrived in Vienna, I was in bad shape. The lady at City Pension referred me to Health Consult, a group of doctors. I was afraid of the high cost and weary of who may see me, but went anyway as I had one more month of travel.

I arrived at a really nice clinic with professional staff. I waited about 5 minutes before my doctor saw me. She spent quality time with me, asked me in-depth questions, and did the necessary examinations. Then she patiently described what I had and what she wanted me to do (take 3000 mg of vitamin C a day, prescribed some premeasured powders for my chest congestion, and some herbal cough medicine). She listened and answered all my questions. And the cost of my visit? Only $50, plus about $10 at the pharmacy.

I also had a dental emergency in Berlin, and had a similar experience. This just puts the high cost of medical care in the US to shame.