This is the second of my “Europe Shorts” posts, which are aimed at people who don’t have a lot of time but want to read about cool destinations in Europe.
VIENNA – This stunningly beautiful city is known for prancing stallions, high-brow music and fancy coffee shops. But there’s also a rich, vibrant modern side to this city, with rooftop bars that blast pulsating dance tunes, wildly inventive architecture, and funky shops based on Monty Python sketches.
When I was there last year, tour guide Alexa Brauner, an engaging and enthusiastic art lover, took me on a three-hour walking tour that included both the old and new Vienna.
It’s a short walk through the city’s first district (Vienna is made up of 23 separate districts, not unlike the arrondissements of Paris) to the Danube Canal, where there are large party boats, including one with an outdoor swimming pool. Brauner points out wildly colourful graffiti on the walls above the canal.
“Street art is not only allowed, but encouraged in Vienna,” she tells me.
One great area to explore is around Praterstrasse, which leads to the city’s giant Prater park. There’s a nice patio at a cafe called Ramasuri. A couple doors down is Café Ansari, a gleaming place that Brauner says was opened by a refugee from Georgia. Next door to Ansari is a Japanese izakaya restaurant called Mochi, and just down from there is a fashionable women’s clothing spot called Song.
Just around the corner is a sparkling hotel called the SO/Vienna, which has brightly-coloured glass and wild, overhead murals that wouldn’t be out of place in a New York City art gallery. The hotel has a rooftop bar called DAS LOFT, which has fine views out over the Danube Canal and the historic first district. The thumping beats go on well into the wee hours in a bar that attracts the prettiest of Vienna’s pretty people.
Hundertwasser House in Vienna, Austria. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Over in the third district is Hundertwasser House, which might be the most Instagrammable building erected before Instagram existed. The project was designed by eclectic architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, an inveterate traveller and artist who came up with a wavy, organic, wildly inventive building that features trees growing out of balconies and groovy colours that the Crayola crayon people never dreamed of.
The building, completed in 1986, features all sorts of odd touches; random splashes of deep blue tile, parts of a chess or checkerboard. I look up and see a patio drainage hole fashioned to look like a grinning face. His style reminds many visitors of Antoni Gaudi, but I think Hundertwasser takes things to a level the Spanish/Catalan architect never considered.
Across the street from Hundertwasser House is a fun footwear shop called Ministry of Silly Socks, a play on words from Monty Python’s Minister of Silly Walks sketch.
The Ferris Wheel in Prater Park, Vienna. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Other suggestions:
The Ferris Wheel in Prater Park, which dates to the 1890s.
Okay, it’s a fancy coffee place, but Cafe Landtmann dates to 1873 and is one of three historic cafes on the Ringstrasse or Vienna Ring Road. It was a favorite spot of Sigmund Freud, I was told. They make something like 25 types of coffee and have lovely pastries and cakes. Very pretty interior, too.
The top of the Leopold Museum has a great rooftop that’s free to explore, with wonderful views of the city. There’s also a nice café for a coffee or a glass of wine.
Okay, now go see the prancing horses and buy a ticket for the opera.
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