WIESBADEN, Germany - There are two things that come to mind when I hear “Vienna” — breathtaking parks and outrageously alluring, bohemian Kaffeehauses.
Actually the coffee houses ought to be named first since they make Vienna what has endeared it to its visitors for centuries. A Vienna coffee house offers a trip back in time, when people would go to one of these discreet meeting points of society to just read the newspaper or to discuss politics and literature for hours over a cup of coffee, as always offered with a glass of water, on a silver tray, by a waiter dressed in a black three-piece suit.
Some of the Kaffeehauses proudly claim not having undertaken any major renovations for 100 years, such as the Jelinek in Otto Bauer Gasse. An oven has been added, carrying “American Heating” in artful letters. The worn green plush armchairs, the mottled mirrors on the wall, the carbon black on the wall paper behind the oven — it’s supposed to be just like that.
The exquisite Schwarzenberg near the square of the same name, dark wooden paneling, heavy chandeliers all around, offers live music at the grand piano in the evenings. Café Prückel across from the Museum of Applied Arts has conserved an authentic post-war flair through its original 1950s furniture.
Vienna claims not less than 1,100 coffee houses, each offering criminally delicious pastries, from apple strudel to poppy seed cake to variations of the famous Sacher cake. Diets should be postponed when one sets out for Vienna.
And now the parks. Let’s start with Schönbrunn, probably the most well-known as it hosts the Schönbrunn Palace with its history dating back to the Middle Ages. Visitors strolling along the strictly geometrical sequences of the park will pass the world’s oldest animal park, before being offered the option of ascending the hill up to the “Gloriette,” built in 1775. The climb is well worth every breath as every turn of the path offers a more breathtaking view of the palace.
The baroque multi-level park leading up to the Belvedere Palace will not be a time to put the camera away, either. Numerous fountains and gardens and statues lead from the lower to the upper building of the palace, built for the Prince of Savoyen some 300 years ago.
The Volksgarten adjacent to the Museum of Natural History offers many an inviting spot to stop and enjoy life. The Prater Park is home to what was once the largest Ferris wheel in the world when it was set up in 1897 on the occasion of the 50th coronation anniversary of Emperor Franz Josef I. The Steinhof Park, a little heaven in spring overlooking the city, has quite an unusual building tucked away between the trees — the Otto von Wagner Church. The builder created a jewel of Art Nouveau architecture off the beaten path as the city fathers were not too keen on his vanguard ideas back in the day.
Vienna is just about a 90-minute flight, or a seven-hour train ride away from Frankfurt.
Visit www.bahn.de for train tickets. More information about the city is available at www.wien.gv.at — or stop by your local library.