Category Archives: Vienna

Vienna

In which I get to like Vienna

June 8, 2014 morselsandscraps 3 Comments

Dedicated to Coleta from 5W, who showed me a Vienna grand rather than grandiose.

It's strange how my Vienna lexicon has changed overnight: one day I was describing it negatively as ostentatious, grandiose, showy, extravagant, lordly, imperious. The next I had a different array of synonyms: magnificent, imposing, impressive, awe-inspiring, splendid, superb, striking, monumental, majestic, glorious. How could this be? Maybe the weather had something to do with it, and the fact that in Coleta's hands I was no longer lost and fumbling to find the sights. It also helped that I'd done a quick circuit on the bus. I hope this doesn't mean I always need to repeat an experience to have it. Not enough life left!

I met Coleta downstairs, after breakfast in the Naschmarkt. We walked through the market again (aha! So that's the way downtown!) and continued walking along the Ringstraße, past the magnificence of the Rathaus, the Burgtheatre, the statue in thanks for the end of the plague, St Stephens cathedral, looking very different today, and then down past the church built to celebrate 60 years of Franz Joseph's reign to a very tall beer overlooking the Danube and the other side of the river where buildings can scrape the sky: this can't happen in the centre of the city. On the way we passed through magnificent rose gardens, down classy arcades and into sunny squares. Coleta works at the Burgtheatre, so we went in for a quick look at its splendour.

Not only did I see the Vienna in front of my eyes. I saw the decorations at Christmas, different in each street: the ice rink in front of the town hall, and the ice path through the park: the continuous stream of festivals (we were part of the crowd filmed at the cooking of an eggless egg at the Vegan festival, and passed through the setting up of the Brazil festival): the Aida coffee shops in Abu Dhabi, because a wife of Arab wealth liked them so much in Vienna: I saw the theatre crowds dressed up to match the grandeur of the Burgtheatre: I saw a few bombs falling and creating gaps, now filled by the architecture of the 1950s: I saw the Russians leaving after ten years.

And I encountered Sisi, wife of the Emperor Franz Joseph, and almost a brand in Austria. She was mentioned by everyone I spoke to. Coleta's 21 year old niece is a big fan. At Christmas, movies about her life are screened on television as a ritual. I didn't get around to visiting her summer residence.

We stopped for streusel in the rose garden and a very tall beer overlooking the Danube.

Secession building, built as an architectural manifesto

Church built to celebrate the golden jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph

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photos, Vienna

My Vienna neighbourhood

June 6, 2014 morselsandscraps 2 Comments

Dedicated to Alexandra from 5W, with whom I had coffee at 7pm, and who enabled me to see the beauties of my neighbourhood

Alexandra was my second contact through 5W. We met at the station tobacconist, and wandered past gracious buildings to the Café Rüdiger-Hof, one of Vienna's old coffee houses in an Art Nouveau building. We sat and talked over evening coffee (something I'd only ever contemplate in a Vienna coffee house!) and a pink-iced square of cake laced with rum. We discussed the failures of management wherever you live, her fascinating work and study history, the poor state and status of nursing in Austria, the possibilities of nursing with the flying doctor service, bringing up children in the city. As I walked home, I began to notice how beautiful my surroundings were, and got up early the next day to capture them in magic morning light.

I'd already found the great alley of the Naschmarkt, lined with stalls selling an astonishing variety of pretty well everything, invitingly displayed in the evening light. I was sorry I'd already shopped at the supermarket: it catered for just about every possible desire: olives gleamed in piles of green and red and black; everything conceivable was stuffed with something else; gaudy clothes hung next to cones of spices and dried fruit and dried beans; noisy crowds filled the qeating places.

So my reconciliation with Vienna is under way.

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photos, Vienna

For lack of a map …

June 6, 2014 morselsandscraps 5 Comments

… I felt totally lost in Vienna. The studio apartment had no maps, and I couldn't seem to track down a tourist information place. The internet maps I found didn't seem to link to anything I could recognise. So after a shaky start to my relationship with the metro, it was the metro I depended on in the end. The main part of town was actually only a stop away. While I was wandering around being overwhelmed by the opera house I stumbled on a hop-on-and-off bus, so I travelled on it for an hour and got some sense of what was where, as well as a map – which I probably won't need now, because I'll be in the hands of locals.

My impressions of Vienna on this chilly grey day were not favourable. Everything seemed grandiose and out of human scale, shrieking empire and power. Things looked grimy, with an excess of ornamentation and gaudy gold. The only thing that really gave me pleasure was the merry-go-round of salvaged objects, an arts entertainment project; and the knowledge that half of Vienna was parkland, although I saw no evidence of this. Gutenberg appeared like an old acquaintance to guide me to lunch, and nearby buildings returned me to a sense of subtlety.