Travel Tuesday: Vienna for beginners (Part Three)

Over the last two weeks, we visited the heart of Vienna by walking down Kartnerstrasse and Graben. There's one more street and two squares left in this tour of Vienna--Kohlmarkt, Michaelerplatz, and Heldenplatz.

Last time, we left off at the Julius Meinl cafe. As you turn left and continue down the Kohlmarkt, you'll be in one of the ritziest shopping streets in the city. A fun place to visit is about three quarters of the way down on the right: Demel Hofzuckerbacker (chocolatier and bakery). The shop has been around since 1786, which means that it predates the United States' Constitution. You can go in and look at all the amazingly crafted chocolates or you can sit and eat a slice of cake in the cafe. This cafe is one of the few that is smoke-free in Vienna, by the way, and its Sacher Torte is considered the chief rival to Hotel Sacher's.

If you don't have time to go in, at least take the opportunity to look at the window displays. They change with the seasons, and they are always pretty incredible, with the almost life-sized marzipan figures. It's ice cream season right now, so the man below is an ice cream cone with scoops for arms. (Important tourist note: the word for ice cream in German is "Eis," pronounced exactly like "ice." If you ask for an ice coffee, the waiter will think you mean an Eiskaffee, and he will bring you a coffee-ice cream sundae.)

The current window display at Demel.

Then the end of the street brings you to Michaelerplatz. What you see below is a photo of where you would be standing if you followed the route above. The big building is where the emperors lived! It's called the Hofburg, and inside is the Sissi Museum, the Imperial Apartments, and the Spanish Riding School.

Right in front of the Hofburg, however, are Roman ruins in the process of being excavated. The story is that they were digging a new U-bahn station there when they stumbled upon Roman ruins and had to stop the work.

If you continue through the Hofburg, you'll get to see where the emperors lived, and if you take the time to tour the Imperial Apartments and the Sissi Museum you will learn a ton about Empress Sissi (Elisabeth of Bavaria), who is simultaneously this revered figure in Austrian history and a total mystery. Below you can see a famous portrait of Sissi. She was considered the most beautiful woman in Europe, if you can believe that, and was known for her amazingly long hair and tiny waist. She was desperately unhappy as the subject of public attention, however, and spent her whole life traveling away from the court. She also studied five languages and had her tutors read Greek epics to her while servants brushed her hair. She also rode horses and was a daredevil. She had her own private bathroom decorated with all the plants and animals of the jungle, and she washed her hair with her own special "shampoo" of cognac and egg yolks. She was also known for having had a sweet tooth and ordered lots of cookies from Demel's. Clearly I was fascinated.

Empress Sissi
(this image is from Wikimedia Commons)

If you keep going through the Hofburg, you'll arrive in Heldenplatz! To your left is the National Library. It's slightly impressive looking. Inside are not only all the books, but four museums: the State Hall, the Papyrus Museum, the Globe Museum, and the Esperanto Museum. For those of you who don't know, Esperanto is a totally made up language, and the museum houses the "Department of Planned Languages," where more than 500 "planned" (or "invented," "made-up") languages are documented. According to the website, it is the world's largest library on interlinguistics. So get excited about THAT.

The National Library

To your right in Heldenplatz (and pictured below) is my absolute favorite view in Vienna. Above the trees, behind the park, are the spires of the Rathaus. At night, they are lit up.

I used to bike ride to work just so I could see this view in the morning (I gave up because bike riding on cobblestones is absolutely not comfortable). It's just a beautiful building, and people are always walking by calmly, and the atmosphere is perfect. It is such a statement about Vienna to emerge from the home of the Emperors and to see the majestic buildings to your left and your right, surrounded by parks and facing a giant ornamental gate. If you go to Vienna, you absolutely must do this walk... it sums up so much about the history and the style of life in the city.

Closer to the Rathaus... and throughout the summer, the city holds giant free concerts in the square in front of it.

If you want to learn more about some of the more off-the-beaten track sights in Vienna, please check out my blog, transatlantic sketches! I'm moving to Sweden soon, so my focus is going to shift quite a bit north, but there's plenty in the archives to keep a tourist busy in Vienna for a while.

All best to the Her Journey readers--and I'm hoping you make it to Vienna!

Kate Wiseman is an expat and a travel blogger.

You can find her blog at www.transatlanticsketches.com.

You can email her at kate@transatlanticsketches.com.

Questions, comments, and life advice welcome.

Travel Tuesday: Vienna for beginners, Part 2

Last week in "Vienna for Beginners," we began a tour of the heart of Vienna in three streets and three squares, going from Karlsplatz down Kärtnerstrasse to Stephansplatz. This is the heart of Vienna--the most central section, with historical landmarks leading up and down the shopping streets from the Stephansdom Cathedral to the Hofburg Quartier, the former home of the emperors.

Last time, we left off the tour at Stephansplatz, seen above. You've got the Haas Haus on the left and Stephansdom straight ahead. Now, if you have Kärtnerstrasse at your back, take a left onto Graben to continue on our journey!

One of the first things you'll see as you start down Graben is a big, weird statue. Ignore that for the time being, because on your left is an H&M. This is the only H&M I've ever been in that has chandeliers and wood paneling inside. See below.

Now, how fancy does that look? Unbelievable. It used to be an upscale men's suit store, but then it went out of business. H&M moved in, but it kept the beautiful decor. There's even a grand staircase inside.Totally worth looking inside, even if you don't need a pair of sunglasses for 5 euros.

And now there's no avoiding the enormous statue in the middle of the all-pedestrian street. It's the Pestsäule (German for "Plague Column"--clearly marketing was not a high priority back in 17th century...), and it commemorates the end of the plague in Vienna. It looks like a big, crazy, imposing mess.

Apparently, the figures in the statue tell the story of the plague and of Vienna's redemption, but I'm not necessarily buying it. I need an art historian or something to stand next to me and explain it all to me. Anyway... just past the statue on your right is a church. It doesn't look that impressive, but do not be fooled by its humble exterior. The inside is amazing.

Everything is covered in gold, and there are two complete skeletons encrusted in jewels with swords and scabbards and everything!!! They were early martyrs, and they're kept in glass coffins on either side of the altar. AMAZING!!! I can't believe how cool it was.

You can barely see the details in this picture, but take my word for it: amazingness. This church was also erected to commemorate the end of the plague, but several centuries earlier. Different plagues, different times, same imperial impulse: build something big and then God won't be mad and punish us all with the plague. And hey--no plague now! It must have worked.

At the end of the street, you'll be looking straight at a building with a big Julius Meinl sign on it--this is an incredible gourmet grocery store, cafe, and restaurant complex. If you go to the second floor, you can sit by the cafe windows and look out over the Graben and watch the people walk by for hours. It's a little pricey, but you only need to buy a cup of coffee to be able to sit there for as long as you want.


If you turn left at Meinl, you'll be heading down our last street--Kohlmarkt. We have one street and two squares left, so stick with us until next week when we finish the tour of the heart of Vienna's inner city!

Kate Wiseman is an expat and a travel blogger.

You can find her blog at www.transatlanticsketches.com.

You can email her at kate@transatlanticsketches.com.

Care packages and frequent flyer miles always welcome.

Vienna for beginners: a tour of 3 streets and 3 squares

Vienna, Austria is one of the great cities of the world.

I'm going to go ahead and make that bold claim without feeling bad about it. You know why? Vienna in the spring is a glorious place. The parks are green and flowers bloom. Cafes put tables outside, and people sit for hours. Free city bikes magically appear on street corners.

One of the things I've learned in my six months in Vienna is that the more time you spend here, the more things there are to see.

If you’re just visiting for a few days, though, you’ve got to start somewhere. Which is why I’m taking you on a tour of just 3 streets and 3 squares—that way you’ll see the highlights of the very core of the city.

Part One: Kärtner Straße to Stephanplatz.

Hello, Opera. This is the sight of many operas as well as the famous Opera Ball, the most prestigious social event of the year in Vienna. In recent years, a Viennese shopping mall tycoon, Richard Lugner, has made a habit of inviting a celebrity to the ball. This year, it was supposed to be Lindsay Lohan, but then she went shopping and missed her plane. (Oops) On a more serious note, the Opera House was completed in 1869, was damaged by a bomb in 1945, and was renovated and reopened in 1955. You can find news and tickets here. If you don't buy tickets before your trip, though, walk along the right side of the building to see if they are live-streaming the opera taking place inside.

Can you believe this? The day I took this photo it was pretty cold and dreary, but on nice days, the whole place is packed.

As you continue across the street and onto Kärtner Straße, the first thing you'll see on the left is the Sacher Hotel, birthplace of the Viennese Sacher Torte.

Gift shop mania. Apparently they'll send a Sacher Torte anywhere in the world for you, and it will stay good for up to three weeks unopened. Is this even possible?!

If you have any interest at all in trying Sacher Torte, this is the place to do it. Expensive, but classic--definitely worth trying if you're willing to indulge on some serious chocolate cake.

Kärtner Straße is a major shopping street. Lots of clothing stores, lots of cafes, lots of gift shops for the tourists (resist! these stores are tacky!).

One thing you can go down a side street to see is Loos' American Bar. Loos was an architect with a very distinct aesthetic, and he designed this bar with an American exterior.

I've never had a drink there because I think it would be crazy expensive, but it's cool looking.

At the end of the street, you’ll find yourself at Stephansplatz. This is the very center of the city and the home of Stephansdom, a cathedral that is one of the main symbols of the city. It was originally built in the 13th century, but major additions were made in the 14th and 15th centuries and later. It’s huge, and entrance is free.

Check out the tiled roof. It’s hard to see in a picture, but in person, it’s amazing. There are almost 250,000 tiles making the pattern you see there as well as the two-headed eagle that is the symbol of Austria. You can see it if you walk down a side street, though.

Across the square from Stephansdom is the Haas House, home to the upscale Do & Co Hotel. Look at the glass--you can see the reflection of Stephansdom in it! You can visit the Onyx Bar to get an unparalleled view directly on the cathedral. If you’re going on a weekend night, you’ll probably need a reservation, so call ahead. You can find out more here.

My sister and I went on her last night in Vienna, and it was the perfect way to close her trip—a really special place and view out at the heart of the city.

The tour will continue next week as we head from Stephansplatz down Graben and towards the Hofburg Imperial Quarters!

Kate Wiseman is an American expat currently living in Vienna, Austria. You can read more about her adventures at her blog, transatlantic sketches, or you can just show up in Vienna and talk to her yourself. Both are welcome.