Vienna my hometown for most of my life. I just love this city eventhough, as probably any other place on this planet, it has its quirks. The Viennese have the image of being grumpy. The idea that Vienna is famous for its unfriendly waiters is not a thing that I am proud of. For me two worlds collide here – the stereotypical cooleness of people from Northern European countries and the temperament of people from Southern European countries. The result: people that might be calm in one moment and burst out in anger in the next. This might be confusing for people that just want to visit. How can they ever understand us?
Some come to Vienna because they have seen a movie. For older generations it was the Sisi trilogy with Romy Schneider, for the Millenials it is Before Sunrise with Ethan Hawke. Tom Cruise and Mission Impossible was here too. Vienna is popular among movie people. One must-see movie in my opinion is Carol Reed’s Third Man with Orson Welles. That’s probably because I am a huge Orson Welles fan. The soundtrack is legendary. The zither play by Anton Karas sets the tone.
Even in today’s Vienna it is played often. Very often at a Heuriger – the Viennese version of a wine tavern. Vienna is the only capital in the world that produces wine on an economic scale. „Es wird ein Wein sein und wir werden nimma sein.“ – There will be wine when we are no longer here. One could say the Viennese soul is a bit morbid. Sitting down to have a nice coffee at one of the many cafes in Vienna is part of our culture. Business meetings can happen there. We discuss and chat. Viennese sometimes need their time to open up. Over-friendly people. We might get suspicious.
And so true treasures of Vienna might stay hidden in the beginning. One day in Vienna can give you an overview. But to experience Vienna truly it needs time. For me I live here. I don’t see the city through the eyes of a tourist. Tourist places like the Cafe Demel or the restaurant Figlmüller I avoid. The Naschmarkt has its advantages but to experience authentic market life one might rather choose the Viktor Adler Markt. There the melting pot of foreign influences can be experienced at its best. Vienna was always a melting pot. By the turn of the 19th/20th century Vienna had more than 2 million inhabitants. After a decline past World War I Vienna is back on track of becoming a 2 million inhabitant city again. Mostly because of migration Vienna is a melting pot again. For the past 10 years Vienna has repeatedly named city number one in the Mercer Quality of Life Ranking and sometimes I feel us Viennese are not aware of how lucky we are to live in this city. Maybe if we were we would be less grumpy.
In this part of the blog I write about my life and experiences in Vienna. I write about my favorite spots. The desire to catch up with all the changes and new influences which is even a challenge for me as a Viennese.
