I am not sure I understand Vienna’s tourist board’s slogan: ‘Vienna, now or never’. Why should it be now or never? I have never met anyone who disliked the city at any time he has been there.
Enjoy the elegance and magnificence of the Graben’s superb architecture, and the highly cosmopolitan movement of people- Victor Aquilina
Or, maybe, the board is so overtaken by the broad range of events being held in the city this year that it simply wants to make that little extra effort to draw more tourists. But surely it does not need to worry unduly about this, for if you are unable to fly to the city now, Vienna will be there for you whenever you feel like visiting.
And it is hardly likely that it is going to metamorphose into a different place altogether. So please, tourist board people, for your own good and for that of your city, do change your slogan!
Vienna is indeed a city for all seasons, though the height of summer may not exactly be the right time for us Maltese to go there – it can get as hot, if not hotter, than Malta.
Instinctively, we tend to choose cooler places in summer. But once the weather improves a bit, then yes, Vienna makes a perfect holiday destination for many reasons.
However, if hot weather does not bother you at all, well then you really have no problem and can fly there now.
Whether you’ve already been to Vienna or not, it does not really matter for, as Samuel Johnson said of London, the same can be said, to a degree, for this city.
In case you’ve forgotten, his famous quote is: “When you’re tired of London, you’re tired of life.” How can anyone be tired of London or Vienna, or of Paris, Rome and of so many other European capitals?
Vienna is this year celebrating the life of Gustav Klimt, on the 150th anniversary of his birth. Klimt is said to have revolutionised the art scene in the city around 1900.
You’ll see his most famous painting, The Kiss, liberally reproduced on anything, from tea mugs to vases and souvenirs. But to see the original painting, you’ll have to go to the Belvedere.
Equally interesting is his monumental wall cycle frieze at the Secession building, homage to the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Since the frieze runs round the room at a height of between three and five metres, a platform has been put up to allow visitors to see it at eye level.
But however important Klimt’s exhibitions may be this year, a tourist to Vienna is unlikely to head straight to an exhibition hall the moment he lands in the city. So, Klimt may well have to wait until the feet are dead tired of treading the city streets and squares.
Anyway, the lure of the many outdoor attractions is far too powerful to resist. It is somewhat strange that, however much one is familiar with a place, one tends to go to places already visited first before exploring new sites. It happens to me all the time and I simply could not avoid doing the same when I was on a press trip to the city organised by Malta International Airport with the collaboration of the Vienna Tourist Board, the Grand Hotel Wien and the Third Man Sewer Tour.
I would always want to go to the Graben first, not just to walk from one end of the street to the other two or three times, but simply to stand and stare, to feel the heartbeat of the city, enjoy the elegance and magnificence of its superb architecture, and the highly cosmopolitan movement of people.
I must admit the streets in the city centre, including the area around St Stephen’s, looked nicer when I was there last, at Christmas time, than on my last visit in the third week of June when it was a bit too hot to wander about for long. Christmas lights add to the beauty of a place.
The Graben has a particular attraction of its own, a fascination that is hard to beat.
Just stand near the imposing Petsaule (the plague column) and take in the ambience of the site – the noise of schoolchildren hurrying behind their teachers to queue up outside St Stephen’s; people loaded with shopping baskets flitting in and out of stores; a man in one corner of the street that leads to the Albertina painting the scene on canvas; tourists taking it in turns to take pictures of the column. In their hurry most do not notice an interesting detail: the enormous chin of Emperor Leopold I, seen kneeling; it is ugly. Check it out for yourself next time you’re in Vienna.
Of course, few would not know that there is a Maltese church dedicated to St John the Baptist close by. It is a Gothic church of the Knights Hospitaller in the city. It is an attraction no Maltese normally misses.
When you’ve visited all the must-see city-centre places, you can then start moving out to explore the rest of the city. To many Vienna means the Prater, the Danube, St Stephen’s, the Lippizzaners, schnitzel, the typical Viennese horse-drawn carriage, wine, beer gardens, and, of course, music.
But there is more to Vienna than this. Major attractions worth visiting are the Hofburg, the former imperial palace; Staatsoper, the opera house; city hall; the parliament building; and, of course, Schonbrunn, the former summer palace of the imperial family that naturally brings into sharp focus the name of Empress Elizabeth, or as she was better known from an early age, Sisi.
The film about her, starring Romy Schneider in the title role, is as captivating as Mayerling, the story of Crown Prince Rudolf and his mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera.
When you’re back in the city centre after visiting Schonbrunn, you may find it interesting to visit the hotel where the love affair between Rudolf and Mary began, the Grand Hotel Wien, only a walking distance from the Graben, near the opera house.
According to the hotel’s own story, the crown prince’s personal coachman picked up young Mary more than 20 times from the rear entrance of the Grand Hotel to take her to secret meetings with her beloved Rudolf.
In November 1888, the emperor asked his married son to end his affair with the baroness, then only 16, but Mary eventually fled to the Grand Hotel to seek refuge with Countess Larisch, a niece of Empress Elisabeth.
Rudolf had Mary transferred to his hunting lodge in Mayerling, where they were both found dead on January 30, 1889. One story goes that the crown prince shot Mary and then himself. But there are other theories, best left to proper accounts of the incident.
Just as Sisi fans do not miss going to Volksgarten to see her monument, those keen on Mozart are likely to find their way to Burggarten, next to the Albertina, where there is an imposing statue of the music genius. Once the private gardens of Emperor Franz Joseph I, Sisi’s husband, Burggarten is a most delightful place, small but an oasis for tired eyes.
The garden is famous too for its most beautiful art nouveau glasshouse and a butterfly house, which has hundreds of exotic butterflies. It reminded me of another butterfly house, that in Niagara Falls.
When you think you have ticked off all the must-see places on your list, there is one other place you ought to go to – Kahlenberg in the Vienna Woods. On a clear day you can see from the top stunning views of the city.
Take time to walk in the woods, made famous by Strauss. Then just go back to the clearing at the top, get an Ottakringer, the local beer, from the restaurant nearby, and relax before making your way down again. Cheers.
Getting there
There are direct flights to Vienna every day in summer (April to October), and five times weekly in winter (November to March), operated by Air Malta, code-shared with Austrian Airlines.