Vienna? 19 1 19 (11) 25 2 21

“Thence onward skirting Linz but stopping short of the City of Vienna when my lift dropped me a short distance away, maybe ½ hour’s ride from the City Centre, where I was fortunate by the side road to see this café which I visited to get my first Wiener Schnitzel, though in truth I can’t recall was it made with veal or whether it was made with pork? However I do remember that an American lady, who was also visiting the café from Linz where her husband was in the US Military stationed there at the time, picked up my tab, a very kindly gesture especially because I was running low on funds, and having written home to get more cash sent to me Poste Ristorante. At the same time the proprietor of the café allowed me to camp on his land, and when he offered to run me next morning, on his way to work, into the City Centre, I was set for almost a week: being able to sight-see unencumbered by my big rucksack with tent, sleeping bag, paraffin stove and aluminium cooking utensils…

I’ll call the proprietor Gunter”; it was so long ago “I may have remembered incorrectly after all the intervening years, as I write this account. Whatever the event he couldn’t have been friendlier, and a good many of my first memories of Vienna I have to thank him for. During that week he took me to visit the Hapsburg Palace which made a lasting impression on me, I recall his also telling me how through one of his grandmothers he was related to the Hapsburg dynasty. On the weekend together with his wife he also took me up into the Vienna Woods where at a restaurant we drank the delicious Viennese white wine, whilst a violinist went about the terrace playing from table to table. He also took me several times to visit the Vienna Stadium where the Communist sponsored `International Youth Festival´ just happened to be getting underway, the first time I ever attended such an impressive athletics type of event.”

Another very memorable visit was to Mozart’s House where he composed the Opera Fidelio, an event which was reinforced some years later when I paid my second visit to Vienna. On that occasion I stayed at the Marriott Hotel in the downtown area, courtesy of my company that sent me there for a week-long Conference and Exposition, staged by EDANA, the European Disposable and Nonwovens Association, in June 1985, to do with fabrics manufacture, etc. Then in my free time I just walked the streets and parks as sight-seer, without re-visiting Mozart’s house. I expect I also got to indulge my sweet tooth once again however by eating Vienna’s delicious Apple Struggle, together with their equally delicious black coffee…

One reason for this kind of blog this day is that Vienna has recently topped the annual Mercer Quality Living list for the World’s best place to live, for the ninth year in a row, when judged by aspects such as providing a safe and stable environment for expatriates to live in, offering the sale of extensive international consumer goods, plus a high level of public utilities and transportation and recreational facilities. 

When added to the fact that Vienna is the cultural, political and economic centre of Austria, all the above combined resulted in Vienna being chosen again.

The only thing I would add though it is maybe implicit in the attributes enlisted was my experience underscored during my first visit when all the people I met were so friendly. Have a good day everyone and try to visit Vienna, if you haven't already done so..?. 

An excerpt from my autobiography about my first trip to Vienna…19 1 19 (11)