#drunkbiking

When people ask me do describe Vienna, I say this: Imagine you’re at a party. There’s a supercool girl dancing in the middle, all eyes on her. That’s Berlin. In the corner, there’s this other girl, with her arms crossed above her chest, nose held a bit high and looking quite uninterested. That’s Vienna. When you approach her, she won’t make any effort to seem likeable, but the more you scratch the surface, the more you invest, the more you get in return.

Sure, Vienna has a beautiful surface that appears to tourists (especially 50+ in large groups), but once you get to know this place, you’ll never want to turn your back on each other. My relationship with Vienna is really like a special friendship, I get a warm welcome every time I come back. She’s not gonna go anywhere, she’ll remain where she is. She’s slow, but not stagnant. You get what you give.

Viennese peculiarities

A lot of people from Vienna say that Viennese people are very grumpy and complain all the time. But the only thing I can recall them complaining about are each other, so it’s really not that bad. However, they do all abide by laws and like to police each other (at least the older generation). As in, you do not walk across the red light, bike in the wrong direction, and biking drunk can be VERY expensive, fines ranging from € 800 – 1300. Seriously.

It is however true that a lot of waiters are grumpy, mostly in the traditional places (Café Kafka being extraordinary) and waitresses can be very rude! NOTE - You are expected to tip for beer, so if they come up and say ‘it’s 3,60’ you should reply with the amount you want to pay, like ‘4’. If you don’t say anything they will assume that the rest is tip for them. You also tip the hairdresser.

Also. Vienna is an amazing city nowadays, but, it was at the height of its importance 100 years ago. So some old people like to preserve that idea. You should just enjoy it! There’s not really this stress about the city to renew itself and ‘become’ awesome with renewals, infrastructure, etc – Vienna is reassured that she’s already perfect. And that’s what I like about it.

Feel the (contemporary) Viennese vibe

Year round - One of the things I love to do in Vienna is to walk around in the first district (on the burgring, for example) on a weekday evening, because after 22-23 you are pretty much alone in the streets. And then you have the magnificent, lit-up buildings whose white colour stand in perfect contrast to the deep-blue sky. Make sure to visit Karlskirche (Karlsplatz) and enjoy the view of the church reflected in the pond in front of it.

If you are in Vienna in summer, you have to hang out in the MQ (Museumsquartier) in the late afternoon/evening. BYOB and occupy a weird uncomfortable plastic couch/lego piece for you and your friend and enjoy the vibe!

If you are in Vienna in December, do a tour of the Christmas markets and try a different Glühwein at each one! Don’t go to Rathaus or Maria Theresia-Platz, they are the standard and overcrowded ones. My favourites are Karlsplatz which has the most original things and Spittelberg (Behind MQ) which is the cosiest.