To All those on this forum who helped us plan our trip…..here is our love letter to Vienna
Please forgive our delinquent, but sincere note of appreciation for all your help and suggestions in organizing my husband and my recent 5 day visit to Vienna over Christmas. We could not have had a more wonderful, romantic time! We did as much as we possibly could, but of course, one can never do everything one hopes to. Lots of things for us to come back for. We could not have done it without your assistance. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Our hotel, the Imperial became our home away from home. We loved coming back at the end of a busy day to our quiet, comfortable and luxurious room. The staff could not have done more to ensure that we had a memorable time….they upgraded us to a full suite, rather than the junior suite we had reserved….they obtained tickets for countless sold-out performances…they put on a classical music concert/reception on Christmas Eve and gave each guest a gift of a bottle of Austrian wine. They were kind, welcoming, quintissentially professional and efficient. We would not hesitate to recommend this hotel to others for a special occasion.
We enjoyed taking in the Christmas atmosphere of your beautiful city, seeing the decorations, lights and Christmas trees in the old, cobblestone streets, in the windows, in the hotels. We only had time to get to two of the Christkindlmarkts—at Schonbrunn and Rathausplatz, but enjoyed the old-fashioned feel and the gingerbread reminded me of that my grandmother used to make—different from American gingerbread. With so many beautiful churches, we had time for a few…the gorgeous baroque Karlskirche, Stephansdom, and Augustinekirche for Christmas Day Mass… The Mass with the Boy’s Choir at the Hofburgkapelle on Christmas Eve was lovely. We loved the intimacy and beauty of the space. Vienna is indeed a perfect place to spend the holidays….understated elegance and festive at the same time.
We loved attending your world-class performances at the magnificent Staateoper (and observing the elegantly-dressed patrons sipping champagne and eating sandwiches at intermission) and the different but thoroughly enjoyable Volksoper. The konzerthaus gave me the feeling of truly going back in time. . Vienna truly is a destination for music lovers, but of course, everyone knows that. It did not disappoint.
We toured the beautiful state apartments at Schonbrunn and Hofburg palaces…they both felt more “lived in” than other palaces we have toured, less like museums—we liked that… Princess Elizabeth (Sisi’s) story was fascinating, as were the Imperial Crypts which we also toured. I am motivated to now read more of the powerful Hofburg famiy. We saw, but weren’t able to tour the Belevedere Palace, the Secession Building and the Museumsquartier. We were able to observe the Lipazzaner horses practice at the Spanische Reitschule, such an interesting bit of history, how so many different cultures blended in that period of time. The Kunsthistoriches Museum’s selection of Old Masters was extraordinary, indeed.
Man cannot live by art alone, and we did our share of partaking in Vienna’s abundant selection of delicious food….From our first impromptu dinner pre-opera at Café Schwartzenberg opposite our hotel, where we immediately felt swept up in the relaxed, yet vibrant café life of Vienna and received kind and helpful service from our waiter…the food was quite good… to our last lunch pre-flight at Da Capo, an intimate little spot where our lovely waiter never seemed the least bit harried, despite being the only one serving what must have been 10 different parties who all seemed to arrive at the same time. In between, we loved the sensory delight and wonderful energy of Meinl am Graben--- watching swarms of locals choose their last-minute holiday preparations…. we bought wine there for our connoisseur friends from the fabulous selection (and even were lucky that it made it home intact, having to check it because of the new %26quot;no-liquid%26quot; policies of the airlines---a miracle!)Had wonderful experiences dining at Fabios, Kervansaray, and Morwald--- all different from one another, and all of which we found to have delicious food and impeccable service. (I read that some do not find Morwald up to standards, but truly, it was a very special experience for us at Christmas Day lunch. The light poured through the huge windows of the very-tall-ceilinged room-- modern, yet old-world at the same time… the white-tableclothed tables were generously spaced with elegant china, silver and glassware, the courses leisurely paced, but with discrete, attentive service…the delicious food I could go on and on. Perhaps not for everyone, but certainly memorable for us)….We savored strudel (apple, apricot and topfenstrudel) as well as the requisite sachertorte and delectable mélange at Gerstners, (which we conveniently passed several times each day walking to and from our hotel!) and Demels…passed Oberlaa and Diglas, but only so much time to eat pastries we couldn’t experience all…we enjoyed going into the impressive Bellasupermarkt in the Ringstrasse Gallerien…a beautiful smorgasbord of take away offerings which we never would have known about, without Roley%26#39;s recommendation….
Certainly the Viennese do not lack for anything! You have a wonderful, sophisticated gem of a city, with beautiful architecture, magnificent music and art and inventive, delicious food. But saving the best for last, what touched us the most profoundly was the PEOPLE of Vienna. We have NEVER met such gracious, kind, polite people. Everywhere we went people could not do enough for us. It was truly humbling. There is such a wonderful calmness to them, waiting in lines, at the airport...everywhere. Perhaps a bit reserved in demeanor, but in our world where unfortunately it is the loud people who get attention, we felt that if the people of the world were more like the Viennese, the world would be a better, more genteel, more civilized, more humanistic place, (given the understanding that variety --all kinds of people and cultures-- is the spice of life). Vienna is indeed a very special little corner of the world with many riches to offer. We look forward to returning and seeing more of your treasures. Thank you for giving us a Christmas we will remember always! Pamela and Nicholas, NYC
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For Pamela and Nicholas:
Many thanks for your kind words about Vienna and taking your time to make a superb trip report.
Very happy that you enjoyed your days and hopefully have good memories.
Return soon!
Many more restaurants to experience, cafes to enjoy, sights to see, museums to experience, and an always changing music scene
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You are right, Vertical...much more to discover in Vienna...I think it is truly undiscovered....not enough people know about its treasures. We will spread the word, although sometimes discovery takes something away. Pamela
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