Mini Vacation in Vienna

Whenever life seems a little hectic, moving too fast, or perhaps overwhelming, I like to play the song Vienna, by Billy Joel, or Vivalidi’s Four Seasons. These songs bring me back to a mini trip I took to Vienna, Austria back in the fall of 2022. In the midst of writing my master’s thesis, one of my friends and I went to Vienna to explore the city, visit a couple of museums, and attend Oktoberfest. For this four day trip, we were able to eat amazing food, listen to delightful music, and learn about Austrian culture. Despite the trip being brief, it was a necessary reset to refresh my brain and simply enjoy art.

Before discussing what I did in Vienna, I would like to note two things that made this trip both relaxing and successful. First, one of my cousins provided me with an essay-long text worth of tips and suggestions of what to do in Vienna. (Thank you!!) I appreciated her suggestions as this made visiting a new city less intimidating. Secondly, my friend and I created a rough list of goals for the trip; a sort of choose your own adventure itinerary. Our list provided us with general directions of how to approach each day, as well as flexibility if we ever wanted to change our plans. With that said, let me take you along a summary of my journey in Vienna.

To gain a bearing of the city (or any city for that matter), I prefer to walk everywhere in order to build my cognitive map. For Vienna, this was super easy to do as the city was very walkable, paired with the magnificent architecture we could gaze upon as we strolled along. A couple of times, we did use the trains and subway lines to give our feet some rest, which were nice as well. However, after many miles of walking, we did need to stop here and there for a bite to eat or a meal.

Our meals in the city were delicious experiences ranging from gorgeous cafés to casual market stands to restaurants with a view. In the afternoons and evenings, there was no shortage of bars and hole in the wall places for schnitzel, potato salad, and a large glass of beer. If anything, I was surprised by all the amazing food that I had there. Is Vienna a secret food capital of the world?

In a similar vein to food, perhaps I should bring up Oktoberfest, or as they call it in Vienna, Wiener Kaiser Wiesn. My friend and I attended only one day of the event which, in my opinion, was enough for us. We arrived at the event on the earlier side of the day, which was quite lovely as we could explore all of the tents before they got full and scope out which one had the best food and music offerings. Plus, we were able to browse the market area before it was stuffed to the gills. If we wanted to, we could have bought dirndls last minute in the market (lederhosen were available for guys too) to dress up more traditionally, but we decided to keep on our regular clothes.

During the event, we enjoyed a couple of steins of beer, a glass of Austrian wine, pretzels and other snacks across a couple of tents and the market area. My favourite beer was the Radler - half beer, half lemonade. The music was also fun, and I joined in on one of the group dances. If you’re looking for something that is a cross between family dining, a concert, and a party, I highly recommend attending an Oktoberfest celebration in Europe. In addition, I recommend wearing stretchy pants or a dirndl as I was so bloated from two steins of beer.

When we were not at Oktoberfest, we explored the Belvedere Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and attended a candlelight Vivaldi concert. Starting off with the Belvedere Palace, the former royal summer residence consists of two Baroque structures originally commissioned by Prince Eugene of Savoy. Despite it being autumn when we visited the palace, it truly felt like an escape from the impending winter with all of the vibrant flowers in bloom and lush gardens.

The galleries here were equally as beautiful and deserve a couple of hours to explore. I was ecstatic to finally see The Kiss, by Gustav Klimt, in person. Reproductions do not do the glimmering of the gold paint justice, nor highlight how precious the flowers are at the base of the painting. As we walked around the galleries I also appreciated the notes posted throughout about restitution discussions relating to some of their artwork.

The other museum we visited during this trip was the Kunsthistorisches Museum. This has been a museum I have dreamed about visiting since I learned about its collections. The building itself is a grand piece of art with its marble covered interiors complementing art displayed in every nook and pedestal. My favourite exhibition here was Idols and Rivals. This show placed artists and art of similar subjects side by side to compare approaches and styles. As an aside, photography was not allowed in this exhibit, so you will just have to imagine how much I was in awe and amazement as I gazed upon Pietàs by Cigoli, Annibale Carracci, and Michelangelo juxtaposed in close proximity. Not to mention, rivals brought back together in head to head comparisons such as Bernini and Borrimini, as well as Titian and Tintoretto. If I had more time, I think I would have stayed in this exhibit for a whole day taking it all in.

The last major part of our trip, not mentioned as of yet, involves St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Even if you are not religious, I would go and visit St. Stephen’s as it is an exquisite Romanesque church with Gothic and Baroque elements sprinkled throughout. Equally fascinating was climbing up the towers to get a closer look at the brightly coloured tile roof that was designed in 1950 (though you could look at it from the ground if you are afraid of heights).

In addition to viewing the church during the day, my friend and I also attended a candlelit concert hosted inside the church at night. If you did not know, Vienna is known as one of the epicentres of classical music. To cross off one of our last goals of the trip, we purchased our concert tickets, and were greeted by the church’s gorgeous interiors lit up by what felt like hundreds of candles (and some regular lights too). Soon after we found our seats, a string quartet began playing all of the movements in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. I am not sure if it was the pure talent of the musicians, the acoustics of the church, the atmosphere of the place, or all of the above, but the sounds were truly magical and left me teary-eyed.

If you are able to go to Vienna, book the tickets. Honestly, I cannot say enough good things about the city. Vienna was a perfect escape; it filled me with peace, amazing food, and reminded me of why I fell in love with art history. I look forward to experiencing another relaxing trip like this, as well as returning to Vienna again soon.

If you have any questions about Vienna, or the details of this trip, feel free to let me know on my Instagram! Also, if you would like me to share my music playlists from each of my trips, feel free to leave a comment on my latest Instagram post.

I hope you, reader, enjoyed reading about this journey. Until we meet again - auf Wiedersehen.