Tag Archives: Austria

Aug1

Cafe Central of Vienna

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Wednesday, 03-July-2024


Similar to the feeling of familial memory in the Art History Museum cafe was Cafe Central.

I’d first heard about it from a friend of mine, who was adamant that I needed to check it out while I was in town – After looking it up, I absolutely had to agree with her. It looked amazing; an exceptionally fancy and classy breakfast spot right in the heart of the old city of Vienna, dating back to 1876 and boasting patrons as storied as Sigmund Freud, Leon Trotsky, and many others.

I mentioned this cafe back in my “Exploring Vienna” post, but I’ll risk repetition by doubling down – More importantly to me, aside from hosting conventionally famous thinkers, Cafe Central had very likely hosted my own family, back when my Grandfather was a young boy living in Vienna… Prior to their escape to the United States some time after Kristallnacht. A chain of events which, in recent years, has led to my own repatriation to Austria.



Getting back to the focal point of the post – Cafe Central – I walked in with a bit of trepidation… though thankfully it was mostly attenuated by the long line I’d had to brave in order to get in. Once I was greeted by the Matre’d, though, I was simply swept up in the glamor of the place. Immediately upon entering, I was stuck – The ambiance was amazing, with desserts beautifully displayed right at the front, and the sense of history and “why yes, I am exceptionally fancy, thank you” was incredible. The Matre’d himself was dressed in a full suit (possibly a tux), and treated me like I was visiting royalty.

It was… really fun. I sipped coffee, nibbled at the fancy “Viennese breakfast”, and enjoyed myself immensely.




Immensely enough, I’d like to note, that I came back for lunch.

By the time I came back, I’d finished my walkthrough of the Vienna Museum, which… well, I’ll get to that in a follow-on post, but suffice it to say that the museum was challenging and rough, if informative and enlightening.

I needed something to lift my spirits, though, and so ordered a double-portion of dessert. It didn’t fix everything, of course, but it did go a long way to buoying my spirits.

Aug1

The Vienna Arsenal, and adjacent gardens

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Tuesday, 02-July-2024


I left the palatial gardens of Belvedere behind, continuing my wanderings through the parks that Vienna had arrayed out before me. I passed a really neat looking business park (headquarters to Erste Bank, I think), a well-placarded train station, and finally found myself walking down the paths of the Vienna Arsenal.

It was lovely – just wandering, watching, and appreciating the quiet. From what I could tell, the Arsenal was a museum, but had closed a bit ago. Long enough for the tourists to have left, at least, which left me able to enjoy the area basically by myself… save for the few staff who were hustling off to their cars for the evening.

It was quiet and calm, and I enjoyed it immensely.


As a side note, I saw a few paintings up on the wall nearby, showcasing some of the exhibits available in the armory… and wow. This one – the artist didn’t have to go this hard with this impressive of a piece, but they did. For us.


Jul31

The Belvedere Gardens

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Tuesday, 02-July-2024



It was a bit of a wandering around day. Stretching my legs, catching up with family on the phone, I just let my legs go, and trusted to Vienna that I’d end up wandering into some interesting places.

I walked, I wandered, and I found myself in a palatial garden strikingly similar to Versailles.


Just… think about that statement. We live in a world where I can just unexpectedly wander into a palace garden that, when first made, would have been guarded… and that entering likely would have been a crime punishable by death.

Man, today does have some good sides, doesn’t it?



There’s not too much to tell about the gardens – I wandered, enjoyed the informational placards, and took it as an opportunity to relax and let my mind wander. I tried to sort of “walk the labyrinth” in the garden, but frankly it didn’t quite work out too well since the gardens were designed to be symmetric (showing mankind’s supremacy over nature), but it was definitely still interesting.




The real unique insight I had was the difference between European gardens and Asian gardens – specifically the palatial gardens here, and the scholar’s gardens that I’d seen in New Zealand (which were modelled after Chinese gardens). I tried to find Wikipedia articles about the two, to corroborate my thoughts and to help provide a bit more insight for my beloved readers… but wasn’t able to find anything. So, take the following with a solid teaspoon of salt:

  • European Palatial gardens – Seem to be focused more about showing opulence, and mankind’s control of nature. Symmetric, with some private areas (probably for scheming).
  • Chinese Scholar’s gardens – Seem to be focused on giving the owner & enjoyer unique perspectives, and interesting places to stand and contemplate the world. Specifically not symmetric, and I believe were intended to appear natural, as if they’d just happened to spring up. Lots of private areas (probably for scheming).