"Classy Vienna - The heart of the Habsburg Empire" Vienna by Airpunk

My first visit to Vienna was a very short trip by plane, arriving on Tuesday afternoon and returning on Thursday evening. Not a lot for such a great city, but that was what my work allowed back then. My first impression of Vienna: Great city with moved history and a lot of friendly people nobody understands. And yes, I complied with many of the stereotypes Austrian have regarding their German (“Piefke”) neighbours. In a “Starbucks”, where I had to buy a collector's cup for a fellow friend, I was asked if I waanted a “Sackerl” (bag). Maybe I would have gotten it, if I had understood the word “sackerl” at all. But the accent of the friendly lady was too much for my northern German ears (not to speak of my South American guise...) that I had to ask what she meant several times. And in a restaurant I couldn't take the waitress serious. She was just polite, normal for a viennese level, but it was a little too much of a courtly protocol for a long-haired backpacker who just wanted to have a beer and a quick grab. All in all, I felt like the famous elephant in the porcelain shop. Still, I felt well and will come back to destroy more porcelain again.

Vienna is a huge city with an interesting history, ranging from Coffeehouse culture to the Nazi years. However, I think that it is possible to get an overview in 1 ½ days if you like walking, plan your route well and don't take too many breaks. On both days, I spent a couple of hours in the old town and had the chance to see the Stephansdom (including going up the tower) and the Kapuzinergruft. On the full day, I spent the rest of the day at the Schönbrunn Palace while I filled up the half day with smaller sights outside the core of the old town, like for example the Prater grounds and the Hundertwasserhaus. Of course, there are far more things in Vienna which I haven't done and visited. That includes a fiaker ride (traditional horse coach), the Zentralfriedhof (cemetery with famous graves, including Beethoven's) or a classic concert. But I managed to pick my route according to my taste and do everything I wanted to do in the 1 ½ days.

A combination of a computer crash and an uncompleted backup led to the consequence, that I lost most of my Vienna pictures, together with most of my 2011 Rotterdam trip, a short trip to King's Lynn and a wonderful evening in Cambridge. Therefore, you will not see as many pictures as on pages for other destinations I have been to in the same summer. Probably, the picture I miss the most was one of myself with Schönbrunn in the background taken by a Singaporean lady I met on the “Gloriette” building south to the palace. At least, I still have everything from before and after these trips.

• Pros:A lot to see
• Cons:The language :)