Vienna: A city with balls

If you’re looking for a euro-friendly European experience, you can’t do better than set out for Wien or Vienna, the Austrian capital, which offers the best of Western Europe at Eastern Europe prices.
The seven-hour flight comes for less than Rs35,000, you get a good hotel room for 75 Euros (Rs4,500), and a delectable meal for two costs just 25 Euros, with a glass of wine thrown in!
Vienna is a city of beautiful surprises. The charming old town, the splendid Baroque churches, the majestic cathedrals, the magnificent old buildings, the larger-than-life statues, the lively café culture — you have here all the ingredients that go into the making of a lovely European holiday.

Sights and sounds
Take the U-tube from the airport or the main station to Stephen Platz (1.80 Euro), and as you emerge from the subway, you are greeted by the fantastic sight of the 445-feet tall St. Stephen’s Cathedral soaring into the sky (you better carry a really wide-angle lens to get the entire monument in the frame), and there you are, bang in the middle of all the tourist action.

Take that 500-metre high street walk through fine boutiques and label stores to the State Opera, and settle down on one of the benches to see the most amazing tableux of the modern and the traditional — how often do you see a 700 horse power Ferrari moving patiently behind a two-horse cart?

The hop-on-hop-off bus pass (20 Euros) is a great way to catch the sights and sounds of the stately city. While the red line tour shows you attractions in the city centre (museums, parliament, city hall, university), the blue line tour, which takes you around the suburbs of Vienna, includes a visit to the Giant Ferris Wheel and a ride over the Blue Danube. Three hours later, you are a Vienna veteran.

Finish the bus tour and return to the places that caught your fancy, to explore them at your own time. When all the walking gets you tired and hungry, sneak into one of the beer gardens in the inner city, or the traditional cafes that offer schnitzels, sausages and the ubiquitous sacher torte (4 Euros, but worth it)! Or catch a quick bite at the Anker’s Bakery outlets in one of the subways (meal for two for less than 10 Euros).
 

Mozart mania
In Vienna, music is a way of life and one Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is the mascot. Mozart is everywhere — on postcards, on chocolates, on shop displays, on mementos, on buildings and on tourist buses.

From the accomplished individual musicians and string quartets decked in Mozart-attire and playing for donations at street corners, to Mozart lookalikes pushing tickets for, well, a Mozart concert, the great composer is omnipresent. There are the colourful traditional coffeehouses whose association with music and Mozart goes back centuries, and there are the weekly organ concerts where orchestras and opera singers transport their audiences to the “real time” Mozart era. And then, of course, you can’t miss the four-storied Mozarthaus, an exclusive museum dedicated to the man and his music.

You’ll also see a man dressed like Mozart selling Wien sausages on the street and yes, there’s even a toilet at the subway station that plays — for one euro — Mozart while you relieve yourself.

Have a ball
Where back home it starts with the Christmas Ball and ends with the Navy Ball, here in Vienna, a good 300 balls take place every year — that’s practically one every day if you take the Sunday off. The city of waltzes exuberantly celebrates carnival from January until early March, with the ball season reaching a peak in February.

From the eclectic Coffee-House Owners’ Ball and the Hunters’ Ball, to the exclusive Doctors’ Ball and the Lawyers’ Ball — and yes, the Rainbow Ball for the gay and lesbian community, there’s a ball for everyone. And then, there’s the grand Opera Ball at the Vienna State Opera in early March, the one day when visitors can not only watch the famous opera from the spectator’s seat but also experience it ‘backstage’, surrounded by many music celebrities.