Archives for “Art & culture” tag

There’s a handful of spots in Vienna enchant me every time I walk by them, let’s name one of them: Strudlhofstiege

Strudlhofstiege is situated right in between two main roads of Vienna’s 9th district Alsergrund, actually you might happen to just stumble upon this place by accident not being aware of its historical, architectural and literal background. So let me tell you!

Inspired by the, then yet young and fresh, surroundings of this town’s area Viennese painter and sculptor Peter Strudel founded the ‘Strudlhof’, a private painting school and later Imperial Painting Academy in 1690. Some years after his death Strudlhofstiege was built right next to the Academy’s spot.

I can’t help but love this place. Just think about it! Year after year, generation after generation, this staircase watched Vienna’s city life passing by. Within all this time this spot was lucky to share so many moments… Children running down these steps coming home from school, turtle doves falling in love in a leisure summer night, Grandfathers sitting beside the calm water sprout remembering the old days. So many stories to tell!

The wicked thing is, there’s actually a book picturing one or two of these memories: Heimito von Doderer’s “Strudlhofstiege”, so if you’re up for some classic Viennese literature this might be an idea for your travel’s reading matter.

There’s this one great thing to do while being in Vienna and you’ll even be able to impress your friends by telling that you’ve enjoyed classic music in THE city of classic vibes. Listening to music, paying nothing and showing your interest in Vienna’s musical pride to be at the same time. Sounds great? Literally.

A while ago, searching for a possibility to listen to Vienna’s music students I kindly got invited to join one of Vienna’s Musical University’s (MDW) ‘Klassenabende’. The principle is simple: Groups of music students get to present their artistic and creative progress in public, on a regular basis.

As, mostly, there are not too many people watching these shows, you’re welcome to enjoy their appearance in one of those many beautiful chambers of Vienna’s Music University.

Besides from Piano, Clarinet, Viola and Organ Klassenabende there’s a great variety of acoustic matinees, vocals soirees and music brunches (calorie- and greaseless, of course) being communicated over their website. And as Music University is situated right next to Belvedere you’re likely to have a great view from the show room as well.

Classic or contemporary music and Viennese architecture. And the best thing about it: It doesn’t cost anything.

!! Here’s the way to go on the (for now only German) website:

Get to the webpage -> hit “VERANSTALTUNGEN” -> hit “STUDIENKONZERTE” -> you’ll see a list of happenings, most words in German are quite similar to the name of the instrument, like: Gitarre = Guitar

After a long long time of not coming here, celebrating my little sister’s first day at school helped me discover this place again. And being there I really was amazed by the fact that this place hasn’t changed a bit (as much as I can tell by my childhood memories).

Sure, thinking about a Viennese funfair you’ll first think of Vienna’s Würstelprater, seducing you with our famous (moving in slow motion) Riesenrad and a dozen of fast rollercoasters, excitement guaranteed – but – if you’re in search of a decent, small and calm old style funfair, reminding you, and your family, of the time before funfairs turned into places overwhelming you with thousands of blinking lights, techno music and never-ending queues for attractions, that’s the place to go.

Some of the attractions are over 30 years old, run by the members of the second or even the third generation of the creator’s family. Things you can do and enjoy there mostly are not to be considered as mind-wrecking adrenalin boosters but as the funfairs’ good old times activities giving you a slight butterflies-in-your-tummy feeling. Also the surroundings of the amusement park are worth exploring. Especially in spring and autumn it’s nice to go for a walk on Vienna’s Laaer Berg enjoying a nice view on the town’s surroundings.

Almost forgot, another detail I discovered strolling around there for a while is an old Viennese Cable car, turned into a small Candy shop, lovely!

This is a place where you either spend a lot of €uros or not a single cent. However I do think it’s nice to just go there for the touch of the past. I mean, one doesn’t refuse to go to a museum because they can’t buy & take home the art that is exposed there, right?

So if you go to Schönbrunn Palace or the Belvedere you must not sit on any of the furniture & feel like an emperor or a princess for a little while, here you can!

And what I like best about this free ‘museum’ is that it is constantly changing its objects without changing the topic. In addition you can take your stuff there if you want it to be restored or evaluated by a professional.

For shoestring budgets find the ARGE flea market just next door, Lorenz-Mandl-Gasse 31-35! This one is open Mon – Fri 08:00 – 17:00 for kitchenware & furniture as well as Wed & Fri for clothing, CDs, etc.

Once you’ve entered the place you’ll be diving quickly into that lively and yet cosy hustle and bustle inside the place. Waiters suit up and tend to behave, just like in old times, a little bit snotty – not forgetting about spicing up that attitude with a hint of authentic “Wiener Schmäh” (Viennese Charm). So don’t be shy about talking to them when they’re not too busy .

For more than a 100 years now (!) Café Museum has been a part of Vienna’s Coffeehouse Culture. Local creative souls such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele or Otto Wagner came in here all through the years, so this Café distinguishes itself with a certain Viennese authenticity.

Café Museum is located nearby cultural hot spots such as the Vienna Secession and the Albertina, so, also the name is suggesting that, visiting the place goes along great with a museum visit.

There are comfy, red sofa-booths (offering a great opportunity to bounce up and down just like a child, by the way) right next to the window, so you can easily spend one rainy afternoon drinking tea, watching the busy city life passing by and indulge your sweet tooth with one of those many mouth-watering cakes.

Almost forgot about mentioning my favourite detail! If you’re visiting don’t miss looking up at the ceiling. There are some huge Christmas bauble-alike lamps hanging down, and I for my part love them!