An der schönen grauen Donau, opus#1 in A

Where the Italians failed, the Austrians excelled. Information was aplenty, efficiency at its peak and no one tried to run you over with a scooter.The waltzing capitol of the world, by the foot of the mighty alps, welcomed us with the aid of a shiny new hostel, first opened in March 2011. And so we updated our traveller's guides and cached the maps, for it was time to boldly march into the city centre.The core of Wien is not big, and it's easy to get around by foot. Around every corner there is a palace, a park or a parliment. And thusly, we gazed upon the majestic Hofsburg Palace, Albertina, Spanish Riding School, the opera and the Parliament. Unfortunately, the Lipizzaner horses have vacation in July and August, but at least we saw the sign.Without slipping, we passed the birthplace of Sigmund Freud on our way to the Donaucanal and the obvious destination Schwedenplatz.A quick look at the up-and-coming artists' exhibition at the Freihalle part of the Museumsquartier and we set out for the viennese nightlife. Of course the dish of the day was Wienerschnitzel, and what a treat it was! The size of a tennis racket, a wellhammered filet of veal was covered in buttered breadcrumbs and fried to perfection. The side dish of potato salad was, if tasty enough, quite reduntant, as the schnitzel offered more than enough nutrition for one man. And his closest family. And the entire Vatican. Nevertheless, after a couple of days in wine countries, it was nice to taste a variety* of the local microbrew.The WomBar at the hostel offered drinkage and poolage, and soon the night bell tolled.Next morning, it was time to sample the local public transport. The subway sent us swiftly to Schönbrunn Palace, where emperors lived and ruled and young master Mozart once performed. Majestically the yellow mansion rose atop its well-tended flower gardens, and a triplet of mazes offered great fun for young and for old.But we weren't quite finished with the Museumsquartier; Kunsthalle had Dalì** on display, as well as an exhibition on space arts. And so the cultural quota had been filled, and we set off for the other part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
*) A variety consisting of light ('hell'), dark ('dunkel) and a mixture of the two ('gemischt'), so basically just two kinds, but they were good, as was the gemischt**) Salvador. Not Martin.