Visit to Vienna

18 - 20 May 2007

Finally, I reached Vienna!!! As I was saying, it was a tough night before my journey, so I was very relieved to be in Vienna, finally, and alive. Also happy because I would be seeing lots of friends here. Actually the main purpose of being in Vienna was to attend the wedding of Martin & his pretty wife Dana. That's why I decided to travel during this time & around this region ;) Day 1 was spent roaming around the city area. Day 2 was reserved for meeting up with friends and also for the wedding. And Day 3 we had to catch up on the touristy sights ;)

Some introduction of Vienna...
:Quoted: Consolidating all my readings, Vienna, the capital of Austria, is a romantically imperial city for anyone who seeks a romantic streak or an interest in history; a city of culture ranging from film, dance festivals, operas, exhibitions or concerts to its famous coffee houses or traditional wine taverns (heurige); and a city of music where Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Johann Strauss established their fame.


It was a wow-impression the moment I stepped into Vienna city. Everything in Vienna is huge, rich, clean, polished, grand & magnificient! Styles range from classicist buildings to modern architecture. Also the S-Bahn, U-Bahn and railways are clean, fast and timely.

Stephansdom, the romanesque and gothic cathedral, is located in the heart of Vienna next to the main shopping street Kärtnerstrasse. The roof of Stephansdom is made up of colourful tiles that form a mosaic of patterns and figures. Very spectacular...

Also happy that I got to meet up with Sook Bing & friend, all the way from Singapore to tour around Europe. Meeting outside Stephansdom, it was a short & intensive but quality catching up with almost everything we could talk about... :)

Many museums are located in the Museumsquartier, literally means the museum quarter. The twin museums Kunst-historisches (art history) Museum and Natur-historisches (nature history) Museum houses many paintings by old masters and ancient and classical artefacts.


Schloss Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Palace) is one of the most important cultural monuments in Vienna. It now stood as a museum that displayed the different stylistic eras of the imperial monarchy and the lives of the palace's inhabitants. Schönbrunn meaning 'beautiful well' has its roots in a water well from which water was consumed by the royal court in Vienna. 2nd picture shows the Roman Ruin in the park at Schönbrunn.

Matchboxes collection on display in a shop ;)


Hundertwasserhaus (Hundred Water House) is an apartment house, designed by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. The concept of his design is to integrate both nature and architecture together. There is uneven floors, crooked stairs, irregular windows, and plants on rooftops.


KunstHausWien, same concept as the Hundertwasserhaus.

Emma & I went to a cafe at the back of KunstHausWien, very nice ambience, in the midst of the trees & flowers, coffee smell, and rays of the sun...lovely place to chill out with friends over cakes & coffee...


Vienna is famous for its excellent coffee. We went to this very traditional Viennese coffee house called Cafe Leopold Hawelka.

Think Vienna coffee is the best coffee I have ever tasted, it really tastes so special. It's coffee, with whipped cream and sugar (as you like). When you first sipped the coffee, you literally can distinguish the coffee taste and the milky taste, and the aftertaste of coffee will just tinger on in your mouth. Wah...so shiok! Also the coffee goes well with the shortcake, which is so soft that it melts in your mouth...omg ;D Usually, the coffee is also served with an obligatory glass of cold water.

Another recommended café to go to is Café Sperl. This is the typical interior furnishing of a classic traditional Viennese café, marble table tops, wooden furnitures, a little wooden piano, and a simple counter for cakes. Emma & I walked for ages from the opposite end of the street to reach this place, we never knew that Gumpendorfer Straße could be that long.


Not forgetting, one of the highlights of this trip was Martin & Dana's wedding :) This was my 1st time attending a wedding in the authentic European style, in Austria, and I really looked forward to this. The solomization ceremony began in the afternoon held in Palais Pallavicin. This was also where I met old friends Wayne & Jamie since I left Singapore, and new friends from Taiwan & HK, and also some cool German guys.

The evening began with a small banquet, buffer, speeches and video clips. Then after it was all partying, dancing and games till the wee hours, with more food served during the night. This is something additional to the usual way Chinese held their grand banquet. Nevertheless, it was definitely a very enriching experience for me, and I really had a great time during my stay in Vienna ;)