My piece on Denmark in my "A quick guide to silly European stereotypes and Europe's ladies of the night - Part wharrever" series is now my most widely read piece on this blog. Thanks to all who have read it, and a particular thank you to my readership in Scandinavia.
This was going to be "Part 7" (after Sweden/Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, France and Germany). There is a problem though.
I have difficulty thinking of many stereotypes about Austria, and as for "silly stereotypes" ..... I went and googled (both google.co.uk and google.de) in both English and German to try and find some interesting stuff.
Not much really. Plenty of interesting information, but nothing much stereotypical.
Music (Mozart, Strauss waltzes, Tyrolean folk music, even the von Trapp family singers if you insist) and mountains (and skiing of course).
I arrived in Salzburg in 1973 and made the mistake of staying in a youth hostel (they locked the doors at nine o'clock at night, so no venturing out to enjoy the city). The following day though provided me more information on Mozart than you can find in the Encyclopedia Britannica, and his face seemed to be on everything from tour brochures to chocolate to biscuit tins to coffee mugs ..... It is a beautiful city though, plenty of history worth wandering through, they have the annual festival there in July and August (check out Salzburg Festival on google for what is lined up for whichever year you are travelling - and booking in advance is recommended, as also applies to accommodation), and if you like scenery, there is plenty to be enjoyed.
Personally I am not a winter person, so skiing events in the mountains I have never experienced. All I know about Kitzbühel and Innsbruck usw is what I have seen on television. Which makes me all the happier to have visited Salzburg and have taken the train across the country on both my visits (1973 and 1996), otherwise my sole experience of Austria would have been Vienna.
Nowt wrong with Vienna (Wien if you want the German name, and do not forget that the Germans pronounce the "W" like a "v", so for English speakers its sounds like "Veen"). But as my one-time colleague at IBM Nederland once reminded me, Amsterdam is not the Netherlands, and on the same principle Paris is not France and London thankfully is not England or the UK (if tha' believes that, tha' knaws nowt, sithee!).
So Vienna is not Austria. Only its hub, its centre, its capital city. When the late ultraconservative politician Jörg Haider spoke about Vienna, he always seemed to have a sceptical tone in his voice - which as his power base was in Kärtnen (Carinthia) in the South of the country, may not be surprising.
Vienna though is a "must see" on any European trip. The days of the Hapsburgs may well be in the past, but the effects of the living museum are all around you. The coffee houses are a wonderful tradition (come armed though with a wallet or purse well packed with Euro - the coffee is excellent and has a price to match).
Expensive was the problem when I was there as a poor student in 1973, and I recall getting through the last day on four pieces of fruit and an ice cream - excellent ice cream parlours to be found back then, I imagine that it still applies.
Do not imagine that the Viennese always eat Wiener Schnitzel, or are always eating sausages (Wieners!) though - that is a stereotype! And there are other Strudels available apart from Apfelstrudel for dessert as well. Being at the crossroads of Central Europe, there are all sorts of interesting international restaurants. The smaller offbeat places that reflect their Eastern European origins for example.
And there is plenty of excellent beer to be drunk - Austria may have missed out on its place in the united Germany in the 1870s, but some Germanic traditions live on!
From my experience in 1996 (which is already 17 years ago - this could have changed), I remember it being almost like Berlin at night - a place that stays awake late. Yes there are some sleazy areas as well (check the prices on the door if you do not want to be ripped off, surprises inside should be a rare event though). The ladies of the night are working there legally (another Germanic custom), but it is easy enough (and advisable) to say "no".
Finding a "normal" bar with great friendly people though until 3 o'clock in the morning was certainly possible in 1996, and from what I can gather from the Internet it is still the case.
This is an affluent country, and the most successful in Europe from many economic points of view. And, I will repeat, it can be expensive. But I have still some wonderful memories from my last visit (when I almost fell in love, that was five years before I met my wife, so I don't have to duck the rolling-pin when making that remark!), and if you are a winter person, please tell me about your time in Kitzbühel - I would love to know what it's like!
Postscript - apologies to the people who have already read this. I forgot to mention the Prater Park in Vienna. A magnificent large fairground with all sorts of great rides, and the best-known big wheel (ferris wheel - US English) in Europe. If you ever saw the excellent old Carol Reed / Graham Greene movie "The Third Man" with Orson Welles as Harry Lime, Joseph Cotten and the wonderful Italian actress, Valli - that wheel! Still there, still going strong after all these years!
Back in 1973 they also had the largest pinball parlour anywhere in Europe, but sadly pinball as an art form is dead in the water.
Open March till October, take the U-Bahn line U1 to Praterstern. Personally recommended and check out "Prater" on YouTube if you want some ideas!
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