Over a few beers in July, a friend suggested I should visit Vienna for a couple of weeks during late summer. I hadn’t ever considered Vienna to be a summer destination, and I also hadn’t contemplated visiting for anything longer than a couple of days. But he was really selling it to me. Relatively cheap accommodation for a European city in August. Plenty of swim spots to escape the heat. The vineyard hike accessible with public transport… I am fortunate enough to have a job that allows me to work where I choose, so a ten-day trip to Austria felt like long enough to settle into a work rhythm, but still have plenty of time to enjoy myself at the weekends.

A good plan, but it would go sideways.

I landed late on a Thursday evening, in the rain. Heading through passport control, a man struck up a conversation with me and revealed himself to be the drummer in a relatively under-the-radar indie rock band. I was extended an invite to the festival they were playing at the next day. We exchanged numbers, then parting remarks, and I found my way to the Uber pickup area. My Airbnb was situated in the trendy neighbourhood of Josefstadt, and through the car window I felt like I was watching vignettes from a movie. Little hole-in-the-wall wine bars with box-crate seating had a young, sexy crowd that tumbled out onto the edges of the street. Lights flickered inside and cigarette smoke mingled with the rain. A fleeting image that evaded me for the rest of my trip. 

A Viennese Wurstel stand

Back to reality. Friday was consumed by work, and dampened by the weather. Going for a solo dinner locally suddenly felt much more appealing than going to a festival an hour away to see someone I barely knew. A few tapas plates and a couple of glasses of wine at Toma Tu Tiempo hit the spot – not award-winning gastronomy, but a comforting end to a rainy day and a great place to eavesdrop on neighbouring tables.

Ready to make the most of my first Saturday in Vienna, I walked to my local coffee shop, Ototo, for a flat white and a slice of apple-berry-crumble. Racks of design-led magazines line the walls with long, communal benches below for customers to enjoy their coffee. The café also doubles up as a shop, and I started to regret not bringing bigger, checked baggage. They sell a range of food products – think fancy tins of fish, olive oil, boujie pasta sauce, niche granolas, natural soaps, and much more. Vienna is the perfect city to explore on foot, so I finished my coffee and walked into the centre. Saturday morning’s itinerary took me on a walk around the sites that you imagine when you think of Vienna, the Natural History Museum, Burggarten, Heldenplatz and Volksgarten. I visited the main Albertina museum; their permanent collection houses works by Matisse, Kandinsky, Picasso, and Miro. In the summer, they host live DJ evenings every Wednesday on their terrace, something I sadly ran out of time to do on my trip. My last stop on my cultural city walk was Votivkirche - a stunning Gothic cathedral.

Evading temptation at Ototo

Seeing the sights of Vienna

Taking a break from the heat inside Albertina

Saturday afternoon I wandered slowly back through Spittelberg, dipping in and out of vintage stores, and stopping for a matcha affogato at The New Green, a trendy café selling various matcha drinks. Early evening I dropped by Freedom Skateshop for their re-opening street party before heading over to Atlas Bar to sip orange wine and people watch. The watermelon, radish and tomato salad I had grazed on was delicious, but I was feeling unsatiated. My final stop of the evening was La Pausa for pizza by the slice.

Freedom skate shop and a salad at Atlas Bar

So far so good. Now the sideways part.
Everything is shut on a Sunday, and I don’t mean late opening hours, or a few shops closed here and there – it felt like everything was closed, even many cafes. I hadn’t really anticipated this, so post-gym, I had to shuffle my itinerary. Taking Tram D to the end of the line, gets you to the edge of the vineyards in Nussdorf. There is then a short walk – anything from 25 minutes to 40 minutes, depending on route and how frequently you stop to snack on grapes along the way – to the wineries at the top. The route I took was very direct… Citymapper sent me through the middle of a hedge, but once I had picked branches out of my hair it was lovely to meander through wineries, stopping at little wooden huts for wine, cheese and more. Some wineries have deck-chairs set out for visitors to enjoy the summer sun, others like Wieninger am Nussberg have rows of tables and benches. I love my own company, but this definitely would have been much more fun with a group of friends.

Golden hour in the vineyards

Golden hour was settling in, and it threw a beautiful hazy glow over the vineyards as I walked back towards the city below in my semi-inebriated state. My friend had recommended Amerlingbeisl, a traditional Viennese place, for dinner. Grape vines and the occasional lamp hang overhead in the restaurant’s courtyard; the place starts to feel buzzy around 8 or 9pm as candles get lit and diners get louder. Order the Weiner schnitzel and get there early enough for the specials – I missed the apricot tart with lemon curd, much to my dismay.

The rest of the week went even more sideways; work consumed me, and I barely left my Airbnb. I ate out twice. Monday evening, I went to Gasthaus Grünauer, another traditional Viennese restaurant that I had stumbled across a few days before. Despite the number of accolades plastered across the door, the restaurant was low-key. The menu was handwritten with no English, but thanks to a dodgy internet connection and Claude, I ordered a beef broth with sliced pancakes, and reindeer with polenta for my main. I dined with another solo traveller and we stayed late sharing stories of our respective trips. The second meal out was on Wednesday evening at Neue Hoheit, the restaurant at the top of the Rosewood Hotel. It is consistently rated highly, and I had heard many good things, but in my opinion, it is overrated. I have had much better meals elsewhere. The atmosphere and décor is sexy, yes – but the food is relatively uninventive, and the service is a little disjointed for the price you will pay.

On the topic of overrated, I booked a sun lounger at the Hoxton’s rooftop pool for a few hours on Thursday. I should have gone to Badeschiff or Krapfenwaldlbad instead. The pool is tiny, the service is unprofessional – chaotic, even – and no food, not even bar snacks, are served until 5pm. But I caught some sunshine and briefly escaped work, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time!

The view from the Hoxton’s rooftop pool was the only redeeming aspect of the experience

Friday morning’s walk took me on a tour of a few cafes; Jonas Reindl Coffee Roasters and Lightsout for coffee, Offerl for a pastry, and finally, newly-opened and much hyped Bistro Fantasy for brunch. I love an innovative menu, and the aubergine benedict was incredible. I would have eaten here again if I had the time, and I regret not going in the evening for drinks and dinner. Afternoon rolled around and I found myself in the city, dipping in and out of shops… or at least trying to. Everything shuts at 6, so after tiring out my legs, I turned up early for my reservation at Labstelle. The food, service and atmosphere were all of a high-standard, and I would happily come back.

Bistro Fantasy and the most incredible aubergine benedict

With my Saturday plans still in flux, I revisited Ototo for a matcha and then spent the rest of the morning shopping. Meshit is right next door to Ototo and I loved their unique curation of brands, so much so that I spent more money than I should have done. New drawing pads were purchased at Sous-Bois and a ceramic sculpture of a cigarette butt tempted me at Die Sellerie, though I couldn’t quite find a valid reason to purchase it. By early afternoon I had ended up at the Albertina Modern and would highly recommend a visit to the KAWS exhibit. The text I had been waiting for finally came through – ‘Naschmarkt at 16:30’. I spent 20 minutes weaving through market stalls before finding my friend and settling in for a couple of hours of white wine spritzers. One round of spritzers turned into four rounds as some of his other friends joined us. As the sun started its descent, we made our way to an old office building in the city, where the rooftop had been temporarily transformed into a club. A breathtaking pink and orange sunset rolled in as the DJ pumped out techno music. My trip ended in the best way possible, surrounded by new and old friends, dancing into the early hours of the morning.

Die Sellerie, KAWS exhibition, new Meshit shirt worn to Nashmarkt

 

Poetic stalls at Naschmarkt and a stunning sunset over Votivkirche to end my trip

Journal and photos by Emma Williams

Follow Emma Williams IG: @embemw