Monthly Archives: July 2015
Vienna
The Iconic Ferris Wheel, which features in The Third Man, at Prater Park
The Scientific Tourist very much enjoyed his brief visit to Vienna. The city is everything a European capital should be; elegant, clean, safe, and devoted to knowledge and culture. Grand but graceful buildings are set along wide, tree-lined boulevards, and even on the side streets the apartment blocks are coordinated and consistent. The city has a planned feel, which is of course the truth.
Vienna’s cultural credentials are second to none. It has great museums and an illustrious history of achievement in science. A list of famous Viennese reads like an inventory of outstanding 19th and 20th century scientists; Boltzmann, Mach, Schrödinger, Pauli, Meitner and Lorenz, to name just a few. The place is just packed with the history of science. And of course Vienna is justly famous for its musical history, being home to so many great composers, whose music is performed and appreciated daily. I can’t help pondering on the frequently noted association between a love of science and maths, and appreciation of music (and coffee?) Art galleries match the architecture for visual delight.
Site of Old University – Where Leibniz First Proposed an Academy of Science
The people are polite and friendly, if a little formal. The public transport system is a joy to use; fast, frequent, clean, cheap, comfortable and uncrowded. You can zip across the city in minutes using the subway or Schnellbahn, or take a more visually interesting ride on a tram or bus that run every few minutes and connect with the rail network. The food, beer and wine are first rate, and reasonably priced. And the coffee, which I suspect has driven some of the greatest minds in history, is among the best in the world.
Melange and Buchteln Cake. Central Cafe – One of Vienna’s Famous Coffee Houses – Now, Almost Exclusively for Tourists, as no Viennese Would Queue For a Seat. Better to try the Avant-Garde Cafe Hawelka, Famous for its Melange and Buchteln Cake