The Austrian capital looks like a page out of some fairytale book

A couple of months ago, I visited Vienna, Austria, with my family. My knowledge of the city prior to this trip was limited. I only knew that Viennese coffee was good and that the city was the home of many famous musicians such as Mozart and Beethoven. But nothing could have prepared me for the sheer beauty of the city. Vienna is splendidly beautiful, almost as if it is a page from a fairytale book, full of royalty, imperial palaces and inspiration.

Vienna was the imperial seat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was the home of the Habsburgs, who ruled throughout Europe for many centuries. For this reason, there are many palaces, gardens, and cultural and political buildings scattered throughout the city. Vienna is full of scenic landmarks hailing from long ago.

The first major landmark we visited was the Schloss Schoenbrunn or the Schoenbrunn Palace. This magnificent palace was the summer residence of the Habsburgs. Schoenbrunn literally means ‘beautiful well’, and was so named when the emperor discovered a scenic well on the premises. The Habsburgs intended the palace to be in league with Versailles, but ran out of funds in the process of building. As a result, the smaller-than-intended palace only has approximately 1,440 rooms, and a two-square-kilometre garden and hunting ground. About 40 of these imperial apartments are open to the public.

A walk among the gardens led us to the Gloriette. The first view I had of this marvelous structure left me amazed. It is truly a breathtaking sight to behold from afar. The Gloriette is a building resembling a Greek temple, set upon a hill overlooking the palace grounds. It is the highest point on the premises, and offers magnificent views of the palace and the surrounding city. The particular day we visited it, the sky was a deep, stormy gray, and made a spectacular backdrop for the ivory-coloured temple and the surrounding greenery. Built to commemorate the soldiers who had fallen for the glory of the empire, the Gloriette served as the breakfast room for the empress herself, Maria-Therese.

The second palace we visited was the Belvedere. This particular palace actually comprises two magnificent baroque mansions, the Upper Belvedere and the Lower Belvedere. The two buildings are separated by a long sloping garden, with the Lower Belvedere actually resting lower than its counterpart. Prince Eugene of Savoy, a celebrated military commander for the Habsburgs, commissioned the construction of these mansions in the 1700s. The Upper Belvedere served as a conference hall and meeting place for the prince, while the Lower Belvedere was his residence.

The most famous of Maria-Therese’s 11 daughters had a ball held in her honour at the Belvedere before she went off to France to be wedded. The princess was none other than Marie-Antoinette. The former palace has now been converted into a museum, and is home to a number of famous art galleries.

Another great thing about Vienna is coffee and its numerous coffeehouses, over 200 to be exact. With the temperature hovering around the 20o C-mark, the weather was perfect for enjoying a steamy, delicious cup. Coffee is steeped into the culture of this city. It is tradition here to serve a glass of ice cold water with every cup, since coffee is so dehydrating.

Coffee goes best with dessert, and every dessert connoisseur visiting Vienna must try the original sacher-torte (pronounced saa-ker-tort). The secret recipe is known only to the chefs of the Hotel Sacher, located on Philharmoniker Strasse (strasse meaning street) across from the State Opera House. One cool evening, we walked to the Hotel Sacher to sample a piece of the sacher-torte and a cup of coffee. The torte was really delicious, consisting of a delicate apricot filling between two layers of moist chocolate cake and topped with a hard chocolate layer. The cake came complete with a chocolate seal on top to guarantee its authenticity.

After leaving the Hotel Sacher that night, we continued to stroll along the beautiful avenues. It was past 8 in the evening, but the sun was still out. In the summer, the sun sets after 9pm in Vienna. Every evening we knew what to expect, but we were still taken by surprise every night to discover lingering daylight at 9 at night.

We soon came upon a cobblestone boulevard reserved for pedestrians with a multitude of brightly lit and expensive storefronts, which continued for many blocks and had several side streets. This was Stephanplatz, or Stephan’s Square, so named because of the magnificent St. Stephan’s Cathedral here. The awe-inspiring gothic church is another major landmark, not to be missed. In the dwindling twilight, the 70-metre tall North Tower and the dark, gothic windows gave an eerie and formidable feeling, but still enjoyable none the less.

For dinner we stopped at a Turkish restaurant. There are a number of restaurants operated by Turkish Muslims offering Turkish cuisine. So, finding halal food here was not a problem. By now it was well past 11pm, and we headed back to the hotel.

Our hotel was conveniently located near a U6 station. Getting around Vienna is very easy thanks to its comprehensive underground railway system, or simply the ‘U’. Comprising of Lines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 (there is no Line 5 for some reason), the U is a quick and inexpensive way to travel. We bought a one-week pass which allowed us unlimited access to the U for that duration.

Both the U1 and the U6 connect the city from north to south. The Danube River is located in northeastern Vienna, and forms a sort of architectural divide. Most buildings south of the Danube are of period architecture, mostly baroque. But across the Danube, the city is full of modern architecture reflecting modern Vienna. The UN building and the Danube Tower are a case in point. Another such building is the Islamic Centre. Built in 1979 by Saudi King Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz, it is an inspirational building and a comforting sight to see. Eight Muslim nations pooled funds to purchase the parcel of land on which the masjid is built. Besides the Islamic Centre, we were pleasantly surprised to find many local masjids in the city as well. Spacious enough to accommodate 200 to 400 people at a time, there are many places for Muslims to congregate and pray. Most of these masjids prepare and sell halal food. It was fun to chat with other Muslims and learn where they were from. Seeing Islam in Vienna was uplifting and yet another reminder that, without a doubt, Islam is a universal way of life, and is represented in every corner of the earth.

With long days of sightseeing and having so much to explore, the days blurred together. And all of a sudden, the week was up. When it was time to leave, I didn’t want to say goodbye. But I knew it was inevitable. My consolation was that the places we saw, the experiences we had, the new sights we discovered will remind us of enchanting Vienna for many years to come.