Thinking Allowed: Springtime in Vienna

We are spending the month of April in Vienna. Our arrival to the city was exhausting but glorious. I decided for a change to pre-organize a ride to our apartment to make for a smoother solo parent travel experience. We morosely watched traveler after traveler depart as we stood waiting and waiting as we waited for our unfashionable late driver. On the other hand to compensate for his very delayed arrival our driver took it upon himself to spend our hour commute regaling us with short stories of Vienna and its buildings. We learned about Lipizzaners saving US presidents from fire, the quantity of gold contained in facades, the process of the construction of the canals, and a lot about world politics from a very non fact based perspective. Intrigued by some of the things I learned in our taxi ride I did some research to find out more. Every single one of the stories was captivating but mostly embellished to the point of fiction. Vienna is a fascinating city, but, I quickly learned, it is also a city steeped in myth and intrigue. Sometimes to bring a place or topic to life I plan a lecture for the children. For Vienna I decided to teach them about the most important famous people that claimed Vienna as home. I had to split the lecture into two as the short list of famous Viennese was still at thirteen people: Mozart, Mahler, Hitler, Klimt, Freud, Wagner, Mendel and on and on....

History aside, Vienna is visually pleasing city. Its buildings are all stately and its bouldevards wide and lively. Vienna is a city full of parks and palaces all of which are more beautiful when full of tulips and flowering trees. Walking through Vienna is a pleasure. We have been walking hours each day and the children all agree that the walking is so enjoyable - while our feet move in repetitions our eyes and minds and stomachs are kept busy by the architecture, quirky shops, and numerous bakeries. Vienna feels a little bit like Montreal in liveliness - the city (especially out neighbourhood) has a very hip happening vibe. There are cafes with terraces on every corner and ice cream parlours aplenty. The playgrounds are full of families whiling away evenings with their children. Our local park appeals to all ages with its climbing area, soccer and basketball areas, volleyball court, workout area, picnic benches, in addition to childrens play areas - so the entire community is out enjoying the spring warmth together. Vienna is the kind of place that will hire an artist to make the local trash incinerator 'friendly.' Vienna is the kind of place that has more museums than weeks in a year. Vienna is the kind of place where you can order a bowl full of whipped cream. Vienna is the kind of place where there are multiple operas performed every night. The bouldering gyms here are huge and numerous and between trips to museums and parks the girls and I have been scaling walls. Vienna in the springtime is a really nice place to be.