KYQ4: Vienna

Upper Belvedere across the frozen pool

Karlskirche

Vienna has always been a place I have wanted to visit and why it has taken so long to get there is probably more a function of flight schedules than anything else. It involves a trip through Gatwick which must be one of the great travel deterrents of our time. A hundred years ago Vienna was the third-largest city and cultural capital of the world. The changes that have occurred since the start of the twentieth century and the subsequent collapse of the Austrian Hungarian empire have been immense. They are immaculately set out in Stefan Zweig's semi-autobiographical work which describes the changes he experienced in his life. It was written under the working title 'Three Lives' but published as the 'World of Yesterday' in 1942 after he committed suicide after becoming a refugee in London and then Brazil. This was my reading for the trip along with 'Waiting for Sunset', William Boyd's new novel set in Vienna in 1913.

Vienna still has a population of 2 million and a collection of museums that must be amongst the finest in the world. It has a superb transport system based on trams, a relatively new underground and a fast link to the clean and efficient airport. It all creates a relaxed pace of life that must make this city a dream place to live. We spent four days in fine winter weather and were mightily impressed by the high quality and design of the public realm, the clean and safe nature of the city and the outstanding range of places to go and things to enjoy.

This city certainly ranks amongst the best three I have ever visited. Pedestrians and cyclists, who have their own bike lanes, are given priority and trams trump private transport on the roads. They have got the hierarchy of transport right and there is little traffic in the inner ring, the city just works - if only UK cities could learn to do this. The beer is as good as you would expect and the wine a lot better, the food is limited in choice but the quality is excellent with halibut cheaper than the UK in a country that is landlocked but has excellent Scandinavian links.

Amongst the many highlights were the paintings with Egon Schiele's work on display at both the Belvedere and the quite outstanding Leopold Museum. Klimt was there in spades and many of the leading figures from the secessionist movement including the architect and designer Josef Hoffman, who was the inspiration for the equivalent of the Arts and Craft movement. The Austrian Bank was sponsoring an exhibition of Herbert Brandl at the Kunstforum. Brandl had recently started to paint mountains and his massive canvases created powerful images of abstract mountains.

And then there were the cafes, we visited several of the iconic nineteenth-century haunts of the Viennese enlightenment for coffee, cake and reflection time after a day racing around the city and its pleasures. We became regulars at the Central Cafe which must be one of the best places to while away the hours. Even on leaving Vienna the airport link was excellent taking only 16 minutes from the centre, running like an atomic clock and comparatively cheap. Vienna airport is modern and well organised in stark contrast to Gatwick on our return when it took well over an hour from landing to getting onto the train. Gatwick is a high-tech dysfunctional maze as well as an overpriced shopping mall. But this means nothing to me - Oh Vienna!