With the New Year just around the corner, walking on the streets of Vienna, at the end of December, I simply remembered the concept of topophilia, meaning love of a place, as Arthur C. Brooks wrote in his “How to Build a Life” column for The Atlantic.

Having said that, I love many aspects of Vienna, from the elegant art museums, coffee culture to the beautiful architecture of this city of music and everything in between.

Wiener Winterträume / Winter wonderland

The plan before the year ends – Silvestermarkt / New Year market at Maria-Theresien-Platz, kleiner brauner as coffee of the day, one Sachertorte, a concert in the city of music, and from a waltz to a museum. My choice this year was Sisi Museum – Hofburg Vienna, with Johann Strauss Blue Danube Delta waltz playing in my head while wandering on the Viennese streets. If my life would have a movie soundtrack and set, I hope this would be it.

Walking from Josefstadt through the beautiful Museum Quarter to Ringstraße, and later through the streets of the old town of Vienna, past Albertina Museum, Staatsoper and Hotel Sacher, is a truly memorable experience. In the evening winter lights with Christmas decorations, especially when reaching the imperial Hofburg complex, it felt also as traveling in time.

Sisi Museum. Imperial Vienna

Moreover, I wanted to visit from a long time the inside of the Hofburg complex, the residence of the Habsburg dynasty for centuries. The restored rooms of the Sisi Museum show a glimpse of the Imperial apartments/ die Kaiserinappartments, of their portraits and lifestyles from those times, but also Emperor Franz Joseph study and their reception rooms.

Read also – Wiener Melange & Klimt

What is so remarkable about the Sisi Museum in Imperial Hofburg is the story of Elisabeth. The empress was a woman ahead of her time, who wrote poetry, practiced sports and travelled extensively, rebellious against a formal court and protocols. I am glad I also had the audio guide to better understand the museum details and displays. It also helped that I previously watched Die Kaiserin serie on Netflix.

Finally, in these couple of days we walked past long lines at Vienna’s famous and elegant historic coffee houses, which fortunately I already almost all visited on other occasions, since this is my 5th story on the website about Vienna. Café Central almost 10 years ago, Café Mozart, Café Demel, Café Sacher, Café Sperl or Café Schwarzenberg, one of the oldest, just to name a few.

Now I left Vienna sadly, but I am on the train that takes me to Innsbruck, to start exploring that part of Austria. The mountain views in Tyrol are so far spectacular. Ich bin mit weiteren Geschichten zurück // I’ll be back with more stories. Tschüss for now.

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