LIKE a good Vienna coffee, this city is a harmonious blend of new and old.
Trendy boutiques and luxury items entice shoppers at ground level but look up and you'll see a wealth of architectural history and statues from bygone eras by the score on rooftops.
You're just as likely to find buskers in the main mall on violin playing The Vienna Waltz by Strauss as an acoustic guitar hero singing top-40 hits.
Similarly, an aria will be blaring from a car stereo on one side of the road; classic Rolling Stones from another next to it.
People watching and drinking coffee or sipping a white wine while reading a classic novel, playing chess or simply chatting with friends is a national pastime (and traditionally, a glass of water always comes with your coffee and wine).
Austrians consider the coffeehouse (kaffeehaus) an extension of their living room and feel right at home there.
So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em - perhaps under the market umbrellas on a marvellous 38-degree autumn day with an original Sacher torte and espresso from Mozart Cafe in Hotel Sacher, where the first coffeehouse was opened in 1794.
The Sacher torte was first baked in Vienna by Austrian Franz Sacher in 1832 for Prince Wenzel von Metternich.
And with a dob of cream, the rich chocolate cake brushed with apricot jam and spread with chocolate icing still tastes as good after 180 years.
Lesson of the day: Beware men dressed like Mozart, complete with white ponytail wig. They will accost you to sign up for tickets to any one of several classical concerts or combination concert and ballet ... And of course, theirs is always the best one. 10/10 for persistence and annoyance.
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