A walk around Vienna makes another business trip tolerable

Wednesday, 10:30 pm, Heathrow's unspeakably dreary Terminal 2. I was standing in the pouring rain, waiting at the appointed spot for my taxi driver who'd been "5 minutes away" at 10:05. The plane had left Vienna half an hour late; a half hour, because of Vienna Airport's irritating security-at-the-gate policy, endured without drinking water because there's no chance to buy more once they take it off you. Upon arrival in London, another 20 minutes lost waiting on the plane because the jetway was broken. This, I thought drearily, was the reality of business travel.

But, now home, dry and with a lovely Thanksgiving behind me (blog entry to come), I can admit that there are almost always upsides to business travel, and this was no exception.

I was in Vienna to present on "third party partnerships and content as a brand building strategy" at a telecommunications branding conference. Though the conference itself was disappointingly small, the attendees were from an excellent variety of companies and the presentations were, for the most part, both interesting and useful. My presentation was well received and generated a lot of further discussion at the break. I was asked to serve as conference chair for the second day, which was also good fun. (Although presented quite a challenge at one point when the conference's persistent bad boy was having a conversation throughout one guy's presentation. I was contemplating stopping proceedings and asking the rude bastard to step outside, but the presenter at the time was so good, and was carrying on with such force, I figured I'd let him power on and just ignore the distraction.)

The highlight of the trip, however, was the unexpected joy of ending business about two hours earlier than expected on Tuesday, meaning that my colleague Sarah and I were in casual clothes, wrapped against the cold and wandering around central Vienna while some dim light still hung in the air.

I hadn't been to Vienna since the summer after University. I liked Vienna then, but I hadn't traveled enough at that point to appreciate just how elegant and sophisticated it is in comparison to the rest of Europe. Viennese must feel like they're entering the third world when they come to London, with its rubbish-dotted streets, graffiti-covered trains, slow and expensive public transport and sizable percentage of badly dressed, badly behaved people. At least that's how London appeared, in reflection, as I strode down Vienna's wide, pedestrianised shopping street.

Elegant 19th century buildings rose on either side in pleasing harmony and generally unmarred by modern signage. Plenty of modern brands, they've just proved here that it is possible to promote your store without wrecking the architecture. Almost laughably ornate baroque monuments dot the place. Pavements, buildings ... everything, really ... is spotlessly clean. (I became obsessed with looking for rubbish. There must be some. In six hours I managed to see one discarded coffee cup lid.) The Christmas lights were up, but not jet lit. No tacky, advertising-subsidized stuff here. Festoons of lights criss-crossing from rooftops with giant chandeliers hanging at the intersections.

We walked the standard tourist route, starting at St. Stephen's cathedral. I'd forgotten how Catholic Austria remained in contrast to its German neighbours; the cathedral leaves you in no doubt, from its massive holy water fonts to its towering, reformation-fighting baroque monuments. The building itself is high Gothic and quite dark, probably not best seen at dusk on a winter day. Though it did add drama to have the main monuments looming out of the gloom under the drama of the occasional spotlight.

We stopped for the obligatory coffee in an elegant coffee house ... the historic Demel just behind the palace. Fortified by the hot drink and the generous glug of alcohol spiking it, we continued through the palace and strolled the ring road, taking in the gloriously over-the-top architecture of the National Library, the main museums, the Parliament building and the town hall.

It was at the last that we found one of the famous Christmas Markets open despite the early date. The scene lived up to expectations. The wonderfully ornate, neo-Gothic Rathaus loomed like a dramatic stage set over the scene, dramatically lit and with a line of high windows draped, numbered and ready to serve as a giant civic advent calendar. The venerable old trees in the foreground park had been hung with big lights ... basketball sized or above ... in the shape of different Christmas ornaments. The wooden huts sell piles of colourful glass ornaments, wooden nutcrackers and toys, chocolates, baked goods and many vats of mulled wine.

Reinthaler's Beisl was a welcome find amongst a dearth of traditional restaurants in the historic centre

After a thorough exploration, we started to hunt for a restaurant. Which turned out to be surprisingly challenging, as the central district seems not to have many. Plenty of coffee houses, a few sparse, modern, trendy places and a curious abundance of Italian food. But it was hard work to find what we really wanted: a cozy, old fashioned, local place with traditional cuisine.

Luckily another colleague had passed a guidebook on to me, which led us to Reinthaler's Beisl. This was just what the doctor ordered, and just in time to keep my ears from heading towards frostbite. Wood paneled, packed with locals, a warren of little connected rooms with a handful of waiters running the place with firm efficiency. They bundled us onto the end of a table already half-occupied; we exchanged smiles but no conversation with our neighbours as they, like everyone else in the place, were speaking German. I suspect that had either Sarah or I spoken the language we would have discovered a treasure trove of local delicacies on the hand-written menu. Limited to English, however, we had to go for the few recognisable dishes. Since we were after tradition, this wasn't really a problem. I went for the weiner schnitzel, Sarah the bratwurst with saurkraut. Mine was the best example of the dish I've had. Crisp and light coating, cooked just enough to get the meat piping hot but not overcooked, with that classic pairing of vinegared potato salad and other pickled salads. I had a bite of Sarah's dish, equally a top example of the form. Best of all, two mains and drinks cost us just 25 euros all in. Great traditional food and a bargain; you gotta love it.

I'm back in Vienna on business in 10 days. I found myself regretting not extending the trip. I've spent so much time away from home, I just wanted to get back after the meeting ended on Friday afternoon. Now I'm envisioning all I would have done had I stayed on through the weekend. But, like all business travel, I'll take the good with the bad and rejoice in the fact that I'll get another crack, however short, at this lovely city.