Vienna, Austria: An (Historical) Overview (August 22, 2025)
Due to some thunderstorms and inclimate weather, my flight to Vienna was about an hour late from Croatia and I arrived at 11pm the night before. I was really fortunate to meet my host, Stefan Wurzer and his girlfriend, Jenni there despite the delay late evening arrival time. I was also deeply grateful for this:
Airport selfie sent via WhatsAppp to help me identify Stefan Wurzer
What’s the big deal you ask? While Stefan and I have been communicating via email and WhatsApp for months prior, I didn’t have a current picture to work from. When meeting someone at the airport you’ve never met in person, it’s SO helpful to know who, exactly, you’re looking to pick out of a crowd — especially late at night and after a long travel day.
Sharing this as a pro tip if you’re ever inside an airport picking up someone you haven’t seen for awhile. Yes, even when they “know you”, the visual learners like me enjoy all the bonus clues like what you’re wearing and even you’re background of where you were standing so I can zero in on where you are. It made it so easy to connect.
Quintessential Vienna — historical buildings anchoring you to this location
For my very first day in Vienna (not counting the 11pm entry time at the airport the night before), Stefan took me to have an authentic meal at an authentic restaurant to begin our day’s adventure.
We went through the Naschmarkt, which is a wonderful place to begin your exploration of Vienna as you walk through every possible kind of food you might want to consume along with coffee houses, cake shops, candy, nuts, groceries, organic farm-fresh vegetables, and any kind of souvenir you might desire. If you just spent the day here you’d have a good sample of so much of what Vienna has to offer those visiting from others places around the world.
I went right to the authentic Viennese portion of the menu and had chicken schnitzel with a potato-based brown gravy and salad which consisted of a tomato and cucumber (as an alternative to the french fry option). Stefan noticed that they hadn’t served a side of jelly so he made sure I got that for the full flavor experience as God — or at least the Chef’s of Vienna — intended. I also joined Stefan in a “lemon soda” which is essentially mineral water with a giant squeeze of lemon.
From lunch, Stefan and I visited the Vienna Museum and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the rich history of Vienna. I’m only sharing a few pictures, but the full museum is extremely well organized, interactive and fun. At every stage there are activities for children to do and I found many of them fascinating.
For example, “What do you do before you go to school?” seems like a fairly simple question until understand the full depth of the question. From getting out of bed until your first class, what is your morning routine. Don’t “write it out”, sketch it out using the stencils provided and the massive roll of butcher’s paper.
Or “In Vienna, we support the right to protest. What are you protesting?” Alongside are ready-made signs about everything from “Black Lives Matter” and “End Racism” to “We Support Gay Marriage” and “Right to Free Speech.” In all there were about 40 pre-made boards to choose from and a display with a bullhorn that would record your message for others to listen to through headphones. Overall, really enjoyable experience all around.
NOTE: Museums have come a long way since I was a kid. Growing up in California, we had the Exploratorium in San Francisco which was amazing to go to as a child as every exhibit was interactive and fun. Then everything else felt boring and stale by comparison. Art, statues and exhibits with text only descriptions just aren’t that engaging for kids (not now and not then). Today I see everything from QR codes to virtual reality to hands on variations. All amazing and so inviting to learn and grow. Thank you, museums! You heard us!
And lastly, the walk through the rest of downtown Vienna was great. I particularly enjoyed the creative walk signal (see last pictures). Why aren’t we doing this everywhere? I’ve seen the lights shaped as hearts in different parts of Scandinavia, Ampleman in Berlin, and now this cute picture here in Vienna. I love it. I hope this trend continues and makes it way to the United States. We could use some constant reminders to smile and love each other on a regular basis — even when just walking the street.
