Walk With Me: Café Central to Café de l'Europe

2.34 pm
Café Central
Fin de Siècle Melange
Palais Ferstel
Herrengasse 14

3.48 pm
Xocolat
Palais Ferstel Passageway
Herrengasse to Freyung

4.39 pm
Victoria Textile Design
Berggasse 21/Porzellangasse
9th District

4.42 pm
Das Rebhuhn
Berggasse 24
9th District

5.00 pm
Porzellangase/Servitengasse

4.49 pm
Parting for the weekend
Servitengasse
9th District

4.55 pm
Chair
Servitengasse
9th District

5.17 pm
Bike at Strudlhof Steps
9th District

5.38 pm
Café Roth
Währinger Strasse 1
Rooseveltplatz
9th District

5.42 pm
Schottenring
9th District

5.56 pm
Organic Farmers' Market
Freyung

6.09pm
Fiaker
Graben

6.13 pm
Demel's Pâtisserie
One last sweet morsel
Kohlmarkt

6.42 pm
Café de l'Europe
Happy Hour
Graben 31

Café Central to Café de l'Europe
Café Central and de l'Europe
are only a five minutes' walk from each other.
That's too close,
isn't it?
So you decide to walk a loop,
turning in the "wrong" direction,
strolling toward the Ninth District,
along Teinfaltgasse,
climbing the heights of the Mölker Steig
(waving to Beethoven on your way),
crossing Schottenring,
following Währinger Strasse,
turning right on Hörlgasse,
right again on Berggasse
(looking up to Dr. Freud's apartment
as you you pass Berggasse ),
dive into Victoria Textile Design's
fill your head with fabric dreams,
look up at the beautiful buildings
on Porzellangasse,
browse in the little shops at Servitengasse,
feast your eyes on their eclectic wares,
and your other senses on the heavenly
fragrances wafting out from
the restaurants there.
Act surprised, when the Liechtenstein Palais's
gates are already closed for the day,
but march on along Fürstengasse to finally
reach the bottom of the Strudlhof Steps.
You pause a moment,
you have to,
to smell the leaves lying on the stone stairs,
and then
read the poem on the stone plaque:

When the leaves upon the steps are lying
from the old stairs is heard an autumn sighing
of all that's gone across them in the past ... *)

You take the first step,
hesitate,
look back at the
Liechtenstein Palace,
then conquer step by beautiful step
the hill that brings you
up to Strudlhofgasse,
turn left into Währingsstrasse,
march all the way back to Schottenring,
past the Votivkirche,
leaving Mölker Steig to your left,
reaching Schottenstift,
the Freyung,
merryment still goíng on there
(the Farmers' Market also includes
the vintners and their wine!),
you enter Naglergasse to your right,
glance at the Biedermeier houses,
exit at Graben,
pass the palm trees
and there, right in front of you,
to your left,
Café de l'Europe.

*)"On the Strudlhof Steps of Vienna"
By Heimito von Doderer,
poem from his novel "Strudlhofstiege",
translated by Vincent Kling
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to read more.