Entries tagged with “Unesco”.


The next day my friend Silvana and I took a train from Munich’s Hauptbahnhof to Vienna, capital of Austria and UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001. Founded around 500BC, Vienna was once the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that ended after the first World War in 1918. The city though, seems to have been preserved in its grandiosity.

Culture life in Vienna is at all times sizzling. Home to a number of opera houses, theaters, museums, churches and famous for its architecture and design, Vienna is a true metropolis with a medium town feeling. With an abundance of outdoor spaces, it seems like the Viennese really know how to enjoy life. Everywhere you look there’s a Kaffeehaus, a Biergarten or a Gästehaus, where one can enjoy an Apfelstrudel, a glass of Grüner, a Schnitzel or simply stare in wonder.

We were in Vienna for only 5 days, which is enough time to get to know the city, visit most prominent sites and- if you are lucky- even catch an opera for $6 Euros a pop. However, if you fall in love with Vienna, like I did, then you probably will never get enough of it. I cannot wait to go back, but in the meantime I rejoice in local alternatives as close as a block away from home.

A little sheltered by the Rheingau and the Mosel, the Mittelrhein is just as beautiful. After all it is a Unesco world heritage site and vineyards cover only 500 hectares (1235 acres) of the area so production is tiny.

The best vineyards sites are Bacharach, Engeholl, Oberwesel and Steeg.
We stayed in Oberwesel, up in the mountains, in a hotel called Weingut Stahl. Weingut means wine estate. They also have a farm where they plant everything served in their tavern-like restaurant.

The Stahls are super friendly and accommodating, leaving their cellar open to their guests! How cool is that? I had read raving reviews about their breakfast, some went as far as saying it was the best in the world. Guess what? It was! So off we go, happy as a daisy, driving down the hills with the Rhine river and the vineyards in constant sigh to our next destination.