Schönbrunn Palace Gardens Gloriette Photo: WienTourismus / Peter Rigaud
Strolling in Old Town Vienna Photo: WienTourismus / Peter Rigaud
Perform your own turns, rolls, and whirls in a Viennese palace salon under the instruction of professionals at Private Dance Academy during one-hour daily classes or more intensive three-hour private sessions. By the end you’ ll be ready to play Cinderella in Vienna’ s most glamorous palaces throughout the winter ball season.
BUTTERFLY HOUSE IN BURGGARTEN PARK
Your heart will flutter along with the butterflies inside this graceful Art Nouveau greenhouse in the Burggarten Palace gardens. Erected in 1901 as a botanical retreat for the emperor, the“ Palm House” welcomes the public nowadays to a tropical landscape of trees, shrubs, flowers, and even a waterfall. But it’ s the bright blues, reds, oranges, greens, and yellows in the wings of more than 400 butterflies flown in from Costa Rica, Belize, Thailand and the Philippines that inspire the most cooing. The romance also in the air makes this a hotspot for weddings.
WINE AT ESTERHÁZYKELLER
The long barrel brick vaults in the bowels of Esterházy Palace is not only home to crisp, homegrown Riesling and Grüner Veltliner wines, but also some of the most intimate nooks in the city, particularly in the high-backed, curtained booths. Otherwise, slip into one of the long communal tables and raise a prost to your new best friends. The establishment is certainly well practiced at it, having dispensed its first vintages in 1683 to Austrian soldiers before they went into battle against the Ottoman legions outside the city gate. For composer Joseph Haydn— a regular customer— the inspiration was music to his ears.
OPERA AT THE STAATSOPER
Viennese pride is never on greater display than in the jewelry-box like state opera house, built in the 1860s. Even if you don’ t catch a performance, make a point of stepping inside the majestic entry foyer— one of the only parts to survive World War II intact— marvel at the glimmering floors while gazing at the grand marble staircase, 24k-gold gilding, reliefs, frescos, and musical statuary. To see more, sign up for any of the daily 40-minute tours that include the Emperor’ s Tea Salon, Marble Hall, Schwind Foyer, Gustav Mahler Hall, and more. To experience the full fairytale, however, reserve a box seat in horseshoe-shaped, red-and-gold auditorium for a performance of Verdi, Puccini, or Mozart.
CHOCOLATE SPA TREATMENT AT HOTEL SACHER
Admit it. In the throes of chocolate ecstasy, you’ ve imagined submerging your entire body into its decadent, milky creaminess and going for a swim. At Vienna’ s historic Hotel Sacher, opened in 1876, your dream can almost come true in the spa, with four chocolate-based treatments that cover, massage, and purify with cocoa butter and bean for 60 to 90 minutes. Best of all, it’ s completely free of calories. Add the exclamation point to the treatment with a Sacher torte in the hotel’ s red damask Rote Bar.
COFFEE AND CAKE AT CAFÉ CENTRAL
The only thing richer than the Viennese pastries— apple strudel, apricot dumplings, peanut caramel crème brûlée— behind the glass cases at this 19th-century café is the resume of the historical figures who’ ve eaten them. Among the tall marble columns, vaulted ceiling arches, crystal chandeliers, and plush red banquettes once philosophized Sigmund Freud, Leon Trotsky, Adolf Loos, Vladimir Lenin, and Peter Altenberg, among so many others. Should additional stimulation be required, look to the extensive coffee menu that gets playful with concoctions like double espresso with rum and whipped cream and hot chocolate with amaretto.
BALLET OF WHITE STALLIONS AT SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL
No horses combine power and grace more than the gray-white Lipizzaners, Europe’ s oldest cultural breed. Developed in the 16th century out of Arab stallions with Iberian mares by the Hapsburg royalty, who ruled Austria and Spain at the time, the horses were prized for their exceptional sturdiness, beauty, and intelligence. Witness all of these qualities in dressage performances at the Spanish
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