On experiencing traditions as an outsider, and the universal smell of vanilla. It’s December 2014 and we’re making cookies. There’s a familiar smell of cinnamon and cloves but I am a long way from home. Our kitchen isn’t a kitchen but a classroom in a language school in Vienna. We’re…

They might just get eaten by goats — Nothing says Christmas in Vienna like watching the Viennese bring their trees home on public transport. Spotting the biggest Christbaum with the smallest Oma on the busiest train is practically an Advent sport. But, 3 weeks later, we strip off the decorations, grab the tree by the scruff of its…

Vienna’s uneasy relationship with its most prominent wartime relics The skyline of the centre of Vienna hasn’t changed much in 75 years. Stephansdom, the Rathaus, the Riesenrad, the green baroque dome of Karlskirche, the neo-gothic towers of the Votivkirche. …

On the value of salt, French royalty, and Austria’s most notorious art theft Salt made Austria rich. In a country without gold, silver, or even a port, salt deposits from the prehistoric sea under the alps was a precious resource for trade. People received their wages in salt. …

Why Vienna’s residents took a stubborn bird to heart There should be more statues of animals in the world. Edinburgh has Greyfriars Bobby, an unassuming statue of a Skye Terrier that guarded his master’s grave for 14 years. His nose is kept burnished by tourists who touch it for luck. …

Sorry, millennials. We’re not the first generation to go mad for indoor gardening. The Victorians made the world smaller. They industrialised. They streamlined the telegraph and the postal service. They invented the telephone. They went out into the world and explored for queen and country and they travelled for fun…

And the city’s most popular running spot has had a facelift. To a Scot like me, who would happily batter and deep fry any foodstuff that came her way and keeps fit by wrestling umbrellas in the wind, the Austrians are a nation of serious exercisers. They like to hike…

After 150 years of planning, the Austrian capital has exactly zero functioning cable cars, but they don’t let this hold them back. Year after year, Vienna is voted the most liveable city in the world. Of course, no one is quite sure what ‘liveability’ means. The surveys talk about controlled…

How Vienna turned a landfill with a dark history into one of its biggest public parks It’s 2019 and everybody loves plants. But before Instagram inspired a thousand apartment jungles, before we gave our snake plants the appreciation they deserve for oxygenating our bedrooms and promoting restful sleep, the city…