Vienna, Austria

Vienna is considered as one of the world's best cities when it comes to the quality of life. I didn't know this when I was traveling to Vienna in the September of 2010. I took a flight from Mumbai to Zurich and then changed flight on Zurich airport. I was warned by my friends to not stop by any shop to explore anything, because the time available for transit is very limited. I realized it when I continued walking for about 45 minutes to get to another terminal. 

Vienna airport is a small airport. However, I couldn't find one of the baggage on the conveyor. After talking to the concerned man, I found that my luggage had been put on some other flight and they will return in on the mentioned address by tomorrow. The road to city was very beautiful and it took almost an hour to reach to the city. The city was beautiful, I think mainly because of its architecture and a river running though the center of the city. 

Road to Bulgarian Embassy in Vienna (L), Donna Centrum (R) Not sure abt the right one (Photography by Gaurav Shrishrimal)

We had rented a studio apartment at Karmeliter Gasse. The street, though narrow, looked very posh and beautiful. There were cigarette buds everywhere on the street, but still the roads looked better than Indian roads. 

I freshened up and went to office along with one colleague who was already staying at the guest house. We took the train this time. People seemed to be very courteous and organized. It was a pleasant experience traveling in those trains. 

The office was located at the center of the city, most importantly, opp. to International Atomic Energy Agency. I never thought that I will get an opportunity to be there, but my friend arranged for the visit and we went inside IAEA and had meetings with few people.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

PMD office

The office was small but was good enough for 4 people. The office building was called TechGate Vienna. There were few nice restaurant bakeries around the place. We did go to most of them during my stay. One thing that I always wondered was, why they never heat sandwiches or burgers or anything. They use to take it out from the freeze and serve as it is.

In the evening, we went to the market. There were people in different costumes, singing, dancing, showing magic tricks. Street was crowded with people, restaurants were full. It seemed people were really enjoying their life. 

No one worked late in the evenings, even grocery stores would close by 6:00 PM.

The best part of the Vienna visit was Prater. There were some amazing rides at Prater which took my breath away. And I would have definitely missed one of the best rides if I wouldn't have dared to get on this one at Prater, Vienna.