Holidays in the Tyrolese mountains of Mieming in Austria are one of my earliest childhood travel memories, The roadtrip from Reichenberg, my Swabian home village, to the high plateau of Tyrol had just started 10 minutes ago when patience ran thin and my little sister was already asking about the arrival time: “Wann sind wir endlich da?” Since there were no IPads or Game Boys in the seventies my sister and me  had to keep ourselves busy on the 5-hour-or-so drive with haggling over the shared backseat space in my parents’ Audi 100. 

Many years later I went with my mother for her birthday gift trip to the Wachau, a lush hilly wine region (Grûner Veltriner) and great honest food (Marillenknödel) in the gardens of the so-called Heurigen. At Landhaus Bacher in the tiny town of Mautern we had arguably one of the most sophisticated lunches in my life (Ravioli vom Tafelspitz). 

From Wachau to Vienna it was just a short boat ride on the Danube to Vienna. On another of nany trips to Vienna I ate at Steiereck which serves maybe the best Schnitzel and Erdäpfelsalat I must have so far eaten (I am quite famous in my family for having eaten seven Schnitzels at one wedding party).

What makes a city livable and exciting? I do not have to mention great food as top priority butbmy my wishlist would ne anyhow demanding: The city of my dreams should offer great vistas, designated bike lanes along waterways, vernetzt public transport, parks offering cool urban furniture, ambulance cars which show up on time and save lives, grear bookshops, Spätis and According to Mercer, a global consultancy, Vienna ranks for the 9th time in a row as the world’s most liveable city. Thinking of other cities, preferably located on the word’s great oceans, I would dispute this. On any case – Vienna has in its Graben street the most beautiful public restroom –  designed fully in Art Nouveau.

Whether as our neighbours in Europe or somewhere around the world Austrians are a funny bunch of people. The Balkan always  beats a bit in their hearts – they live and know how to let live. I just think of my slightly crazy Australian friend and colleague Hannes who danced through Nairobi even in the darkest times of Covid like a Viennese juggler.

Austria with its great food, craggy mountains and warm alpine lakes could become once become our favorite destination to set up our final retirement home.

So what that the Austrians are always particularly happy when the Germans lose a football match.