Even though capital Vienna is the most populated city of Austria, it is by far the smallest city for its surface area. In this issue, we invite you to experience what this small city offers to its visitors with a groundbreaking architecture, history and a lively literature and music scene. We go out to explore the city of Vienna which is considered as the gate to Western Europe, for its location right along the Danube River. As you might remember from the history lessons in high school, the city was besieged by the Ottoman Empire two times throughout its history. Though the Ottomans didn’t succeed in any of the attempts, they still managed to touch the heart of the city’s culture by leaving their sacks of coffee behind when they left for home. Today when you walk through the streets of this attraction center surrounded by coffee scent, you get amazed by its unique architecture, flamboyant palaces, enormous church bell made from melted Ottoman armors, world-famous wiener schnitzels and legendary desserts and finally, its contribution to the classical western music. Weeks won’t be enough to fully observe what this city has to offer however with this article, we suggest you a twoday schedule to get the best out of it in a short trip. When you leave your hotel room in Vienna and you start wandering around the streets of untouched architecture, we suggest you to use public transportation so as to feel a part of the city. You can easily find your destination by using tram, metro or bus lines. There are three important palaces in the city that you should definitely visit. So let’s start our Vienna tour from the Hofburg Palace, which was inherited by the House of Habsburg, the royal family who changed the city’s history. Located in the middle of the city, this palace belonged to King Franz Joseph and his wife aka Sisi. Sisi was a queen that marked the history of Vienna. Even today while walking on the streets of Vienna, you can hear someone talking about her anytime. Having close relations with European royal families, Sisi was known for her king husband’s never ending love for her, her melancholic spirit and her eating disorder of anorexia. Her epic life story ended with her being assassinated by an anarchist during a visit to Genoa. So in your trip to Vienna, you should not miss the chance to see personal belongings of “the queen with a dramatic ending”, which are displayed in the exhibit area of the palace. Let’s continue our route with the Belvedere Palace, the construction permit of which was given to Prince Eugen during the Ottoman siege era. You can visit the permanent exhibitions in the palace that contains the works of worldwide famous painters. You especially should see the paintings of famous symbolist painter Gustav Klimt there, the souvenirs of whom you can find anywhere around the city. The Albertina Museum might be another good option to see the paintings of world-wide famous painters such as Picasso and Monet. When you need to have a dinner break after your city tour, do not worry about where to eat because you are in the heaven of wiener schnitzels. Fulfill your touristic duties by eating schnitzel in Figlmüller, one of the most popular schnitzel restaurants in the city. Don’t forget to leave room in your stomach for the dessert. After dinner, pay a visit to Demel Confectionary and spoil yourself in this pastry shop which is royally certified to make all the desserts to be served in the palace. With the morning energy of the second day, we are now starting the day with a tour in Schönbrunn Palace, the third and last palace in our city tour that ranks in the World Cultural Heritage list. Though it is a little far away from the city center, transportation to the palace is quite easy. This palace with more than one thousand rooms was constructed with an inspiration from the Versailles Palace in France. It was used as a summer house by the House of Habsburgh. Many important people in the history of Austria had rooms in this “pearl of Vienna” palace, including one of the country’s most powerful women, Maria Theresia. Having 16 children, Theresia was known for her matchmaking skills when it comes to marrying her daughters to the noble families of Europe. One of those daughters was Marie Antoinette, who is still quoted today for her saying “Let them eat cake” during the French Revolution. The interior design of the palace is as much magnificent as its outside. Following the palace tour, we are now heading back to city center to visit the gothic-style St. Stephans Cathedral in Heldenplatz Square, which is one of the main symbols of Vienna. The Cathedral was constructed for three times until it took its final shape of today. It is used as the main church of Vienna Archiepiscopate and its bell, weighing 20 tons, was made by melting the gun-type weapons Ottoman Army left behind. You have to climb up more than 300 stairs in order to reach the top of its steeple. The landscape over there is worth all the pain you have had in the stairs. After the tiresome stairs of the cathedral, now it’s time for a coffee break! You can have a rest drinking coffee in Cafe Central, one of the oldest cafes in the city which was opened in 1876. History books say that the residents of Vienna met with coffee after the Ottomans. Some say that Ottoman army forgot their sacks of coffee in the city while retreating from the Vienna Siege. And when Viennese people found those sacks, a brand new Vienna culture was born. The smell of coffee coming from those times still prompts the streets of Vienna. Now that we’ve had our delicious coffee break, let’s hang around the center and pay a visit to the colorful houses designed in an avant-garde fashion by world-famous Austrian painter Hundertwasser. Named after its designer, the building is a live museum with real residents. There is even a garden in its terrace as green as grass. You can go inside the ground floor to see the sinks and floors, they are not designed flat as they look from the outside. One of the best activities to do in Vienna is to go to the opera. It wouldn’t be a real Vienna trip after all if you don’t listen to live opera music in the hometown of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the most important figures of opera music. Staatsoper Opera Building offers a visual feast for the sightseers with its spectacular architecture, while in the inside, opera and classical music tunes touch your heart from the bottom. There are concert organizations in the building almost every night. It is important to buy tickets beforehand so as to not live any trouble finding a seat. However even if you didn’t buy any tickets and you make a spontaneous decision to go to a concert, you can buy one of the cheap tickets reserved for standing audience a few hours before the show. There are also backstage tours organized for those who missed the concert but still want to understand the spirit in the back of the stage. Those backstage tours are a perfect chance to discover the great interior design of the building as well. Our suggested location for the ones who want to eat schnitzel after the concert is Schintzelwirt, a restaurant not as famous but as delicious as Figlmüller. In order to end our last day in Vienna happy, let’s go to Cafe Sacher, the inventor of famous Sacher Torte dessert. The Sacher Torte is made by pouring a layer of apricot marmalade on top of a cake, and then covering it all with thick chocolate. As this pastry shop is the most prominent competitor of Demel Confectionary, you can make your decision about which one is better after you have your cake in here too. Vienna is a city that appeals to all of your sense with its music, food, art pieces and architecture. You should definitely visit Vienna so as to understand the correlation between a city and happiness.