My first visit to Vienna has been far from conventional. Relatives and friends had kept telling me how beautiful the Austrian capital is, with its stately buildings, its powerful history, the palaces, museums, gardens, and that aristocratic air that envelops it all. And yes, I noticed all of that the moment I stepped off the underground and came up to surface level. What I did not expect was to encounter the fascinating bohemian face of this imperial city. I did not expect to fall into the nets woven by the streets of the 7th district.
I stayed in Vienna’s 7th district for three days and wandered its streets filled with small businesses with their own personality — yes, those that are disappearing from our cities, and from cities around the world — such as a café that is, in its own way, a vintage clothing shop, a small bakery where, they say, the best croissant in Vienna is made, or a bookstore where every few weeks they switch the type of books, dedicating themselves to different fields of knowledge and learning.
And then there are the people. With a carefree, liberated air, the outfits they wear are disruptive, carrying original garments — often colorful — that blend perfectly with the façades of buildings that have been used as canvases by local and European street artists.
The Neubau district — the real name of the 7th — is the bohemian heart of a multifaceted Vienna.
