Romantic getaway in Vienna

As a high school student, I attended lessons of classical singing and that was the hobby I really liked. Therefore, I didn’t mind waiting for it after the school. During warm days I loved to walk through the parks and locate hidden corners of the city. Yet, during the cold days, the situation changed. In that case, I usually went to the library and read various magazines. Here and there, I even found a book that fascinated me. Without a doubt, that was also time for socializing or cuddling with Ian. A gentleman as he still is, he used to accompany me, and in his company time flew by. I remember times when we were looking for hidden corners, where we could cozy up and have at least some intimacy. Perhaps, this is also one of the reasons why I’m still fond of libraries. In addition, there is a lot of wisdom stored in them.

national llibary

When we went to Vienna and walked among mighty buildings, I was quite impressed by the abundance of fine-looking and remarkably preserved buildings. Among them, I could easily picture panjandrums who once walked along the same path. I decided to prepare a date which would reflect the energy of this grand city – the Austrian National Library because I wanted to take Ian somewhere special. This library is amazingly beautiful and all the old books take you to another time. At that time, they didn’t have all the shortcuts available as we do today and only the real talents created works of art that have remained on the walls of the buildings until this day.

Vintage Globe

The idea of evoking our library days was adequate enough. Thus, he didn’t fight the idea. Until the last moment, I kept secret the fact that we’re going to see the most beautiful baroque library in the world, which is 650 years old. In a country that has such a rich history, it’s not surprising that the collection in this library has a priceless value, as it goes back to the 14^th century. It also represents a living bridge between the rich heritage and the future-oriented demands of a modern information society.

Cafe Central Vienna

Cafe Central cake

I couldn’t wait to see his face when we would enter the library. On the beautiful stairs that lead to the State Hall, he still wasn’t excited. However, when we entered the State Hall, it was clear that he didn’t expect anything like that. The tall wooden bookshelves filled with antique books are worth paying close attention. The stairs in front of them make it easy to picture how once that library functioned. And just like that, a link to the past is created. All over the place, there are frescoes, sculptures, and even two giant globes. One of them represents earth and the other represents the sky. I was lucky also with an ongoing exhibition, which was about the 300-years-old society of Freemasons. After a long time, we once again spent more time in the library than we initially intended, and the exhibition itself was the main topic for the next few hours. I reckon I did a good job! The only huge downside was mobile stairs for reaching books on the upper shelves. Those stairs are made of metal and not wood like they used to be. Anyway, that’s only one flaw in such a breathtaking place, which is definitely worth visiting.

Butterfly house

Ian also had a surprise for me, he took me to the butterfly house, which is near the national library. To visit butterfly house in winter is a great idea, because you can warm yourself in that pleasant environment. Not to mention all those butterflies that fly all over the glasshouse. Glasshouse is not too big, but it’s comfortable enough to refresh yourself with that greenery. We took some great pictures, and I hope you will like them at least half as I do. One picture is actually sad. It presents a butterfly, who is sadly looking through a window. Oh, poor thing, if you would know how freakishly cold is on the other side that glass, you would rather enjoy your little sanctuary in the middle of Vienna.

Butterfly house

I was hoping that, I wouldn't be eating sweets at least for one day, but Ian had a different plans for me. We stopped in a neat candy shop, with hand made candies. However, this wasn't in a surprise plan. It was as Ian describe it:"l'exaucement du désir". The true surprise was a cake in legendary Cafe Central, where are used to serve well known famous people. We had some great desserts with cup of real Viennese coffee. Mine was raspberry symphony - cheese cake with raspberry dressing, and Ian had Sisi's favourite - rum pastry with apricot jam. The place is spectacular so are the desserts.

Candyshop