Welcome to...
Vienna (Austria)
with Beyondjazz ambassador Cuki 
Introduction:
What's so cool about Vienna? Coffee, coffee, coffee and coffee. Well, actually I moved out here for more then just the coffee! In that case, I would have gone to Trieste northern Italy. Vienna has an excellent quality and standard of life. Simple things really, you can drink the tap water, in fact it tastes better then most bottled waters! You can walk the streets late at night alone, you don't get polluted nose syndrome like I did in London. You can have a funny cigarette in a club with out facing a life sentence. The Viennese are remarkable relaxed and laid back too. Think more Balkan mentality and laziness then German efficiency and correctness. Only the language has anything in common with big brother Deutschland. Viennese are less consumed with 'want' than most of the major cities of the world. It doesn't matter that you ain't got the latest Nokia or Gucci! Size matters! Population of only about 2 million, so it is just the right size, not too big, not too small, enough to do, without getting too distracted. Cosmopolitan enough too, Turkish mainly, but groups of Nigerians and Somalians are the best of taxi drivers, and we have enough of everybody here to not feel alone. Bosnians, Serbians, Croatians and Slovaks are plentiful also. Some say too plentiful though I have no notice of this. The city goes to bed at the right time as well! While Spain and Portugal stay up too late, and the UK is off to its pillow too early, Vienna has it's time clock in order. Wine? Now we're talking. Austria generally has some of the most underrated wine in the world. Viennese bars and places of fun have some excellent and readably drinkable solutions to your wine needs. Cuki gets through 4 bottles a week. When Trüby is in town, we get through 4 bottles a night! Ciao for now or as we say here "bussi baba".
Contacts/Ambassadors:
Cuki (Cuki aka Alan Brown. email:
cukipapa@chello.at MSN:
cukipapa@hotmail.com ICQ: 177682136 Cuki cell phone: 0043 699 1260 4000 ),
jazzymike,
nekosan
Accommodation:
Hotels, hostels, Cuki's sofa
Clubs & Club nights:
* Flex, Porgy And Bess, Passage, WUK, Volksgarten, Roxy, Birdland
* Dub Club (Flex/Monday), Soulsugar (WUK/Sunday), Sunshine (Passage/Saturday),
(+ bj-reviews and/or pictures?)
Shops:
Blackmarket, Rave Up, 33/45, Friendly house, Bounce
City Magazines:
Falter magazine is the city guide. Available at every news stand, and very often in bars and cafe's for a free read.
Info site:
MQ: Really cool place.
http://www.mqw.at/english.asp?tsel=news1
Falter magazine:
http://www.falter.at/
City map:
http://archiv.vienna.at/feat/stadtplan_neu/
Austrian wine:
http://www.weinausoesterreich.at/eindex.html
Trains:
http://www.oebb.at/
Weather:
http://wetter.orf.at/oes/ - Winter cold, summer warm! Expect snow and freezing temps in the meat of winter, and expect reasonably hot summers (higher 20'c) with girls looking particularly pretty at this time of year. Never too hot or humid to be uncomfortable, and outside cafes, coffee houses and some club nights are a must. Vienna is famous for the "Wiener wind", though in truth, no one has never really experienced this!
Transport:
Excellent underground system, street trams and buses. Taxi's in abundance, city cycles available to hire.
Do do's:
Go to Budapest for the day, the women there are 6/5 in the summer! Skirts like belts, believe! Eat Sachertorte and Linzertorte. Be patient, waiters and waitresses are notoriously slow. It's always fun to watch the Americans with their Starbucks mentality. Visit an old school coffee house. Taste pumpkin seed oil. Drink the tap water. Hang out in the MQ. Drink bottles and bottles of Austrian wines.
Don't do's:
Don't eat Schnitzel. Do not forget your passport, you still need one to go to Budapest.
