Foodivore: Midge Ure had no taste: it means something to us (oh Vienna)

Palmenhaus - restaurant inside

WW2 flak tower, just across the street

We departed the South Western corner of Austria, eager to return one day, and headed to the other side of the country, Vienna. As with the lyrics of Ultravox "means nothing to me, Oh Vienna", we knew little about Vienna before our arrival. Our fears of driving into a large city were quickly allayed, the traffic was ordered and minimal. As we were to discover the public transport system in Vienna is so efficient, cheap and regular (rivaling Paris), why would anyone drive? So we parked Pierre in a Park& Ride for a pittance of €3 per day. The apartment we had booked for our two nights (we know - scandalously short, but this was only meant to be a taster), like everything in Austria, far exceeded expectations. It was beautifully appointed and spacious, with a fully equipped kitchen, washing machine (we were down to our last pairs of underwear), WiFi included and a very helpful hostess who went above and beyond to make our stay perfect (including leaving a bottle of wine and other nibbles). We'd highly recommend this apartment to anyone visiting Vienna. The aspect from our 3rd floor windows were views to large park containing WW2 flak towers... history is palpable and inescapable. Flak towers were used for the air defense of Vienna and also as air raid shelters for thousands of citizens. Seems a bit strange that they've not been demolished, but given their stark contrast to the pleasant park surrounds it makes a certain amount of sense in terms of ensuring that the city's history isn't forgotten.

Wandering the quiet streets in gorgeous autumn sunlight, checking out the impressive remnants of the Hapsburg empire and watching the iconic red and white trams trundle pass, we felt like we were in a John Le Carré novel. The architecture went from the historic to ultra-modern creations. Adding to the ambiance of Vienna is a prevalence of art - often sculpture - throughout the city and a large proportion of the city is parkland.

Austrian parliament (obviously a very serious building)

Vienna is also the home of Hundertwasser, one of our favourite artists. We visited his gallery at Kunst Haus, the building itself is representative of his art with organic lines and vivid colour. We also saw two other buildings designed by him, Hundertwasserhaus which is apartments and office space and the incinerator. Hundertwasser was commissioned to turn a rather unattractive working city incinerator into a piece of art that is a highlight for tourists while still being used for its practical purpose.

It wouldn't be a Foodivore blog without mentioning the food. We had great meal at Kuckuck including a gooseliver creme brulee (mmmmm). Crispy pork enveloped in a gnocchi-like dough (super smooth mashed potato) plus an unusually seasoned cabbage dish that offered excellent textural contrast. Veal minced and wrapped in a superfine cabbage membrane with a forest mushroom sauce, and noteworthily great boiled potatoes. the lambiest of lamb hip (unusual cut - we think it was probably loin) cooked perfectly rare, and served with a rosemary gravy.

We also had lunch at Palmenhaus which is a large glass house in one of the many Vienna parks. We had a delicious goat's cheese with barbecued capsicum and walnut oil and spiced almonds; crostini of venision, rare, with redcurrants;and, duck breast with cardamom, passionfruit sauce and beetroot.

We also discovered a good Viennese wine - a red (Zweigelt - it was developed specifically for Austrian climate) full of fruit (unusually so - 2007 was apparently excellent ripening conditions) were drinking liquid passionfruit.

Austria was one of the locations we almost didn't include on our itinerary (you all must admit we did set an ambitious agenda) but it ended up being one of our favourite locations so far and one we will certainly return to for longer, it has the beauty of Switzerland without the cost, the culture of Paris without the hordes, it's cleaner and more orderly than Italy and Spain, better roads with good signage, friendly quirky people who all seem to speak surprisingly good English. It also had some of the best food we're experienced throughout the trip and we were lucky to have perfect weather the entire time, though I'm sure it's not always this way. One question that did remain unanswered as we left Austria was were did they get the money to provide such good infrastructure when we could see no obvious signs of industry or underclass citizens potentially from high taxation.