Vienna is a city with a great sense of gravity. It seems that anyone or anything that remains in the city for too long will eventually slow down, and eventually come to a complete stop, never to move again. The illusion of inertia is ever-present, generated by the proliferation of history and heavy buildings, an illusion Viennese artists and designers fight by inventing forms of abstraction without historical reference.

This is not to say that Vienna is not a modern city. It just doesn't like to admit it. And some of the history is pure show business, like in the 1st District where people in period costumes peddle classical music concerts while sweating profusely in the summer sun. But once you get outside the Gürtel (the road circling the inner city) you start to realise that you're in a real city after all, even though parts of it still feels like a movie set.

So far I've not been able to shake the feeling that there is a secret Vienna somewhere, reserved for the Viennese only. You can see it in places like the wonderful Cafe Hawelka. Equality rules: All guests are treated in the same patronising manner, and the waiters serve you with impeccable manners that you by implication don't deserve.