1936 On the Continent

schillings and thereby made him very happy. As regards the taxidriver, it will not be so easy. Look carefully at the price marked on the taximeter, and you do not need to give more than 10 per cent. tip and 50 groschen for each piece of luggage. People who give more are scorned by our taxidrivers, and on that account treated indifferently as fools who pay more than they need.
A First Walk through Vienna
    From the Westbahnhof, one of the principal shopping streets of the town, the Mariahilferstrasse, leads into the Ring. It must be kept in mind that the Viennese get their bearings by means of two great circular streets which intersect their town. The inner Ring, which encloses the First Bezirk (District No. 1), the “Inner Town,” is actually the “Ringstrasse,” the outer ring is called the “Gürtel.” The Westbahnhof lies on the Neubaugürtel: thus you cut through the districts between the Gürtel and the Ring, then you drive or walk the length of the Mariahilferstrasse. This is the Viennese Oxford Street. No lady should miss making several excursions into the labyrinth of large and small shops which are here assembled like pearls on a string. Naturally every foreigner requires something or other, so you must put a good face on it, sir, if your wife explains that she wishes to find out whatthe prices are like in Vienna. For the foreigner everything is always cheaper than at home, more modern and more practical. In addition, should you be provided with sixty pocket handkerchiefs, half of these will be accounted for by that spectre which accompanies all travellers, consuming their handkerchiefs. Also at your last hotel you forgot to pack your wife’s pyjamas, your toothbrush is moth-eaten, your toothpaste is stale and it is time we tried something new. Then you promised your children to bring them sonething! Leave that to your wife. She will find all she needs in the Mariahilfestrasse, and from 10 per cent. to 30 per cent. cheaper than in the shops in the Inner Town. If she goes to Gerngross to buy a shoelace, she will leave the shop accompanied by two porters, there are such bargains there; it is the same at Hermes’ shoe palace, where things are so cheap she feels she ought to give a tip before she goes home. At the “Lady” in the Mariahilferstrasse are to be found knitted frocks, a Vienna speciality, which certainly ought to be seen. Vienna sets the world’s fashion in knitted goods. But about the lady’s actual “shopping” I shall speak later, as it is important enough for a separate chapter.
Museums and other Sights of Vienna
    The Mariahilferstrasse debouches then on the Ring. At this point there is on the left a huge building, the Kunsthistorische Museum, which will be visited by all who love art, as it contains very great works of art in painting and sculpture. Do not, however, look only at the pictures, but glance also at the old catalogues and such like, where you will find delightful remarks, such as that referring to the sketch of Leda and the Swan: “Naked woman bitten by the wicked goose.” Opposite the Kunsthistorische Museum is the Natural History Museum; between the two a monument to the Empress Maria Theresa, and opposite this the Heldenplatz with the old and new Hofburg, which later, when you are rested, you will visit, as you will doubtless be interested in the home of the Kaisers. You can walk through the Hofburg, and come out on to the Michaelerplatz, where the Burgtheatre once stood. Now it is on the Ring opposite the Rathaus, which looks like a somewhat vast but very beautiful church.From the Michaelerplatz you go round a curve on the right to the Spanish Riding School. If you look in you will see the white Lippizaner horses with their riders in their historic costume practising the “haute école.” A very charming picture, like a dream: outside, the noise of the great city, powerful cars rush about the streets, and here the most beautiful horses in the world are dancing round ridden by men who seem to belong to a past century. But we must pass on, and will go to the Albrechtsrampe where is one of the most famous collections of prints and drawings in Europe and perhaps in the world—the Albertina. Near by you will see the State Opera House, and in front of this we come to the Ring again. Near here is the most delightful and modern shopping street in Austria, the Kärntnerstrasse.
Vienna: the Cathedral
    This street, down which every Viennese walks at least once a day—if