1936 On the Continent

with your new Viennese friends that you will receive invitations, first perhaps to tea. If you are asked in the evening and it has not been specifically stated “after supper,” then you will have supper with your hosts. Of course, with us you only wear a dinner jacket in the evening when you are asked to do so, otherwise come in dark clothes and your wife in an afternoon dress. You should be punctual and need not be afraid that you will find your hostess in the bath room and your host still shaving. If you bring your hostess some flowers you will give her great pleasure, for though this is not usual, it is always highly appreciated. As strangers and guests in our country you are not, of course, obliged to return the invitation. If you want to do so, order supper at the Drei Husaren and say what the occasion is. You will be as pleased as your guests, and it will not cost too much.
    The custom of taking “paying guests” is very widespread in Vienna. You will be welcomed thus inthe best families in the suburbs or the Inner Town. For a longer stay this is undoubtedly the best thing to do, as the Viennese in their proverbial hospitality do all in their power to make the life of their guests as pleasant as possible. There is no organisation which provides this sort of accommodation, so it can only be obtained through personal recommendation, probably a good thing. As you would naturally only wish to stay with a family if you came on a long visit, you would do well to let your new friends advise and help you in the choice of clubs and similar societies. You will probably have to pay as a paying guest between 250 and 400 schillings monthly. That includes everything, and I am sure your hosts will do all they can to make life pleasant for you.
The Ladies’ Capital
    You have already learnt, madam, which are the best hairdressers, you know the clubs where you will be welcomed, and now I want to show you some places which you can visit without your husband and then to take you for a walk in the shopping districts of the town. What you want, of course, is a Konditorei where you can be sure of not interfering with your figure, but it will be very hard to find in Vienna. If you go to Gerstner’s, Kärntnerstrasse 6, or Dehmel’s, Kohlmarkt 18, you will become acquainted with the two best Konditorei in Vienna. You will find there sweet cakes that are works of art: anyhow, taste them at least once, as in these cakes lies more than artistry, something of the Viennese character. The Meinl-Lokal is very good also, Zum Kärntnertor, and you must go there if only because they have what is perhaps the best Viennese coffee. In all these places you sit comfortably in tasteful quiet rooms. You can write letters or meet your friends. Of course you can equally well go alone to a dance-café in the afternoon, such as Hübner’s Kursalon in the Stadtpark, the Kaffee Herrenhof in the Herrengasse and the Splendid in the Jasomirgottgasse. If you want to dance in the evening you must find someone to go with you, but that should not be difficult.
    I will not keep you long over the museums, but you ought to see the Kunstgewerbemuseum on the Stubenring, as it is very interesting for a lady. There are the most lovelystuffs there of all periods—a thousand ideas which would be valuable even to-day. If you think you would like to do another, go to the Kunsthistorische Museum in the Lichtensteingalerie and to Schloss Schönbrunn. The latter was, as you know, the private residence of the Emperor Francis Joseph. If you want to see it they will show you everything worth seeing, from the many pompous salons to the Emperor’s bedroom. In addition you will have the pleasure of walking through a very beautiful park, and perhaps on this occasion, if you are an animal lover, you would care to see the Viennese zoo, which is at Schönbrunn too.
Horse Racing and—Shopping
    Before I accompany you to the shopping district I should like to take you to the Viennese Derby. There you can see a most wonderful fashion show, as Freudenau is a rendezvous for the Austrian aristocracy. The elegance of the Derby public is proverbial; it swarms with princes and countesses, but also with true Vienna folk who to-day discuss horse-racing with the same wisdom as a football match. The Jockey Club arranges five meetings a year at Freudenau, in April the spring meeting, May-June the Derby meeting, July-August the summer meeting, the September meeting and the autumn meeting in