Vienna on Sundays

I love Vienna on Sunday and the incredible feeling of well-being that comes from waking up in a city that is closed for business.

I start my Sundays by lying in bed revelling in the stillness, amazing in a city of two million, and the deep sense of peace that comes from that quietness, luxuriating in the anticipation of a day before me when neither I nor anyone else can shop even if we wanted to. Not being able to shop makes Sundays a day for friends, walks, and leisurely breaks at coffeehouses in the city, elegant or artistic as the mood strikes, or rustic taverns in the Vienna Woods, as weather and company inspire.

Not being able to shop, and not being required to work, makes Sunday a day for reconnecting with pieces of my life that get buried under the demands of everyday life – pieces that are often the most important.

And when that Sunday happens to be one of the first greening, glorious, gently glowing days of spring, then that is to know perfect contentment.