Child-Proofing Of Austria

Of Apple Strudel and Schnitzel with Potatoes!

- Arwa Mamaji

Among my daughter’s favourite things is the song “Do Re Mi”. This song works like magic when you want her to shake a leg, eat her meal or pacify her when she cries. We decided to expose her to the culture and milieu of the film ‘The Sound of Music’ and that took us to Austria.

Another good entry point into Austria is Robert Seether’s “The Tobacconist”. A novel is based 1937 when Germany is about to annex Austria. The book makes references to how the lives of common people, such as the protagonist Franz, changed irredeemably due to the event. The book also makes reference to Sigmund Freud, who was exiled on account of the Jews being under attack. Using the book as the backdrop of our expectation, we landed at Vienna airport. We decided to leave one of our suitcases in an airport locker so we could be more mobile, hopping in and out of trains, buses and trams with one stroller and one suitcase.

We tailor-made our trip based on my daughter’s routine. We decided to soak in Vienna for two nights, then travel to Innsbruck, and finally spend a relaxing week in a quaint Salzburg neighbourhood. We booked a small studio apartment in one of the quiet bylanes of Mariahilfer Strasee, which gave us the flexibility to prepare meals for my daughter. This area of Vienna has been home to Beethoven, Mozart and Franz, the protagonist of the book mentioned earlier.