Vienna is a grand city with its elegant Baroque buildings, an asymmetric Gothic cathedral, convenient trams, and--my favorite--musical cafes with delicious chocolate, whipped cream, and coffee. I visited Vienna in July 2002, after attending a workshop at the elegant Konrad Lorenz family home, a tour of which is one of the after conference tour options for ISH03. It is in Altenberg, about half an hour outside of Vienna, along the banks of the Danube. The Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, ISH03 local hosts, are located there.

Conference site: The ISH03 meeting will be held in a section of the University of Vienna in the city, just outside the inner ring road. This section of the University (unlike some of the older buildings) is like a college campus, with linked courtyards, trees, grass, benches. This complex used to be a hospital; some signs still carry its old name: "Altes AKH." However, it has been refurbished into an attractive series of older and newer buildings with one of the courtyards containing a small supermarket/deli and several beer garden restaurants--something not found on U.S. campuses! The whole complex is enclosed inside a wall, with occasional entrances; an easy way to get in is via Spital Gasse or Alser Strasse (see map). It will be a pleasant place to have sessions, meet with friends, have something to eat and drink. The Wednesday evening reception will take place at one of the beer garden restaurants in the courtyard, with the registration room nearby.

Hotels: Ideally, you have by now already booked your hotel, as indicated on the ISH email list in March. Vienna is a busy tourist city. Otherwise, don't delay. There is a link on the ISH web page to the agent who is handling booking, as well as links to webs sites of hotels near the conference site. [Also, see the enclosed hotel form that can be faxed to the agent?] In July 2002, I booked an Austrian Airlines vacation package that included airfare direct from Washington, DC Dulles airport to Vienna and three days hotel. The hotel was not very close to the conference site, but any hotel near a subway will mean you can get to the conference site.

Weather: I was in Vienna for two weeks, at the same time of year as the ISH03 meeting will be. The weather was extremely hot for about three days and I wished I had brought more shorts with me. If heat really bothers you, then look for one of the few air conditioned hotels (e.g., the Hilton). A small battery-powered fan was very useful. It rained a couple of days, so a raincoat and umbrella are good to have. Otherwise, it was delightful (70s F; 20s C), perfect for sitting outside.

Getting around: You'll want a card that allows unlimited travel on trams and the subway. Indicate on the registration form if you want to purchase one to pick up at the airport on Wednesday or at the registration desk, as our local hosts have kindly made this an option. Once one learns what number of tram to take, listed on some city maps, one can get around easily. A good way to see the city is to take Tram 1 or 2 that go around in opposite directions on the "Ring" that was built where the oldest city wall stood. I had no problems walking alone at night in the neighborhood of the university. Many places didn't accept credit cards. I needed more euros that I expected and had to pay a high exchange rate one weekend at an exchange office near St. Stephens Cathedral. I'll change more at a bank on my next visit.

Tourist attractions: There is much to see and do in Vienna as a tourist. My time there was too short. I missed the grand art museum, which is closed on Mondays. But the Natural History Museum is open on Mondays (closed on Tuesdays). I especially enjoyed the anthropology/archeology section, which has a 35,000 year old, tiny figure of a woman in a dance pose, as well as one of the chubby Venus statues. There is a pleasant cafe (as there is almost everywhere one goes in Vienna) where one can sip coffee while monkeys, rather than cherubs, look down from the molding.

A video to rent before the trip is The Third Man, a movie with Orson Welles, set in Vienna. Tours will take tourists to sites used in the filming or it's easy to visit just the Prater, the amusement park with the huge old style Ferris wheel. I took a ride in a large carriage, like the one where Welles threatened Joseph Cotton. The views of the city and surrounds are spectacular, as the carriage slowly rotates. A good guide book to read before going is Insight Guide Vienna, which provides history and many colored pictures. A useful guide to carry is Fodor's Austria. I've bought a new small German dictionary, as I wore out my old paperback one. Two books that philosophers might enjoy reading before the trip are Wittgenstein's Poker and Wittgenstein's Vienna. In Wittgenstein's Poker, two journalists recount an episode between Wittgenstein and Popper that took place in Cambridge and is remembered differently by those present. The book recounts their biographies, both of whom grew up in Vienna, but with a "great gulf of wealth and influence between them." (p. 4) Wittgenstein's Vienna was written by a philosopher (Toulmin) and a historian (Janik) and places Wittgenstein's philosophical work into the context of Vienna of his time. A possible visit is to see the house that Wittgenstein designed that now houses the Bulgarian Cultural Institute at Kundmanngasse 19. When I was there it was closed, but one can walk around the outside. This visit can be coupled with a visit to the whimsical colorful house, Hundertwasserhaus, that reminds one of Gaudi's work in Spain. I noted playful architectural details while sipping coffee with whipped cream, in a pleasant outdoor cafe.

Eating and drinking: To continue my theme, my favorite thing to do in Vienna is to sit in a cafe, drinking and eating something with whipped cream, reading the Herald Tribune, listening to a piano, and watching people go by. Two especially nice spots: the Cafe Weimar (Währinger Strasse 68) near the conference site and the Cafe Schwarzenberg on the Ring. Somewhat surprisingly, if a basket of rolls is provided, you are charged for the number that you eat. Guidebooks list some more famous cafes that I didn't have time to visit. While I was there, chanterelle mushrooms were in season. They are yellow and funnel shaped and delicious in a cream sauce or an omelet. Several of us had a delightful evening, visiting the wine garden restaurant where the Saturday evening banquet will be. Instead of suburbs, Vienna is surrounded by vineyards, so we took a tram out to the edge of the city to the "Heurigen." That is a place that sells the light new white wine produced the previous year, along with plenty of hearty food, in a garden setting at long tables. The wine went down all too easily! I'm eagerly anticipating our banquet there.

Trips: Several after conference tours are being planned, so that participants can continue discussions while enjoying nearby sites. Please indicate your interest on the registration form. One trip will be to the Konrad Lorenz home in Altenberg, with its pleasant gardens. Another is a overnight mountain trip to the Konrad Lorenz Research Station in the mountains at Grünau. I've never been and I plan to take this tour. The third is a trip to Brno to the Mendel Museum. I took the train there from Vienna (about 4 hours away), but if enough people are interested a bus tour is planned. Some citizens need visas to visit the Czech Republic, but as a U. S. citizen I didn't (but Canadians do; see the ISH web page for visa information). The monastery has a large statue of Mendel, the site of his garden and a small museum that houses such items as Mendel's copy of Darwin's Origin. Walking the streets of the old medieval city and visiting a second Mendel exhibit in the museum in the main square was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

Other things to consider doing on one's own: a trip to Salzburg, with all its Mozart sites (I've been there and it is well worth a visit) or a trip on the Danube to Budapest (I've never been but I'd like to).

See you in Vienna!

Lindley Darden