In truth, once you break the lure of the ring, all roads lead to St. Stephen's Cathedral. St. Stephens (SSC) is the main cathedral within the old city (ring), whereas St. Charles is the main cathedral outside the ring. I liked St. Charles better, both inside and outside, but both were special, holy places. Too bad that the tourist trade diminishes the primary function of the churches (but probably helps to support them as well). Yin and Yang in Wien.

I ended up staying at a university dormitory about 4km outside of town, Haus Panorama, chosen because I had stayed in Hotel Panorama in Kathmandu. It wasn't as cheap as a youth hostel, but it was fairly convenient to get to, clean and had private showers in the rooms.

A short ride by U-bahn (H4) deposited me at Schwedenplatz, a few blocks from St. Stephens. This is the social center of Wien. From SSC there were a couple of blocked off streets: Kräntner Strasse and Kohlmarkt (I think). These were shopping streets with restaurants and markets of all kinds. Best of all were the numerous outdoor patios with their little umbrellas and tiny tables where you can sit and drink kaffee or bier until they bring the bill (die rechnung), which they won't do until you ask them to.

The national pastime here seems to be sitting in cafés, essen und trinken, but more on that on the special food edition postcard. (Yum!)

And somehow all my wanderings would bring me back to SSC (to the station a few blocks away).