Smartly curated and art savvy, Mauve has been putting together reliably excellent shows with a focus on contemporary painting since 2012. Mauve’s bar features a neon cactus, a choice of favourite drinks and a crowd of artists in their natural habitat.

The edges of Vienna are striped with forested roads that canopy villas between the trees. One such 'mini palais' belonged to the famous Austrian architect and urban planner, Otto Wagner. To know Vienna, is to recognize the hand of Otto Wagner virtually everywhere in the city. His own self designed family residence would perhaps have been demolished or forgotten had it not been acquired from certain desertion by the artist Ernst Fuchs in 1972. Now pause, and imagine what would happen if a renowned founder of the Viennese school of Fantastic Realism happened to possess such a historical Jugendstil gem; and then decided to outfit it completely with his own imagination, while still maintaining the original visual emotion of the late 19th century. That is The Ernst Fuchs Museum. Even from the street, beneath its' awning of green, the bombastic entrance demands more than a glance. The interior is no less nor different. (The place is so trippy that even my tripped out kids tripped out in the most beautiful way). It's a haze of opulent romanticism married to parasomnia and aesthetic wonder. Simply put, it's a dream.

If Dogs Run Free is a great place to have coffee or a cocktail or both. It is located between Naschmarkt and Museumsquartier and always worth a stop. It has a calm and cool atmosphere. They also serve some great homemade sandwiches. They offer a small but great selection of drinks and at night it is usually packed.  It is designed by two architects and the ceiling installation is changing every year.

I love visiting places that offer a totally different idea of urbanity and experimental concepts for urban (mass) housing. The Wohnpark Alterlaa, built from 1973–1985, is such a project. Hop on the subway to get there and I recommend that you take an extended walk through the area and the surrounding park.

There is one thing finally that is good about vienna’s small size, to reach the river danube and its two side arms in summer, when its boiling hot, takes only few minutes. All the life is transferred from the center to the river banks, swim and barbecue in summer, ice skating in winter. If you exit the subway at Neue Donau station you will see the small tower of viennas biggest mosque that is located on the danube island. You can go there and visit, if you are lucky, you will be offered dryed figues and dates and you can watch the prayers repose themselves lying on mattrasses in the cool.