Barbara is a native Viennese and is founder and publisher of a Vienna Austria travel site. She loves to connect travelers with locals over great food and conversation.You can follow her on Twitter at @viennaunwrapped.

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Reviving the Coffeehouse Culture

Being a native Viennese, I’ve always liked this great city but developed an almost obsessive love for it once I moved to London, turning into a frequent Vienna traveler. Vienna Unwrapped is my way to share my local insights with the people who come to visit. I have posted my favourite walks through my hometown, highlighting landmarks and also going off the beaten track to discover romantic inner courtyards, Otto Wagner Art Nouveau buildings and some great Vienna art shops, let travelers know what I like about my favourite restaurants, how to make the best use of transportation and the best places to go shopping. But still I wanted to help people have a more rich, authentic, and truly Viennese experience.

Vienna has a tradition of lively discussion. Many great minds, including Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt and Stefan Zweig, often frequented Viennese salons and cafés to exchange ideas and engage in meaningful debate. The idea to build on our culture of coffeehouse conversation to connect travelers with locals only crystalised when I met Eugene Quinn from, Viennese cultural group, space and place. Eugene had staged two successful 'conversation meals' for locals in Vienna last year. I thought the concept of conversation menus that he used was a brilliant catalyst to enable travelers to have conversations with locals that would go beyond the usual 'What do you like about Vienna?' small talk. Together we launched the Vienna Coffeehouse Conversations.

The goal of the Vienna Coffeehouse Conversations is to bring travelers together with local Viennese for great food and conversation in traditional cafés.  Our events are hosted monthly, in English, at the Café Museum and Café am Heumarkt. These cafés represent the best of bohemian, literary, and contemporary Vienna. The evening consists of a three-course Viennese meal and a menu of questions, prepared to initiate conversation and encourage participants to share their views on travel, friendship, compassion, inspiration and more.

Are you traveling to Vienna? We’d love to see you at our Vienna Coffeehouse Conversations. Register here to save your place at the table.