Hoher Markt

You're now standing on the oldest square in Vienna: the Hoher Markt. It doesn't look ancient at first glance, but look down — because beneath your feet are the excavated remains of Roman Vindobona, the frontier garrison town that stood here two thousand years ago. Officers' houses, heated floors, the edge of the old forum: a whole Roman layer, preserved underground. Vienna has simply been living on this spot, without a break, for twenty centuries.

Now look up, toward the corner of the square, for the Ankeruhr — the Anker Clock. It's a gorgeous piece of Jugendstil, Vienna's Art Nouveau, painted and gilded and finished just before the First World War. Over the course of twelve hours, famous figures from the city's history glide one by one across its face — the emperor Marcus Aurelius, the empress Maria Theresa, the composer Haydn — and at noon they all parade together, to music. If you've timed it right, wait for it.

And between the deep past overhead and underfoot sits the most democratic meal in Vienna: the Würstelstand, the standing sausage stand. This is the city's great street food, and the thing to order is a Käsekrainer — a plump sausage with little pockets of cheese melted inside, split open and served with mustard and a crusty roll. You eat it standing at the counter, elbow to elbow with everyone from office workers to night owls. Emperors above, Romans below, a cheese-filled sausage in your hand. That is Vienna.

When you're done, head south a couple of blocks, around behind the cathedral, to a little street called the Wollzeile — where a schnitzel waits that's bigger than its plate.