Virtual Postcards Vienna

It’s imperial but not showy, intellectual but not cold — a place where ceilings are painted like wedding cakes and even the coffee comes with ceremony.

We got to sit in a box and witness the dazzling white-tie celebration held inside the Vienna State Opera which was transformed into a grand ballroom for the evening.

It’s quiet conversation, newspapers on wooden racks, marble tables, bentwood chairs, and the unspoken understanding that sitting still is productive. In Vienna, a café is a living room you don’t have to own.

We walked by and spontaneously entered not knowing that Dorotheum is the world’s oldest auction house, with a long history and a major role in the European art and antiques market.

Whenever I go to the city, I always research to see if what exciting interior designers’ own homes have been published in that place to film for Quintessence.