To feel free for a moment. From societal norms, everyday necessities and all those collected sorrows. To be enchanted, to dream, to shine and to…take off for a second.
This is the Prater in Vienna and how it has been for over 250 years now. A very special place for all people. A home for dreamers, literati, worriers, children, the elderly, ordinary people, aristocrats, petty criminals, sketchy people of all sorts and of course travelers too.
Maybe American readers get a better picture of that place by describing the Prater as the big, older brother of Coney Island. The one who decided during puberty to run away from home to learn about real life. The one who doesn’t place too much emphasis on being well dressed all the time, but is all the prouder that he has continually reinvented himself over the centuries and continues to do so with authenticity, curiosity, charm, and – above all – evident joy.
I myself come here as often as I can, including last Saturday, though I can’t say which time of day is more beautiful or inspiring for me. Since it is not a theme park per se, one can wander through the Prater at any time of day or night. Be it in the morning, when everything still seems to be sleeping and recovering from the previous evening’s exuberance, or in the late evening, when the place awakens in all its glory and force – right in the midst of the big city of Vienna.
For me it remains one of those very special and catalystic places where I not only feel home and safe in between those bright and colorful lights and dark alleys but also where I feel inspired among all those fundamentally different human beings. Spinning thoughts, daydreaming, finding new and working on old ideas, listening to music, touching buried worries, reading books or, not to forget, engaging in brief conversations with others – all this usually happens and works so much easier there for me, in and with the Prater.