The city s baroque buildings are scrubbed, and their elegant facades are reflected in the huge glass windows of the gleaming modern structures with which they cohabit. Stores in the city centre do a brisk business. Wealthy consumers snap up everything from the latest in high-tech wares to luxury cosmetics. The only dark spot in the pedestrian zone of fashionable Kaertnerstrasse is the landmark Ambassador Hotel. It s closed for renovation, but advertises a triumphant re-opening in the autumn.
Management clearly expects a continuing stream of visitors to fill the rooms and suites.
On the streets outside there s plenty of evidence for such optimism. English, French, Italian and Japanese mingle with the lilting German dialect spoken by the natives. All this activity is taking place in the capital of a country eyed with suspicion abroad, the target of unprecedented political sanctions from its European Union partners. Politicians in Brussels may be avoiding Austria, but no one else seems to be. At the swearing-in ceremony, even Austrian president Thomas Klestil took pains to distance himself from the coalition.