A Historic Face-Off in Vienna

Just finishing up my first day of research in Vienna, kicking off my eight-week summer trip, I was struck by how you can read history into the cityscape of Vienna on nearly every corner. A good example is this old-fashioned showdown between the Old Regime concept of divine monarchy and the utilitarian view of the modern world -- as seen in two diametrically opposed buildings (the Habsburg emperor's palace and a building, now a bank, by the very-modern-in-his-day architect Adolf Loos). They were both built in the same generation around 1900. And by 1918 -- the Old Regime was dead.

This is Day 51 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I'm reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Vienna, the Alps, the Low Countries, England, and beyond. Find more on my travel blog.

(This post originally appeared at blog.ricksteves.com/historic-vienna.)