Downtown Vienna radiates energy and joie de vivre as you can watch lots of street artists performing even in the alleyways.[Photo by Wang Shanshan/China Daily]

Riverside greenery

We soon found ourselves at the Prater, which covers an area of six million square meters. Located at the border of the Viennese old town and beside the Danube River, the Prater has been rated by many travel publications as one of the 10 best city parks in the world.

Large areas of green surrounded us. People were jogging by, walking dogs or cycling across the woods. On patches of green grass, some people were simply lying down, having beer and enjoying the sunshine.

We walked on and on, past woods and grass. My iPhone told me that we had walked for five kilometers in the Prater before we finally saw the Danube River.

There were some steps leading into the water on the riverbank. Three swans were lingering on the steps. Some people had left pieces of breads on the river bank, for visitors to feed the swans. So we spent half an hour feeding the swans and also the wild ducks.

A successful Chinese actor was once quoted saying: "When I feel unhappy, I will fly to London and feed pigeons there." Many people, including me, were envious when we read this.

But feeding swans in Vienna is, no doubt, even better. So it didn't matter that we had to debate whether we should have pork-shank sandwiches for dinner on the third day in order to save money.