vienna Archives - Books And Travel

Vienna, Nuremberg, And Cologne. My Five Days Research Trip For Spear Of Destiny

In January 2024, I did a whistlestop five-day book research trip to Vienna, Austria, and then Nuremberg and Cologne in Germany. My goal was to research locations for my next action-adventure thriller, Spear of Destiny, and also to visit two spectacular Gothic cathedrals.

In this article, I’ll share the highlights and also some practical tips. It includes:

St Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom), Vienna
The Holy Lance / Spear of Destiny in the Hofburg Treasury, Vienna
Tombs of the Habsburgs, Capuchin Crypt, Vienna
Globe Museum and State Hall library, Vienna
Practicalities of Vienna, and trains to Germany
Nazi Art Bunker, Nuremberg, Nurnberg
Cologne Cathedral, Koln

Spear of Destiny, an ARKANE thriller, will launch in June 2024 on Kickstarter and will be available on all stores by September 2024. Click here for more details.

Cathedrals, Dark History, And Coffee Culture. Vienna With Katharina Bordet

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Vienna brings to mind images of grand architecture, the sounds of classical music, and the smell of coffee and sacher torte.

In this interview with Katarina Bordet, we explore the Gothic and Baroque churches, the museums, and the iconic coffee shops, as well as the darker places to visit — the asylum, the catacombs, and the echoes of psychiatry and fascism. The city is dense with history and culture, and we can only brush the surface today, but I hope you enjoy the interview.

Katharina Bordet is an Austrian fantasy and nonfiction author as well as a lawyer, podcaster, and photographer.

Show notes

Cathedrals, churches, and grand architecture
Catacombs, the asylum, churchyard, and darker places to visit
Vienna’s coffee culture, cafe recommendations, and the importance of cake
Music and opera in Vienna including outdoor venues
Local crafts and food at the Christmas Markets
The Viennese personality
Recommended books set in Vienna

You can find Katharina Bordet at bruadarach.at

12 Unusual Things To See In Vienna

Unusual Places

Vienna is popularly known as das Schöne Wien (Beautiful Vienna). It might not strike you as a weird or Gothic destination since the city gave us the Viennese waltz, the Viennese whirl and of course, that catchy 1980s pop song by Ultravox.

But Vienna’s fascination for death and the macabre makes it one of the most Gothic cities in Europe. And as the former home of Sigmund Freud, it enjoys its fair share of weird.

If cemeteries, crime museums, and anatomy centers are your idea of top tourist sites, then Vienna is the city for you.

Let’s check out 12 unusual things you must see in the Austrian capital.

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