Cafe Central in Vienna has the ghosts of Freud and Trotsky drinking coffee and eating strudel. As I sipped my cup of coffee and listened to the piano player under the life sized portraits of Franz Joseph and his wife Sisi (often referred to as the fifteenth century equivalent of Princess Diana), I wondered if Freud’s famous “Interpretation of Dreams” was influenced by the sugar rush of tempting desserts.

A life size seated Peter Altenberg lingers by the pastry case, motivating me to look for his works. His “Telegrams of the Soul” is now on my Kindle.