Austria

Actually true

• Coffeehouse culture is a genuine institution

  Vienna's historic cafés are UNESCO-listed cultural heritage, meant for sitting for hours over one coffee and a newspaper.

• Classical music heritage runs deep

  Mozart, Haydn and Strauss all worked in Vienna, and the city still hosts world-class opera nightly.

• Skiing is a national pastime, not a luxury

  Alpine villages build entire economies and school holidays around the ski season.

• Austria and Germany are culturally distinct despite the shared language

  Austrians have their own dialect, cuisine and self-image separate from German identity.

Commonly believed, wrong

• "Austria is basically part of Germany"

  It's a separate country with its own history, dialect, cuisine and strong sense of Habsburg-era identity.

• "The Sound of Music reflects real Austrian life"

  Most Austrians find the film more popular abroad than at home, and few relate to its portrayal of the country.

• "It's all mountains, no cities"

  Vienna is a major cosmopolitan capital with grand imperial architecture and a large population.

• "Viennese coffee is just espresso"

  Vienna has dozens of named specialty coffee styles, each with a specific cup, milk ratio and presentation.