Here we are, the day after Christmas, when all the stores say nothing on their web sites or windows about being closed…but they all are. “We take no holidays!” except the one that everyone but someone and me must know happens automatically on the 26th. Strange, because a lot of places were open on the […]
Month: December 2012
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Café Schwarzenberg, Vienna
Once, in the dreadfully cold winter of 1743, an enormous black iceberg washed up on the shores of Wiener. It still looms large, nay, it hulks in the memory of Wieners, and to remember the horrific sight while also defusing some of its mystery, majesty, and mummery, the Guldraus family named their eponymous restaurant after it […]
Figlmuller, Vienna
Festive Christmas luncheon! Nothing says Christmas to me like thinly-pounded veal cutlets, and nothing says thinly-pounded Wieners like Figlmuller – though how much of their popularity is due to the food and how much is due to the marketing is an interesting question. As an aside, I enjoyed the atmosphere here tremendously, in mo small […]
Oswald & Kalb, Vienna
Hola. My name is Kalb, but you can call me Oswald for short. Hey, ‘kalb’ means ‘veal’, and the poster to the right of the door (very festive, lads!) said something like “The best wiener in Wiener!” so I think they rate their schnitzel highly. It was Christmas Eve, someone was sick, and I still […]
Cafe Central, Vienna
I was lucky enough to have taken a picture of Cafe Central at night before the afternoon we went, which was lucky considering I forgot to get an exterior shot. Although that pales in comparison to my failure to load a memory card into the camera the following night… This cafe has an illustrious history […]
Cafe Demel, Vienna
Were we excited to get to Demel? We were. Called by at least one seasoned observer the authority on Viennese cakes, this is the other famous one, and more appealing to me than the overtly touristed Sacher. It turns out to be almost as touristed, but they do a better job in atmosphere and service […]
Gasthaus Pöschl, Vienna
Nothing that I read about Viennese restaurants or cuisine really got me excited about the eating component of this trip. I was just kind resigned to eating stodgy food, and drinking wine, and eating cakes, and that was cool. Plus we’re staying in the inner city, and I imagine it’s pretty touristy and pricey around […]
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Cafe Sacher, Vienna
Do I feel a little guilty engaging in the most touristy of pleasures? Why yes, I do. You know how much I like seeking out hidden gems, but when you’re traveling to a new city, that just isn’t an option – either you’re on your own, walking the streets, or else you’re looking at reviews […]
Winegut Mayer am Pfarrplatz, Vienna
In the summer, ‘everyone’ in Vienna goes to Heurigen, which are ‘wine taverns’ that serve new wine from their own vineyards. Of course I have no idea who actually goes to them – probably old men who want to get wasted on cheap wine, eat a lot of fatty food, and sing along to the […]
Schönbrunn Christmas Market, Vienna
Schönbrunn Palace at dusk. Sort of a still life, with palace and tree and lights and a row of Christmas product vendors and a ton of people walking around. Not that still, really, when you think about it. But when I thought about it, I couldn’t think of much to say here. So you got […]