Vienna - "The City of Dreams"

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MERCI BEAUCOUP!

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The patisseries of Paris will have to go on hold for a week or so because today I am in the beautiful, imperial city of Vienna! I had such a wonderful first day here that I couldn't wait to share....

***NOTE:  Sickness impeded me from posting this my first evening in Vienna (I have the worst cold).  So I am posting it tonight, 3 days later, from the alpine town of Salzburg…but my enthusiasm for Vienna is still bubbling over!***

In the historic center of Vienna.

All the Christmas lights are going up...but they don't turn them on until December 1st. 

Boo Hoo L

I arrived to Vienna this morning via train.  I went from Paris to Munich and then an overnight train from Munich to Vienna.  My sleeping car companion was an agent for opera singers.  He works in Germany, Vienna and Texas (<- apparently they have an appetite for cowboys and opera! Who knew!).  Before bed, my new German friend drank 2 huge beers ("huge" is the only size of cans that they make in Germany) and then proceeded to entertain me with his own version of "opera singing" all night.  Oh, the horror!  The snoring never stopped :). So well-rested is not how I arrived to Austria's capital city.

My hotel didn't have a room ready for me at 6:30am so that meant I had to wipe the sleepies from my eyes and take to the streets to kill some time before a proper shower and nap.  Of course I came to Vienna prepared with a list of about 20 restaurants I wanted to try (which in 3 days may be difficult, but a girl can dream!) so it was easy for me to determine where my first meal would be: Café Central.

I chose the "Viennese Breakfast." The egg is the picture is soft boiled.  Not knowing how to eat it, I removed it from its little cup, peeled it (it was a little hot still!) and then placed the wobbling egg on my plate. Anticipating a mess, I removed all the bread items from the plate before letting the yolk run free.

This had to be wrong!  I was certain the intellectuals who once graced these tables, like Freud and Trotzki, were not letting yellow yolk and flaky croissants collide haphazardly on their plates, so I asked my server if I had eaten my egg correctly.  His eyes widened when I explained my less than elegant manner of consuming my soft boiled egg. "No," he said, "you leave the egg in the cup, take the knife and cut the top half off and then scoop out the insides with the spoon."

See! I knew I was doing it wrong.

The beautiful interior of Café Central which has over 130 years of history.

There is apparently a smaller second one as well. However, I haven't scouted that one out yet.  Perhaps I will try another soft boiled egg there :).

(Note from Salzburg: I did find the second…it is now closed L) 

Really I forget the name of this resin man who sits at the entrance of the Café Central.

There is a sign next to him with his name and it says he welcomes you as the most frequent patron of the cafe. 

I only took his picture because I sat at a table near him. All breakfast I kept feeling liked I was being watched and every time I looked over I saw this dude.  I wasn't charmed at all.....

Next stop, because I still had time to kill, was to  k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäckerei Demel, the Imperial and Royal Court Confectionary Bakery! 

Inside Demel!  Do you see me?

A couple of interesting facts about Demel:

1) Empress Elisabeth only ordered sweets from here and had Mr. Demel personally deliver them. Her favorite dessert was a sorbet made out of violet blossom extract, spun sugar and a few drops of champagne. The violet sorbet is still served today. 

2) During the time of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy, the waitresses were recruited from convent schools and called Demelinerinnen. The Demelinerinnen still today address the guests as they did during the time of the monarchy: “Has the lady already made a selection?” 

It was how one addressed aristocrats without being too personal and offending them. 

I felt completely non-offended ordering my delicious chocolate Demel cake (going back tomorrow for another!)

I keep seeing these little terrifying devil/monster creatures next to Santa Claus everywhere I go.  I learned that in Alpine regions this is a common companion of St. Nick, and he is called Krampusz.  His job is to punish and scare to crap out of bad children….frankly, even as a cookie he was pretty d*mn scary.

However, ranking lower on the scary scale were these guys…a basket full of yodeling ground hogs!

Oh, the streets of Vienna!!  

My hotel!  It is right outside of the Ringstrasse and across the Danube on a street that is completely being torn-up and redone.  It will be interesting going to the Opera in heels tomorrow.  I am already worried about navigating the pebbles. 

My hotel promotes that it is the oldest in Vienna at 400 years old…

My first destination this evening was Vienna’s best and most famous Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market)…the Spittelberg Christmas Market.  Upon arriving, I grabbed my mug of mulled orange-apple mulled wine/punsch and started winding through the narrow cobble stone streets lined with white lights and stalls full of ornaments, local glass work, nativity scenes made in Bethlehem, wooden toys and intricately decorated gingerbread cookies.

Walking back from the Spittelberg Christmas market, I got this glimpse of the Hofburg Palace.

Uh, delightful!

Next stop was my dinner destination!

The name of the restaurant is Der Kuckuck (CooCoo!) and was located in a cozy medieval building close to Stephansplatz. It was recommended to me by a foodie friend who only used the word, “charming,” to describe it.  He hit the nail on the head! I walked in the door  and pulled back the red wool curtain that helped keep the heat from escaping to a warm room of about 10 tables and 30 coocoo clocks J.  

My heart and stomach was absolutely set on Vienna’s tradional Wiener Schitzel…so the owner order this for me.  It came with “mit petersilkartofelin” (parsley potatoes), market fresh mushrooms and the trademark slice of lemon.  I paired it with a local red wine called, Zweigelt.

The meal was delicious…I wish I could say the same for Austrian wine J.

Homemade Apfelstrudel for dessert!

Inside the Der Kuckuck (and my server!).

About every 10 minutes one of the coocoo clocks would go off…I didn’t understand the inconsistency, but looking closely at them I noticed all were set at different times J.

With a full belly and content spirit, I headed past St. Stephen Cathedral and back to my little hotel across the Danube.

“The City of Dreams”…called this because one of its great residents was the most famous interpreter of dreams, Professor Sigmund Freud.

Today, Vienna’s tourist board uses the phrase, “Vienna - Now or Never” to draw the masses…unique and a bit odd. Although I don’t entirely understand it, I am glad that I am in Vienna now.  So much awaits me in the few days ahead, the opera, the great stallions at the Spanish riding school, Gustav Klimt’s masterpieces, the famous Sacher Torte J…how could anyone ever chose “never” when it comes to such a city.  Hmmm….I guess the marketing guys may be on to something....