Vienna, Day 2

This morning I woke up before my alarm all proud of myself for, well, waking up before my alarm. I made my way downstairs relatively early to enjoy me some good Austrian breakfast. And man was it good. It was buffet style so I made a couple (or 3 trips). Started off with just some bread, cheese, and meats. Then I had some bread with some jam. German bread is so good – it’s hearty and filling and substantial. Then I had a bit of fruit salad and some watermelon. Then I had some olives. And then I had some muesli with yogurt and some of the reddest strawberries I’ve seen in a while. It was so good. I passed on the sparkling wine with breakfast because 9 AM seemed a little early to be working on the glow.

After breakfast a couple of us went to the local supermarket to pick up some candy. I got a whole bunch, which I am currently trying not to eat. I’m not sure it’s going to all make it up until I get home. It was pretty funny though – easy to tell who the tourists were, because we were the ones walking through the grocery store at 9:45 AM with armfuls of candy. Yum!

Finally, a little after 10, we started out daily adventure. Carl’s cousin, Kevin met up with us at our hotel and took us to Schönbrunn, which is the Habsburg (the Viennese monarchy) summer palace. To sum it up – it pretty much reminded me of my house. You know, a few gilded rooms here, some precious wood inlays there, a ballroom, and a couple of dozen custom portraits. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside the palace, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

We got to take an audio tour (and man do I love my audio tours. Just ask Elizabeth about her trip with me to Stirling in Scotland) which gave a nice overview of the palace and walked us through the monarchy in Austria. Monarchies are cool! For some reason hearing about who married whom and who was heir to which country, blah, blah, blah, totally facinates me.

Afterwards we walked around through the gardens in the back of Schönbrunn palace and got a bite to eat. Right next to the palace grounds is a zoo (which just so happens to be the oldest zoo in the world. It was built for the monarchy. For reals, can you imagine being like, “I think I’d like a zoo near my summer home.” And done.). We didn’t go in, but we did meet a friendly emu.

For lunch I got some sort of cheese dish that I cannot remember. I was under a lot of pressure and had to make a snap decision, which lead to, well…a somewhat disappointing meal. I didn’t really (and still don’t) have any idea of what I was actually eating, but suffice it to say, it was underwelming. Seriously, on that plate is three blocks of cheese. What kind of cheese, I have no idea. It was sort of a waxy texture and didn’t taste like much. I didn’t notice it being too offensive smelling, but Kevin described it as, “oh, it’s the cheese that smells like rotting death.” So I’m pretty sure everyone was glad I ordered it. It’s drizzled with pumpkin seed oil and possibly some other stuff. I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the bread and pickles that came with my death cheese.

After lunch we took a variety of different forms of public transportation to head for the hills.  On our way up, we stopped by the Hundertwasser Haus. The Hundertwasser Haus is an apartment complex that has become one of the most notable attractions in Vienna. It was designed by an architect named Friedesreich Hundertwasser who had a unique vision for the area. It’s a crazy building with trees integrated into the design and tile mosiacs splashed all over the exterior. There are a number of buildings in Vienna that have been retrofitted in the image of Hundertwasser, but this by far is the most impressive. 

After an U-bahn ride, a tram, some walking, and a bus ride, we finally made it up into the hills. I think it’s the last part of the Alps near Vienna and we were able to get some amazing views of the city. While at the top of this mountain-hill thing, we saw a nice Polish church, and saw a fountain that supposedly had healing water. So now I’m either immune forever or I’ve been baptized. Let’s hope it’s the former.

We took the scenic route down and got leisurely stroll down the mountainside. In this part of Vienna there are a lot of wineries. We must have passed a good half a dozen during our meandering.

Near the bottom, we stopped at a heuriger to have some wine and get some dinner. A heuriger is local wine establishment where one stops in to drink that vineyard’s wine and have some good food. The food was served sort of cafeteria style where you walked up to the counter, pointed to the food you wanted and got a generous portion to enjoy with your wine.

The group of us shared a carafe of red wine and a carafe of white wine. Being the wine connoisseur that I am, I enjoyed it very much. To protect my colleagues, I will abstain from posting pictures of the dancing on the tables and the baskets on the heads.

For dinner I got some roast chicken and potatoes with bacon. Those potatoes were amazing. I’ve been getting a lot of crap on this trip for all the pork I’ve been eating (it’s nearly impossible to avoid in Vienna) coupled with my, you know, being Jewish, but it’s totally been worth it. I am going to publicly declare right now, I LOVE BACON. And put them on potatoes. Delicous!

I also got a side of tomato salad and potato salad. Yes, I realize I had a side of potatoes with my chicken, but at the time I wasn’t really paying attention. The tomato salad was awesome. The tomatos were fresh and sweet and they were covered in a tangy dressing that wasn’t too overpowering. The potato salad was served cold and dressed similarly to the tomatoes.

The atmosphere of the heuriger was relaxed and lazy. We took our time eating while live music played softly in the background. It was an excellent way to end a long, tiring day, leaving us feeling satisfied and content.

Turns out we were also in Beethoven’s old stomping grounds, so much of the surrounding area is dedicated to him. In fact, the heuriger that we ate at was a former residence of Beethoven.

Then it was back to the hotel just in time to collapse. Tomorrow is our meeting with our vendor (oh yeah, work…that’s why I’m here in the first place), so I’m not sure how much sight seeing and interesting things I’ll have to report on tomorrow. Wish me luck at the review!