Vienna – Day 2

The Volksgarten

I had a rather late start today. I was awakened by a tour group under my widow at around 7:30. I did manage to go back to sleep; and, when I did wake up it was after 9:00. I went upstairs to the hotel breakfast room so that I could have some coffee. I love the Strudlhof Hotel, but I wish they would put coffee makers in the room. I hate having to become” presentable” just to get a cup of coffee. Today I was going to the Imperial Treasure Chamber. I had made it an objective of this trip to try to see as many things that I had “missed” in coming to Vienna over the years. This was a major one. I took the tram from the hotel to the general area of the Hofburg.  I allowed myself to be sidetracked in the Volksgarten by the roses still in bloom. I enjoyed seeing all the various colors and hues. After a few more detours, I finally made it to the Schatzkammer. I regret that I have waited so long to see this. I probably have a better understanding of the Hapsburg dynasty now that I have been there. There are some truly remarkable objects in that collection.

Oh, those little sandwiches

I had plans to visit one of my favorite restaurants tonight, so I only wanted “a little something” for lunch. Fortunately, Vienna has just the place to do that, Trzesniewski.  Trzesniewski is something of an institution in Vienna. They serve what we would call “tea sandwiches”. Open faced sandwiches with a wide variety of toppings. One orders how many of each variety one wants, gets them, goes to the cashier and pays while ordering a drink. My drink of choice is a “Pfiff”, a little 2 oz. mug of beer.  I am always overwhelmed by having to decide, but somehow I manage. Today it was two egg and tuna and two tomato. There are counters inside and high-tops outside. I was lucky enough to get a high-top. So, I stood on the street, ate my sandwiches and drank my Pfiff, all while watching the world go by. 

Topfenstrudel

I wandered around the city some more and eventually ended up near Karlsplatz. I am not quite sure how. The Café Museum was right ahead of me and it seemed like a good time for cake and coffee. I have not done this much in Vienna, perhaps because of the admonition my host mother had given me when I was studying German in Vienna. “If you want sweets”, she would say, “you come home and eat them here. Don’t go into Konditorei (bakeries) or cafes. They pump their stuff full of air.” I could still hear her saying that as I tucked into my “Topfenstrudel”, a kind of cheese strudel with vanilla sauce. Heaven.

One thing about visiting Vienna at this time of year is the days are quite short. The sun comes up around 7:30 a.m. and sets around 4:30 p.m. It gets dark early! I returned to the hotel and rested for a bit. I caught up o some email and worked on the blog. Soon enough it was time for dinner. I was going to Servitenwirt, a gastropub a few blocks from my hotel. I had discovered this place during my last visit and was looking forward to it. While still being a true “Gasthaus” or, pub, the food is much more refined than what you find elsewhere. I was happy to see that there was plenty of room and settled in to study the menu. There is a tradition in Austria of serving goose around the feast of St. Martin, November 11.

Martinigansl

Servitenwirt was offering a “goose” dinner – goose soup, venison ravioli and roast goose. If I were going to eat goose, this is place I would want to do it.  I ordered the three-course menu with the wine pairing. The soup was light and frothy. I’m not quite sure how they do that, but it was great. The ravioli were good, but not exceptional. The goose, on the other hand, was perfectly cooked. The skin was crispy and the meat was still very juicy. I truly enjoyed that meal. I walked back to the hotel a very contented customer.