After a long train ride through the Czech Republic I arrived in Vienna without (well almost) any incident. There was just a 'little' fire on the train and nasty smoke coming into our compartment. Thank god there was no panic, so all of us moved out into other sections of the train while the crew took care of the problem. They turned off the electricity which seemed to fix the issue and after some time we were able to return to our seats.
At the train station I was picked up by my friend Ernesto. We dropped my luggage at the hotel and then we went to a "Heurigen". By the way, Vienna is surrounded by vineyards, sometimes they reach well into the city. Everything is about wine (and food and music) and there is no better place than the "Heurigen". So, how am I to explain what a "Heurigen" means. Think Napa Valley wine tasting meats Zeitgeist (the famous basic "Biergarten" (beer garden) in SF. By an old law. wineries are allowed to sell all their on products and operate a bar / restaurant to do so without the need of a license. Most of them open up their courtyard, put in some wooden benches and tables and there you go. The food is basic, but very tasty and you can buy all the wines that this specific winery produces.
At the train station I was picked up by my friend Ernesto. We dropped my luggage at the hotel and then we went to a "Heurigen". By the way, Vienna is surrounded by vineyards, sometimes they reach well into the city. Everything is about wine (and food and music) and there is no better place than the "Heurigen". So, how am I to explain what a "Heurigen" means. Think Napa Valley wine tasting meats Zeitgeist (the famous basic "Biergarten" (beer garden) in SF. By an old law. wineries are allowed to sell all their on products and operate a bar / restaurant to do so without the need of a license. Most of them open up their courtyard, put in some wooden benches and tables and there you go. The food is basic, but very tasty and you can buy all the wines that this specific winery produces.
Now think of a little village ("Strammersdorf") with many, many wineries and house after house is such a "Heuriger". It is a great atmosphere, very unique. We set outside at "Christel's" on the roof deck. We enjoyed the wine, the view over Vienna and the food. I had a potato dumpling filled with minced meat called "Grammerl Knoedel" .... yummy. After this place closed we went to the "Haupt Prost Amt" (the former post office ("Hauptpostamt"). By adding the letter "r" to the mix "Post" becomes "Prost" which means cheers. We had a couple more drinks and then I took a cab back to my hotel.
No comments:
Post a Comment