On Thursday (September 12) we took a long walk through the 5th and 4th districts from Allison’s pediatrician to Wien Mitte, where we met my brother and his girlfriend. Together we went to an old gasthaus and ate beef with kurbis, a squash related to pumpkin that is in season now. One of my favorite things about Vienna is that you can just order a beer without specifying what kind you want. My other favorite thing is that they always serve the beer in the glass of the beer, so you know what you got! My favorite beer is Steigl, so I was happy that that is what the waitress brought for the weary travelers. From there we loaded all the bags in Allison’s stroller and walked a few blocks to the Hundertwasser Haus. This is a 50 unit city apartment building with rolling floors and bowed walls, trees growing between floors and mosaic decorations. We watched a video tour in the coffeehouse on the ground floor and got little espressos. I really enjoyed it. It was a good trip for Allison also because she loved the mosaic columns and the proprietor gave her a Pokemon toy. While waiting for a tram we visited a thrift store devoted to Trachten, Austrian national costume, and played dress-up.
On Friday we did a walking tour of the biggest sites and ate kasekrainers (cheese-filled bratwurst) while shivering in the unexpectedly cold streets. My brother was excited about being able to drink a beer while walking around. Stephansdom also seemed to impress him. Allison woke up to the trumpet fanfare of a couple of clowns at a “busker” festival (street performer). The rain ruined a street festival in our neighborhood, but we’ll note the event for next year.
Saturday morning we headed out early on a train to Znojmo, Czech Republic. They were having a big festival to celebrate the new wine harvest and their medieval heritage all in one. We followed the smell of roasting meat from the train station to a wine cellar where we sampled some not so great white wines and an even stranger elixir called Burček. This is a brand new “wine” that comes in unsealed bottles and continues to ferment after bottling. At the beginning of the day it’s basically juice, but after a day of jostling and warm sun it becomes stronger. We followed the mayor, his entourage and his escort of drummers around as he sampled from each of the cellars and made a speech pronouncing the wine to be of good quality and allowing business to continue. This is actually a big deal since later in the day we saw a man dunked in water and beaten for watering down the wine and overcharging drunks. Medieval bureaucracy.
The highlight of the day is a procession that reenacts a an actual visit to the town by King Jan of Luxemburg in 1327 Many townspeople dress up in elaborate costumes for the parade. Our friend from the town’s brother joined the parade as a hunter with their two large dogs. We saw Knights, jugglers, prisoners and princesses. camels, falcons, and a slain wild boar also joined in. The spectators wore jeans and gortex rain jackets. It was more of a town fair in a medieval town, than a medieval festival. We danced to a blues band and walked through a plaza with KFC and Chinese noodles in addition to spit roasted beasts. I loved the old church filled with harvest offerings, the view from the roman tower, and watching the parade. I was sad to leave before the fireworks to catch the last train home. I was especially sad after I learned that the brother purchased the wild boar from the parade. Next year we’ll stay the night,
On Sunday we visited the imperial burial crypt. After we had coffee at Julius Meinl and then walked to Museums Quartier. We dropped in the Imperial Hotel on the ring to use the business center, which is just above the lobby and provides free usage, apples, and bottled water. Just saying. We ate ribs at a brewery called 1516. They weren’t the best ribs in Vienna, but it was the best IPA. Austrian beer is generally limited to lagers, pilsner and wheat beer, which doesn’t get old for me, but if it did I would be thrilled about 1516.
On our way home we saw a lot of fancy people headed to the opera. We watched the beginning of Tosca projected live outside in the opera square. Allison was excited, as well she should be, since this is the opera we saw in Vienna five years ago, a few days before Duke proposed.
Monday I dropped off Allison in Kindergarten and left to take my brother to the airport train. It was a short visit but I think we got a lot of good things in. Allison is still crying in the morning but the teachers say its only about 10 minutes. I’m doing much better too.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/gasthaus-zur-gruabn-wien
http://www.yelp.com/biz/kunst-caf%C3%A9-im-hundertwasserhaus-wien-3
http://www.buskerswien.at/
http://www.wien.gv.at/bezirke/josefstadt/freizeit/strassenfest-josefstadt.html
http://www.znojemskevinobrani.cz/english
http://www.kaisergruft.at/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/1516-brewing-company-wien
http://events.wien.info/en/5ox/live-opera-on-the-square/
http://www.cityairporttrain.com/
@laurel 