Smurf Midgets and Blow in Vienna
Trip Start
Apr 20, 2011
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29
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Trip End
Jul 21, 2011
Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The next day we returned to the city for the first time for a full day. I had researched online the best the best place to get wiener schnitzel and apple strudel and we planned to hit up these spots at some point in the day. Vienna is a very nice city, but it’s kind of posh. There are a lot of high end museums and overpriced opera shows which we didn’t bother to visit. I’m sure for some people it would be nice, but it’s just not our style to spend hundreds of dollars in each city on museums etc. We noticed there were a lot of French and British tourists. We walked the long pedestrian street filled with cafes, street performers, beggars and hustlers to the main square where a huge gothic cathedral stood. It was nice but not very different from the countless others we’ve seen in the other cities central square, and it was partly under renovation which made it even less exciting. Then I saw Lilly’s eye’s open wide and sparkle with excitement as she noticed a Manner store. "Can we go, can we go, can we go, please, please, please!!" she exclaimed. The Manner company makes layered wafer cookies, I’m sure most people have tried in their lives, or similar cookies, but Manner’s are the original and the best. Lilly’s Nana as you should already know is Austrian, and has spoiled Lilly at a young age, like most grandparents do, with chocolaty goodies. Some of her favourites as a child were the Manner wafers, the icy cube chocolates and cow candies (sugar molasses) all Austrian delicacies. I held no objection to her request and told her she could buy as much and whatever she wanted. We came out of there with a few multipacks of wafers, and after some persuading almost a brand spanking new pinkish/orange baseball cap sportin’ the Manner logo for yours truly, but I didn’t end up getting it.
We continued down the street and somehow stumbled into a conversation about smurf midgets, nothing derogatory to smurfs or midgets, we were just being silly and talking. The Lilly said “smurf midget” pretty loudly as we passed a store with a very little person in it, she then said “oh, shit, I shouldn’t have said that so loud.” We laughed sheepishly and hurried further down the street. All of a sudden we came across a toy store with a Papa Smurf statue in the front! We looked at each other and burst out laughing, messed up shit!
We then found the restaurant with the supposedly best weiner schnitzel in Vienna, it is a famous place and reminded me of Schwartz’s. It was very small, maybe 10 tables, and there are often line ups. Luckily we were there at lunch and were seated right away, right by the window no less. We both ordered the schnitzel, and when it came it was GIGANTIC! Like really really big. It was bigger than a large standard plate! The taste was nothing to die for, but it was quite good, I can almost say the schnitzel I had the night before at a small no-name diner was better in taste, but it was the size that probably makes this place famous.
Lilly was bent on finding an Austrian porcelain doll to ship to her Nana in Laval from Austria but we had no luck thus far, stores were closing and we were beginning to face the fact that we would not find one. We made our way to the “permanent carnival” Prater Square north of the city square which is home to the giant Ferris wheel. It was fun here, it’s like one of those mall fairs like we have in Montreal just a lot bigger and better. We didn’t go on many rides because they were like 8 euros a pop, but we did play some carnie games, and we were attracted to the arcades by simulated banjo music coming from the whack-a-mole game. On our way out of the fair we passed by a carnie vendor who was actually selling porcelain dolls beside her carnie game! And at a decent price! What luck, we picked out a boy and a girl doll and our carnival experience was done.
We were ready to go home, but I was bent on finding the “best” apple strudel place I had searched on the internet. We found it, called café Diglas and let me say it catered to a very high class crowd. Everyone inside looked very “proper” and there was a piano player serenading the patrons. I was surprised they even seated us, we ordered our 10 euro apple strudel and ice hot chocolate. It was not as good as I had expected. The bathrooms were cool though, Lilly went to go pee, and she said it was clear glass stalls, she was like “oh shit, people are going to see me peeing when they come into the bathroom, but... oh well” but when you lock the doors the glass frosts over! Pretty crazy! On our way out we saw an overly happy looking businessman chilling on the terrace. We now have a running joke that rich people in Vienna like to do lots of blow and come to café Diglas! Hahaha, anyways off to Poland tomorrow, it will be nice to hear another language for a change.
Cheers!
Dan
Comments
I never knew what a schnitzel was before today, and damn that thing looks good!! I am craving one now lol... Also the smurf looks pretty funny lol
@ sami: lol - all i've been eating since germany is schnitzel. you can get one in montreal but it wont be as good (unless you go to my nana's),
and now you know