Saturday night and Sunday in Vienna
Last night I went to another Michelin starred restaurant, Fabios. It was Italian, for the most part, and also bewildering as to how they got their star. It was good, don't get me wrong. It just wasn't amazing, which Michelin stars should be. I started innocently enough with a glass of Prosecco, then ordered an appetizer of gnocchi in a brown butter and truffle sauce. What came out was gnocchi with pesto sauce. I later discovered that they had given me an old menu. At any rate I like pesto, so it was fine. I had a glass of Austrian Sauvignon Blanc to go with the main course, sauteed turbot with mixed veggies, like baby corn, snow peas, zucchini. It was tasty, but not, as I said, amazing. For dessert I had sweet cannolis and prosecco sorbet. Sounds interesting, except not. Along with that I had a Beerenauslese. Trockenbeerenauslese is better of course, but this was their only dessert wine by the glass. Toward the end of the meal, the couple of women seated next to me started smoking a cigar. Rank. I think it smells like burning horse shit. That analogy was fresh on my mind after walking around the city with all the horse-drawn carriages everywhere.
The return to Why Not? was greeted with an unexpected surprise: they were having a sort of "white party", or at least everything was decorated with white streamers and balloons, and most everyone, the ones in the know anyway, were dressed in white. I of course had on blue jeans and a navy polo. Fortunately there were others in non-white. The music was pretty much on par with the previous night. That was pretty much it.
Today was spent mostly at Schönbrunn, the country palace of the Habsburgs located just outside the central city. It was modeled to rival Versailles, and is very much in that style, but kind of a smaller version. The grounds were equally if not more stunning, with formal and natural gardens, fountains, and even a maze. I spent about 4 hours there, then headed back to town to catch the Belvedere palace while the sun was still shining. It is perhaps the most beautiful Baroque palace in Europe, built by Prince Eugene of Savoy, a military nobleman who was instrumental in pushing the Turks out of the Empire. I must have walked 20 miles today.
Most high quality restaurants are closed on Sunday, but I ended up at a good one, Do & Co on a terrace at the Albertina museum. I started with a Bellini (I could get used to that) and a "Caprese" pasta, tagliarini with buffalo mozzarella and basil in a tomato sauce. The main course was Dover Sole with Austrian roasted potatoes and wild mushrooms. I had a lovely glass of Austrian Riesling along with it. Dessert was apricot dumplings coated in buttered bread crumbs and powdered sugar. This one was amazing. I also had a glass of the ubiquitous Beerenauslese.
I wish I had more time in Vienna, I feel like I barely scratched the surface. I will definitely have to come back. Tomorrow I am off to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. We'll see if the internet reaches there.
The return to Why Not? was greeted with an unexpected surprise: they were having a sort of "white party", or at least everything was decorated with white streamers and balloons, and most everyone, the ones in the know anyway, were dressed in white. I of course had on blue jeans and a navy polo. Fortunately there were others in non-white. The music was pretty much on par with the previous night. That was pretty much it.
Today was spent mostly at Schönbrunn, the country palace of the Habsburgs located just outside the central city. It was modeled to rival Versailles, and is very much in that style, but kind of a smaller version. The grounds were equally if not more stunning, with formal and natural gardens, fountains, and even a maze. I spent about 4 hours there, then headed back to town to catch the Belvedere palace while the sun was still shining. It is perhaps the most beautiful Baroque palace in Europe, built by Prince Eugene of Savoy, a military nobleman who was instrumental in pushing the Turks out of the Empire. I must have walked 20 miles today.
Most high quality restaurants are closed on Sunday, but I ended up at a good one, Do & Co on a terrace at the Albertina museum. I started with a Bellini (I could get used to that) and a "Caprese" pasta, tagliarini with buffalo mozzarella and basil in a tomato sauce. The main course was Dover Sole with Austrian roasted potatoes and wild mushrooms. I had a lovely glass of Austrian Riesling along with it. Dessert was apricot dumplings coated in buttered bread crumbs and powdered sugar. This one was amazing. I also had a glass of the ubiquitous Beerenauslese.
I wish I had more time in Vienna, I feel like I barely scratched the surface. I will definitely have to come back. Tomorrow I am off to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. We'll see if the internet reaches there.