What is Vienna? You'd hope I would have figured it out by now... and I can assume I have a pretty good sense of my surroundings. Before I came here I knew nothing about the city except for the classical music and wiener schnitzel. I can now say I have added a few more things to the list Vienna is known for; Bach, Lederhausen, white wine, apfel strudel, potato salad, the royal family, opera, and of course its 'coffee shop' lifestyle.
I see now that it really is a lifestyle, sitting in really old cafe's reading newspapers on wooden holders and nibbling a slice of apfel strudel, all washed down with a hot Melange.
This traditional Cafe culture has been going on since about the mid 1700's. And yes, the same cafe's that were opened here in Vienna in those mid 1700's are still open, serving tourists and locals alike. The idea of a 'Kaffehaus' or coffee house, was invented here in Vienna, and now there are thousands of places to choose from within the city where you can grab your cup-a joe. (Not necessarily to-go).
Being a temporary Viennese citizen and all, of course I have gone out of my way to test out these Kaffehaus's.. and off a tourist Top 10 Cafe list, I have hit up 4 of them. Seeing as a piece of cake at one of these places is pushing 10 Canadian dollars, that may be the extent of old cafe's I go to, come on, I am a student.
Inside they are decorated what I imagine to be pretty much the same as they were some few hundred years ago, but I guess that is they idea. The first Cafe test conducted was on my first week here in Vienna, with Meghan and Michelle, at Cafe Museum. Originally designed in 1899, we had a delicious traditional Viennese breakfast consisting of some sort of boiled egg, buns and a pot of coffee- of course. It was delicious! and the red velvet benches and chandeliers really framed the whole experience, even though it was a little awkward being the only people under the age of 50 in there.
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| Kind of turned into a tourist attraction, note the 'Franz Shubert' apricot jelly. |
As instructed by our program counsellor back in Guelph, Cafe experience take 2 was carried out at Cafe Central. Famous for being the official meeting place of Vienna's intellectuals, Cafe Central is known for serving coffee to Leon Trotsky prior to World War 1, the poet Peter Altenberg (who even had his mail delivered there), Adolf Hitler and Sigmund Freud. This place was a pretty spectacular site, HUGE inside, and massive columns holding the enormous arched ceiling. The coffee itself, in my opinion, wasn't anything special, and our lunch lacked flavour.. BUT you really are just paying to sit where Leon Trotsky did some hundred years ago.
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| Painfully overpriced lunch at Cafe Central, stick to just a coffee. |
Take 3! Cafe Sperl with my fellow Guelph-Vienna exchange ladies, Cara and Michelle. Established in 1880, Cafe Sperl's regulars consists of artists, singers and musicians from the nearby theatre. Now, this place was again magnificent. A little dark, more red velvet and newspapers on wooden handle things, and ceilings to the sky.. quite impressive. I have a bit of a tainted image of this Cafe unfortunately, due to my own food-texture issues and a soggy cream-cheese strudel. I still shudder thinking about it. You may have read in a past blog post how horrifying this experience was. Even so, beautiful building.
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| YUCK. |
And finally, while the family was here we had a coffee break at the Mozart Cafe before heading into the royal families crypts just up the way. Formerly known as the Katzmayr Cafe, opened in 1794, it was transformed into Cafe Mozart in 1929, after his death, and the city became so fond of him, clearly. I just had a Coke here, but Dad enjoyed his second piece of apfel strudel that day, and Oma had a pot of coffee. Once again the atmosphere is what you go for. If you have ever seen the movie, "The Third Man", you will recognized Cafe Mozart as the place where Holly Martin waited to hear the news of his presumed dead friend. (Also, I recently found out you can take a tour of the cities sewers and underground or something, the tour is called "The Third Man Tour".. if you're a fan and all. )
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| Mozart Torte, very delicious. |
Now I'd say this is a pretty well-preserved tradition. For how old these places are they are definitely in good condition, it's kind of like stepping back in time. And if I could read German I would grab one of these sweet newspaper holder things and take that coffee time a little more seriously. Coffee time is no joke here, you take your sweet time. Besides Starbucks here, it actually is pretty hard to find a coffee-to-go. And when you do, it's kind of funny because they advertise it as "American Coffee-To-Go!", like running getting your coffee on the run is the coffee break they want. I think it's a good thing they take this coffee break time so seriously, everyone deserves a breather now and then.
Not going to lie though, even though the coffee, when it comes down to it, is pretty crappy.. I kind of miss a Tim Hortons here and there. (JUST on those days when you're in a rush, or just want a plain, big, black coffee).
Who knows, I will probably miss having a little silver tray holding a coffee, little silver dish of milk, glass of water, a mint and sugar cubes when I get home.
19 days! shannon xx
