While in Austria, it felt like a must to try wiener schnitzel – a traditional meal of very thinly-pounded pork, breaded and fried. Figlmüller has become the place for wiener schnitzel in Vienna, as they have been serving it there for 120 years. They also are known for their home-grown wine, but we aren’t big wine drinkers! I did have grape juice there, which was absolutely the best grape juice I have ever had.
Vienna is full of Coffee Houses. They are something that is super popular, often with tons of coffees and cakes, and always with a line out the door. We went to a handful of coffee houses while on our trip, but one of the fanciest ones were Demel. Demel is a more historical coffee house, where there are stunning window displays, tons of pastries and breads that can be purchased indoors, and a little cafe. Some of the cafe seating is inside and some is outside – we opted for inside which is such a better choice, even if it is a little bit of an extra wait.
Kaiserschmarrn
Now, we were seeing Kaiserschmarrn all over Austria, at almost every coffee house, in the Christmas markets, and just at street stands on the road. This is a very popular dish, but our tour guide for the adventure said the best of the best is at Demel Cafe, so we tried it there. This is a sort of broken apart pancake, lightly sweeten, covered in powdered sugar with a plum jam. The jam itself isn’t very sweet and is almost more on the sour side! It’s a very interesting way to eat such a simple dish, with a funny history of being one of the favorite dishes from Franz Joseph I, who was the emperor. Dann very much liked the jam and the pancake, and I am glad we got to try such a famous dish.
[Ad – Gifted Products] We play a board game or card game every other Monday, while at Geek Retreat! This little afterschool tradition has become such a fun part of our Monday. This time, we played Fuzzballs Pizza Thief Card Game – which is a very interesting, more complex than normal game. Fuzzballs are these adorable cat characters, which Robin has a few toys of. They are quirky, silly, and often eating pizza. In this card game, you are actually planning a pizza party for them but need to make sure they have the perfect amount of pizza.
Dann and I don’t often get to cafes when we visit other countries, but as we were being shown around by some friends, they had selected Aida as a place we couldn’t miss! Aida is a sort of Instagram-able cafe that has a few different locations, which some being more set up for Instagram pictures than others. This specific cafe is known for bringing Austria’s first espresso machine into operation, being ahead of the curve when it came to coffee consumption!
[Ad – Gifted Products] Every Monday we go to Geek Retreat and play a new board game! This time, we played another Dog Man game – Dog Man: Big Jim Begins Dice Game. Unlike Dog Man: The Card Game, this game is all about rolling dice! Dog Man, if you didn’t know, is a very popular book character, who’s had a number of board games and even a movie. Robin absolutely loves reading Dog Man books, and so we always keep an eye out for board games and card games that match. Dog Man: Big Jim Begins Dice Game is a simple, children’s game all about rolling dice and spending them.
