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!
In Austria, we had a lot of pastries in well known places. One of these places were Cafe Central – a cafe with a line all the way around the block. We had a local showing us around, so we were able to know when the line wouldn’t be so long, and got there in time for first seating at breakfast! Some of their menu is only available at lunchtime, while other aspects of their menu are specific for breakfast, so it is worth making sure they have the foods you’d like to try when you go. We were very excited to eat here as the pastries looked SO stunning! I do not know the name of any of the cakes we had as we went up to the window and pointed at the ones we wanted to try.
When it comes to Austria, I hadn’t really known what was traditional and what was not. I’ve been to Germany a handful of times, which feels similar in vibes, so was excited to try some more traditional food when visiting Austria. When we landed, we went to Grätzlheuriger, which has Austrian and Slovak food. The inside of the restaurant is very cozy and quant, which feels traditional, without being flashy. The staff were very kind to us English speakers and gave us English menus, that also had a picture side, which was very helpful as some of the translations were a bit perplexing to me!
Continue reading “A More Traditional Dinner at Grätzlheuriger”
Now, when it was explained that one of our outings while in Austria would be to the Austrian National Library, I didn’t really get why would we would be going there. Surely, I’ve seen libraries before! We were then told that this is one of the libraries that Beauty and the Beast was inspired by, I was a little more interested, but still thought it would be like a normal, functioning library. It turns out, the Austrian National Library is more like a museum that is within a library, and it’s absolutely packed with people.
When we were visiting Austria, our friend had set up a bunch of different locations for us to visit, that have significance in the area. St. Stephen’s Cathedral was one of the first on the list. This is a large Roman Catholic church that is nearly in the centre of Vienna, with beautiful views from the outside. We went in the wintertime, when there was a Christmas market all around the outside, which was so fun to see too.
Continue reading “Visiting St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna”
