Instead, we slept in - waaaay in. Explored a bit more, found a fine lunch at a beer hall across the street from the Opera House, shopped some on the Ringstrasse, took a nap, and then got dressed up for a fancy dinner (our concierge helped make reservations for us - THANK YOU EVELYN!).
Seriously, as much as I love an agenda and scheduled professional tours, there's nothing like a day that takes you where the wind blows. We slept past 9am. We didn't actually get downstairs until almost noon. Then the wind began to blow. We had decided that perhaps we should get gussied up and go to a fancy dinner this evening, so we stopped at the concierge for some advice. Evelyn gave us about six choices - all of which sounded delicious. I have to tell you that she also recommended an Italian restaurant (not Spaghetti Leviathan). We love Italian, but didn't come to Vienna to eat spaghetti. After Evelyn made several attempts to get us a reservation for the evening, she hit upon a next-level spot that would fit the bill...traditional, but upscale Viennese and Austrian food. Yeah, baby!
Our evening plans in place, we set out toward the museum quarter. We found a beer hall across from the Opera House and settled in for lunch.
The State Opera House
Just a typical Austrian Beer Hall, Bier & Bierli. Let me sing you the song of my people!
Now THAT's a Vienna Lager!
We enjoyed a fabulous lunch - Joe had beef/potatoes/bacon/onion-something in a skillet, topped with a fried egg. I had the grilled salmon (grilled to perfection, by the way) with a buttery dill cream sauce. Okay, maybe NOT your typical beer hall food, just damn delicious! While basking in our new-found fullness, we decided that we didn't want to be rushed through the museums and so decided that we would just wander aimlessly - following that wind.
Goethe - just sitting around thinking about things.
Just past the Opera House and across from the Albertina Museum (a new one to put on our list), we spotted the Mozart Cafe.
I would have loved to check this out but the line was too long. So we headed into one of the shopping districts - the Ringstrasse-Galerien.
About 70 stores and a very cool market.
Back out on the streets, we passed this lovely, designer gown...
It's what I'm really wearing New Year's Eve.
The wind blew us next to a huge shopping center - Stephansplatz
Blocks and block of shops on a pedestrian-friendly plaza. Literally anything you could want.
By now we were a bit wind-blown and decided to return to the hotel for a nap and to get ready for the evening. We brought fancy for New Year's, but I wanted to get more than one wear out of my new velvet shoes (plus break them in a bit before the big night), so we also brought dressier stuff to wear to an upscale dinner.
It was a nice night, so I wasn't worried about ruining said velvet shoes in the rain or snow, but...it's been so long since I've worn heels, I really don't know how to wear them anymore. I'm sure I looked like one of those dogs trying to get used to wearing those little galoshes. Muscle memory did not serve me well...I guess that's one of those things my retirement brain deleted. But I finally got the hang of it, and we made it to the restaurant in time for our reservation.
At Plachutta Gasthaus zur Oper. Roast beef, crispy onions and mashed potatoes. Das ist gut!!!
Franziskaner coffee - coffee with whipped cream and crushed chocolate
Mohr im Hemd - Traditional warm chocolate nut cake with whipped cream and ice cream.
Traditional holy crap that's good.
We'll try again tomorrow for the museums...depending on the wind.
You know that scene in Aladdin where the genie's jaw drops to the floor?
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