Giangi's Kitchen

Vienna, Austria our adventure continues.

After two weeks on the go, arriving in Vienna was wonderful.  We needed some down time and what a better way than strolling around town and enjoying the great architecture that is surrounding us. So many museums to visit, music spots to stop and enjoy and of course, food.

First thing we did, was to go to the Naschmarkt Market & Wienzeile.  We found nirvana!!  An open market with over 120 stands of  delicious food ranging from Viennese, Italian, Indian, Middle Eastern specialties and many more.

Stands offering the largest selection of spices I have ever seen. Beautifully displayed vegetables that invite you to eat them.. And the salami and cheeses…. yummy!!!  Each stall had a taste of a different culture. Every stall was more than eager to offer you a taste of what they were selling.  The place was packed for lunch. We could barely walk thru it.

Sit down lunch under the patio or take away, food was everywhere.

The largest stall with all sorts of spices., peppers, and dried herbs. Let’s not forget the different types of salt too.

Let your nose do the picking in this great cheese and dried salami shop. From soft to hard to aged, every cheese you can imagine under one roof

Fruits vinegar jugs. Honey, Black Current, Melon, Pomegranate and Red Peppers to name a few.

You definitely will not go hungry in Vienna. As we ask around about a typical Viennese lunch, we are directed to this old Vienna establishment Plachutta. The restaurant is famous for “Tafelspitz” which is made of boiled beef with broth served in a beautiful coper pot. Alongside you will have fried potatoes rosti, vegetables, chive sauce and horseradish with apples. A perfect winter fare.

As we have been nibbling all day on different pastries, we decided to go the small safe route for lunch and get Viennese wiener schnitzel or breaded veal cutlets with roasted potatoes. Little did we know that two came on the plate. More than we could handle and yet manage to eat it all.

I have the bad habit to never say no to dessert. It is stronger than me. The waiter tells us all that is on the dessert menu and asks what we want, my belly is full thus should not desire anything more, my mouth on the other hand speaks and orders dessert.  Viennese Iced Coffee. You have to try it. Just plain and simply wickedly delicious.

After such a copious lunch we needed to walk.  Starting with St. Stephen’s Cathedral which is one of the most recognized religious and historical symbols of Vienna  during the Habsburg and Austrian history. The first parish was consecrated in 1147.

As we are walking around I was taken by this reflection. This new glass structure reflects the old building that are across from it.

Johann Strauss statue at the entrance of the music park. Wonderful park where summer concerts are held. Great place for children to run around, picnics as soon as the weather permits.

Yours truly in front of Hochstrahlbrunnen Fountain.

While enjoying the city and enjoying shopping, a girl has to shop after all, we stumble upon this wonderful store, Lobmeyr. You may not know but I have a secret obsession with dishes. I just love dishes, I can’t help myself. As I am walking around this wonderful store with my eyes taking it all in and my mouth open in admiration of all the hand blown crystals and fine bone china porcelain thus falling in love with a set of dishes. After a long minute of reflection and with the help of Ms Bryant, I have added a new set of dishes and champagne / martini hand blown glasses. The best part of it: they ship home. The secret of happy travelling…

We are definitely keeping Vienna on our list of places to revisit as we had the best of time, and still so much to see and enjoy.