Text 3255, 73 rader
Skriven 2010-10-30 16:36:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 680
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Altogether too early it was time to go downstairs for what
turned out to be a decent, fairly comprehensive breakfast
buffet, the only notable features being a horrid-looking
murky miso soup (no bowls near the soup, one had to go to
the cereal stand to get one) with a tray of jasmine rice
next to it. Oh, also, in addition to the usual raisins and
almonds to put in your cereal, there were pepitas.

Good service, and I ended up with about six refills of
orange juice without asking.

We met at the Hohen Markt for a tour of the old city. Our
guide was an energetic and attractive woman perhaps a bit
younger than myself who, though well versed in Vienna's
amazing and varied history, was equally interested in
discussing the sociological trends that had also helped
shape the city. The tour involved minimal walking, not my
preference, for for me at least, walking slow is more
difficult than walking fast. Our foci: the executioner's
square (a penalty that used to be quite frequent, with
major political figures as well as other kinds of criminals
being brought down in the wild old days), the Jewish
quarter, the oldest church still standing, and the Greek
neighborhood. We parted at noon, and Lilli and I had to
figure out where to lunch. The restaurant on Greek Street
where Mark Twain and Lieber Augustin had dined looked kind
of recherche and the prices high, so we retreated to
the Bermuda Bar for a really excellent Schnitzel and some
somewhat less than excellent Goulash. The Blaufranksch was
pretty good for 1.90 a glass and Ottakringer helles did the
job for me. Oh yes, a totally meat-free potato salad (I
think potato salad must have bacon or at the very least
bacon fat in it).

Again, we walked around town and sightsaw for a while; then
I abandoned Lilli to her independent wanderings and took the
subway to Schloss Schoenbrunn to meet up with the others. We
had a rather too short but crackerjack tour of the palace,
where I hadn't been in maybe a decade, followed by a long
and amusing stroll through the garden, where I'd never been.

Back to our hotels for a refreshment and perhaps a nap.

The Heurige (wine bar) 10. Marie was our dinner destination.
To get there we took one of the subway lines to the end and
waded through a street fair, then in the door and way to the
end on the left for our rowdy party and, surprise, lots of
wine. We plopped down at a table, whereupon the waitress
took an instant anti-shine to me probably for being too
pushy ordering drinks. But to my credit my friends and I
were parched by this time.

I'm not that fond of Sturm. In addition to its causing a
storm in the belly and then a storm in the head next day,
to me it tastes too much like ordinary spoiled juice. We
had the obligatory glass per person, and then (remember
that the waitress was being hostile) I ended up going to
the bar and ordering a couple carafes of the house rough
red, for which I think a couple of people, whom I forget,
might still owe me a couple of Euro. Or might not - the
wine really wasn't worth paying for.

A buffet of Viennese specialties was abundant and tasty,
with the Kummelbraten again being my mainstay (here, the
outside was strangely resilient). Surprisingly good was an
eggplant schnitzel that I could have eaten all night; but
again the executive lounge summoned, and a bunch of us
left before dessert and closed up the joint again, this
time closer to 2330.

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