Plucky Survivors See Europe Day 12: Vienna

A gorgeous day in Vienna.  A little cool – upper sixties – but the forecast for Italy is upper 90s so I’m appreciating this while I have it.

I took a walk this morning down Mariahilfer, the main shopping street through the central district.  It’s miles long and bustling with stores and cafes, mostly local but several recognizable brands along the way.  Who knew that Woolworth’s still existed?  It does here in Vienna.

I made my way to Burggarten, a park built for the royal family in 1820 and surrounded by imposing buildings with museums, the National Library, and more.

My first impulsive stop was at the Butterfly House, an enclosed terrarium filled with hundreds of the little winged creatures.  It had hoped for a bit of Zen, but the place is very popular with parents of small children and their little creatures were at full volume.   Still, it’s a well-done facility and the butterflies are beautiful if you can shut out the “Mama!  Mama!  Mama!”

Next was the Austrian National Library, established in the Middle Ages and housed in a baroque hall in the Hofburg Palace since 1722.  The room is stunning and while you can’t tour the stacks, so to speak, being amongst this kind of appreciation for the history of literature is a bit awe-inducing.

Under the center dome are curved balconies that looked familiar.  Did I see this is some action movie recently?  I could have just Googled it, but I asked the docent who was standing nearby and she had no idea.  She was intrigued, though, so she took me to ask someone else who knew what I was talking about – “Fountain of Youth” with John Krazinski and Natalie Portman, which was on Apple TV.   The filmed a big fight scene here but had to remove all the books first to make sure they weren’t damaged.

I said, “Ahh, yes… terrible movie.”

The docent didn’t say anything but the expression on his face indicated that he agreed, fully.

I did a bunch of wandering through Old Town after that, soaking up the European charm.  I happened upon Graben, another pedestrian shopping street.  It’s a lovely area, but the stores are of the internationally recognizable brand category such as H&M, Michael Kors, and Hilfiger to name a few while the restaurants are of the Five Guys and McDonald’s variety.

More wandering took me to Naschmarkt, a nearly mile-long row of stalls built directly on top of the Wein River in the early 1900s, with meat, cheese, produce, clothes, souvenirs, crafts, and more, plus a lot of small restaurants throughout.  It’s sort of like the Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles, but with a distinctly European flair.

I sampled some cheese – still having a hard time finding anything that resembles the pepperjack that I’m addicted to – and sausages, then settle down for lunch at a little restaurant called Orient Occident, which had a wide ranging menu Silk Route offerings (everything from Mediterranean to Turkish to Middle Eastern to Indian and Asian).  I had the Turkish kofte, mini meat loves of beef and lamb with rice, vegetables, spiced curry, and a delectable loaf of bread.  Couldn’t have asked for better.

Afterwards, I did a bit more wandering and saw a sign for Casino Wien.  Of course I had to check it out.  This place was easier to get into – just your ID, $30 Euros, a signature, a photo, and some questions (“is anyone forcing you to be here?”).  Unlike the casino in Prague they have slot machine but not a lot of them – maybe 150 or so.  Compare to a Vegas casino that may have ten times that amount.  Table games include roulette, poker, Texas Hold ‘em, and blackjack.

The machines have an interesting system.  You get a keycard when you check in and have to insert it into the slot machine when you sit down.  Enter a PIN and then you can insert money just like the ones in Vegas.  When you’re ready to cash out, you hit a button and it loads your winnings (or what you didn’t lose) on the card.  You can take that to different machines, enter your PIN, and access your funds.

When you’re done, go to the cashier and they pay you out.  I won 600 Euros, so it was a profitable little pit stop.

I would have kept exploring, but I got a work email I had to address, so I rode the subway back to the hotel and spent the afternoon at the computer.  I hated to do it, but I have to pay for this trip somehow!

In the evening, I went to a dinner show called “Ring the Bell” at the Grand Pearl.

The showroom is a swanky space down a couple of floors, done in high-tech glamour and plush seating.  They do several productions here but the one I saw was meant to evoke the glamour and sex appeal of an old Hollywood hotel, with bellhops and the like.  I’ll get to the show in a moment, but let’s start with dinner.

The appetizer was seared beef carpaccio with a jalapeno crème sauce; the main course was a filet in a rich, thick jus and asparagus; and desert was tiramisu.  The flavor, the quality, the textures – everything was five-star restaurant quality.  I ate almost all of it and that’s pretty rare for me.

The show is another one of those variety deals with singing, dancing, and acrobatic acts, but this one was a cut above.  The dancers were phenomenal; all loose limbed and dripping with sex appeal, which was aided by some really good choices in music (“Unholy” by Sam Smith; “Where’s my Husband?” by Raye; “You Don’t Own Me” by Grace; “I See Red” by Moon; selections from “Moulin Rouge”).

The acrobatics were stellar as well, done with attitude and sensuality.  Of special note was the woman in the giant champagne glass, who enjoyed splashing the audience. It’s okay – they passed out umbrellas ahead of the number.

This was my favorite show so far.

Tomorrow is Vienna Pride and then packing to head off to Italy the next day!