True Viennese style

Today got up pretty late after sleeping so late the night before. The room here is very old style and hence funny. The bathroom, or rather the shower is a little room enclosed by glass into which one climbs into. There is no space there to keep your clothes or anything. And this room is right in the middle of the kitchen. And the toilet is outside the apartment, shared by all the residents of that floors. Reminded me of the old village houses actually - in the style.

We went to Schloss (actually the last ss is a beta, a german letter pronounced similar as ss) Belvedere. It was the summer residence of the Hofburgs, with huge gardens all around. In the cafe there, had my first taste of radler - a kind of half beer, half lemonade. Nice, sweet, and good for a day out in the sun. So these germans/austrians need beer with everything. In fact, their traditional breakfast consists of cold sausage and a glass of beer. Incredible! Came back to the city after that. Then Steffi met us, and we went hiking up a hill with a nice view of Vienna. And while coming down, we stopped at one of the Heurigers on the hills around the city. A little bit of knowledge needs to be imparted now.

A special way of consuming wine, the Heuriger, has developed in Vienna due to the vineyards being so close to the city. Visitors will recognise the real Viennese wine tavern from the Buschen, a bunch of pine tree branches, and the sign hanging in front of the vineyard's entrance, which signifies that the vintner is entitled to sell home-made wines. Only vineyards which have harvested their wine in or around Vienna may call themselves Heuriger (i.e. wine tavern). It is prohibited to add grapes or wine that were bought. Wine taverns, also called Buschenschanken, may be open all year round. It depends on the licence what kind of food may be served, and there must always be a self-service buffet. Wine, however, is served to the tables. On the one hand Heuriger refers to the wine tavern where wine is served, on the other hand it is the name used for this year's wine. This new wine becomes old wine, called Alter, after 11 November, St. Martin's Day, which means that the new wine which has turned from Most (must) to Sturm (crackling young wine) to Staubiger has matured.

Anyway, enough of fundae. We tasted some really fresh and nice Heuriger, served in mugs instead of wine glasses. And I also remember while getting drunk about us discussing the virtues of arranged marriage, trying to impress upon 2 westerners why it is not such a bad idea at all. Anway, then we came back to the city and settled in a pub. And sat there discussing god-knows-what-not till late in the night. And being served by awesome beers regularly. So, this is how people here spend time. Not too much different from bangali adda, sans the alcohol. While going back, we took a long stroll around town. The weather was perfect, and the streets were still buzzing with people at 1 am.