The Libbyration of Vienna

T(First of three parts) HANKFULLY, budget carriers don’t do long haul and Emirati economy is nothing like that. The rather comfortable twenty-four hour flight brought me into Flughafen Wien to the sights of Klimt, Klimt and Klimt all over Arrivals from where we were quickly shuttled off to the Hilton Vienna Waterfront Danube. It was like watching a sausage being made when the piano piece of many a childhood recital was revealed nowhere near shades of blue. I acted the insulted liver sausage and joined the pre-arranged bus roundabout of the city ever so slightly miffed. milk foam, provides a creamy liquid contrast along with the Schlag, unsweetened whipped cream, that the cake is served with.

I took that to be a rather sweet appetizer to dinner across the street at the Augustiner Keller, one of Vienna’s oldest and last Hueringers or wine tavern restaurants. We started with a Styrian Salad topped with Bacon-wrapped Feta Cheese. After all, what is a salad without meat and dairy? The main was a Braised Pork Hock, the solo size of our usual Crispy Pata serving. Tender skin and meat fell off the bone and onto the mountain of sauerkraut it rested on. I love sauerkraut but the heaping plateful was a case of way too much of a good thing. That set the mood for the rest of our sauerkraut encounters for the rest of the trip which was practically every single meal. Dessert was Apple Strudels very much unlike the schiesse that I know as strudel back here. Of course, I had a beer to wash all that down — the house beer, an Amber Ale by my best approximation.