Travel Diaries: Vienna, Austria Part II
I just got back from an amazing trip to Poland and the first thing I wanted to do was blog about it... when I suddenly realised I hadn't even finished my Vienna blogs yet! You can read Part One of Vienna here. It was a business trip so Antonia and I didn't have a huge amount of time for sightseeing but we tried to fit in as much as we could between meetings and working.
Of course, we had to have some sacher cake, a chocolate and apricot delight which is one of the most famous Viennese foods and it even has it's own 'day' (December 5th!). One of the clients that we'd had a meeting with told us that if we're going to try sachertorte, it should definitely be at Demel so we followed the scent of sweetness and headed on over. They love this stuff in Vienna. Downstairs is an adorable bakery/chocolatier with mirrored walls, vintage packaging and opulent chandeliers. We had to wait in a queue for around 20 minutes to even get in but once we were in we went for a slice of sacher and a slice of carrot cake.
The chocolate sacher cake was LOVELY. I have a huge sweet tooth so I rarely complain about anything chocolate but it really was so good. The carrot cake was also nice but a little on the dry side- not the best I've ever had and alone, the carrot cake would not have been worth the lengthy wait, however with the delightful surroundings, the experience and the very odd and loud couple next door discussing their hilarious personal situation, it was worth every foot aching moment.
On the way back to the hotel that evening we caught a very picturesque sunset as it dropped behind the magnificent buildings. I was a pain as usual, stopping every few moments to snap something with my camera whilst Antonia walked on ahead still chatting to me without realising I was absorbed in my snapping!
Yes I know that's 2 more pictures of the horse statue that you needed but I just couldn't pick a favourite. Then for the rest of the walk I just marvelled at the structures and architecture. Every building was so magnificent and intricate and amazing.
And then for dinner on the last night we figured- go big or go home! We went to Fabios. This is the place to see and be seen, often frequented by celebs, VIPs and general IT-people. We had to book a table (of course) and it was quite fabulous. Impeccable service, all dark lighting and mood music. The food was OK- not really worthy of the price tag or rave reviews but it was nice enough.
I went for the Costata D'Agnello & Cime Di Rapa- roasted saddle of lamb with bulgur & wild broccoli and sure, it was nice, but it wasn't spectacular and I inhaled it in about 30 seconds (coming from the worlds slowest eater who rarely finishes a plate). Antonia went for a fish dish and again, it was nice but not mind blowing and she was still starving afterwards. One thing that got my back up was the starter- I don't remember exactly what we had but we asked for extra cherry tomatoes- there were about 7 or 8 in total and they charged an extra €7.50 (on top of the starter) just for those! I thought it was way over the top and very bad grace to charge extra at all.
As we were finishing up an Uncle/Nephew duo (apparently) of incredibly rich and important art dealers (apparently) came over and attempted to pay for our dinner, buy us dessert and drinks and ultimately... well you know! We weren't having any of it of course but it was quite funny sitting and talking with them for the few moments until they realised it wasn't going any where. All in all, Fabios was nice but not really somewhere I'd rave about. If you've got endless cash to spend on just "OK" food and love to celeb spot, then this is the place for you!
Vienna, it was lovely to meet you, you are a beautiful city, expensive, but beautiful. Maybe one day I'll come and see you again, but for now, there's a whole wide world for me to explore!