If one of your travel highlights is finding places you can tuck into for a cozy meal or drink
and just steeping in the culture of the place you’re visiting
then this video is for you.
I’m willing to bet that when you think back on some of your favourite memories
of not just travel but of LIFE, that eating and drinking,
particularly when coupled with people that you care about, rise to the top.
At least that’s the way it is for me.
And in this video, I’m going to show you some of my favourite coffee houses in Vienna
and a very unique restaurant – actually the only one that I know of of its kind -
where I had a meal that will forever stand out in my memories.
T.S. Eliot wrote about measuring out life in coffee spoons – so nice –
and I feel like such a life could definitely be lived in Vienna, Austria.
Vienna coffee houses are often referred to as ‘public living rooms.’
Coffee runs through the city’s veins and coffeehouses are so essential to Viennese culture
that UNESCO actually included them on their list of intangible cultural heritage
and described them as places "where time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is found on the bill."
How lovely a description is that?!
I asked my friends who live in Vienna where they, as locals, would go for a nice coffee house experience
and they said Café Sperl.
This place was established in 1880
and it has a long history of serving the Viennese intelligentsia
of architects, artists, musicians, actors, singers, and VIPs like Archduke Josef Ferdinand himself.
It was built according to the design of the same architects that built Vienna’s famous ring road.
Café Sperl embodies what I’d call ‘casual grandeur’ –
you’ll find high ceilings,
elaborate carved details with gold trim,
and chandeliers that give away its old roots.
But the busy servers and cluttered dishes
also remind you that this is very much a current place
where people come to just read the paper or play pool, or have a rest while their children play.
We had a traditional Viennese treat of coffee and cake.
And the thing to order in Vienna is called a mélange –
oh my god, can’t you just almost taste the word as you say it?
Ugh it's so beautiful...mélange.
It’s a mocca with foam and to eat we had a divine chocolate cake called Sachertorte.
One of my favourite parts of coffeehouses in Vienna is the presentation.
Coffee always comes on a silver tray with a spoon and a little glass of water.
It gives the whole experience this wonderful sense of occasion.
And I took great pleasure in taking every lovely piece off the silver tray
and arranging it just so on the table, which felt very satisfying.
I loved Café Sperl but my number one favourite coffeehouse in Vienna is Café Hawelka
which I’ll always feel nostalgic about
because I went there on my first trip to the city when I was 18.
And I was SO excited to take Marc back and make a new memory with him.
Hawelka is kind of tucked away and you could probably walk by it without even realizing it.
And what I love most about this place is that it feels really authentic and cozy
and I swear to god you can feel the history in your bones when you breathe the air in there.
It’s dimly lit and it feels worn in like your favourite sweater
that no new sweater could possibly replicate.
The tables are just a little too close together
which means you might accidentally brush someone’s coat as you walk by
or need to say excuse me – all of which makes it feel more intimate.
The coffeehouse was started by a couple named Leopold and Josefine Hawelka
who opened for business the day after their wedding in the 1930s.
Leopold lived to be one hundred years old and Josefine until age 91.
I actually met Josefine on my first visit there –
she was still serving coffee and taking care of customers at over 90 years old
which I’ll never forget because I found it really inspiring.
Our server this time was dressed in a tuxedo and he was lovely to chat with.
I had a coffee,
Marc had hot chocolate,
and we were lucky enough to enjoy it all on a coveted sofa seat.
The best meal I had in Vienna was at an Icelandic restaurant called Home.
Our friends suggested it because, if you didn’t know already,
Marc and I met in Iceland on a program for people whose family background is Icelandic.
The restaurant sign has a picture of an Arctic tern – called a Kria in Icelandic –
which is really funny because in Iceland
you have to be careful of these birds dive bombing your head from the sky.
Our meal was super simple but absolute perfection.
Homemade bread with a generous pad of salted butter, a few greens,
and a heavenly fish soup.
Honestly this was one of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had –
I can almost taste it now if I concentrate hard enough!
We had a nice moment at the end when we were leaving, too.
I said thank you to the waiter in Icelandic, because he was obviously from Iceland,
and he was really startled and said back in Icelandic – do you speak Icelandic!?
I replied yeah a little and then we switched to German and then to English.
He was so surprised and happy to hear Icelandic
and it made us feel really good to have that Icelandic connection in Austria of all places.
I don’t know about you but I definitely need a coffee and a snack
after talking about all these delicious places to go in Vienna.
I hope you guys enjoyed this video – give it a thumbs up if you did.
I’d love to hear about one of your most memorable meals or coffee experiences
so leave a comment down below – tell me where and what it was.
Make sure to subscribe to my channel for more videos and thank you so much for watching!