It’s 2024! January 1 2024 : Vienna!!

January. 1. 2024
It’s going to be a long time until I say 2024 with ease.
Hoping this new year will usher in progressive changes at every level.

So, it’s 2024; where have all those years gone?

We headed out this morning to have New Years Day Brunch at Das Loft which is on the 18th floor of the SO Hotel which is located on the other side of the Danube from where we are staying. The building was apparently an old Sofitel Hotel and then about two years ago got a big facelift from French architect Jean Nouvel and it has been rebranded as SO. While the special New Years Brunch was quite wonderful, the obvious star of the morning is the spectacular views from the restaurant and the interior as well. Since Mike now seems back to normal, we started the new year off with bloody marys.. (sp).

After this leisurely brunch we walked to the Karmeliter Market area — once the old Jewish section of Vienna— and now supposedly a hip area with some remaining traces of Jewish life. It’s a sweet neighborhood with a combination of commercial enterprises and Wilhelmian buildings. We then headed by public transit (we’re real pros now on the system) to see a wide range of social housing throughout the city.

Then we walked and took trams to get to Gleis 21 and more trams and trains to get to Wohnpark Alte Era (sp?) to see more examples of social housing and family neighborhoods. The quality of the housing, the parks, the schools in the areas was impressive. Having worked with many child care organizations in the states, I know they struggle to make play equipment and yards exciting for kids and are soooo limited by what materials are allowed and what kind of playthings can be used (given how litigious our society is). Here, all of the play areas and equipment were made of wood and rope (In the US, we don’t allow that because a kid might get a splinter, or the rope could catch on fire). And all of the structures were on springs, so they continued to bounce as kids walked and jumped. It was a totally fun experience and kids seemed to enjoy all of the equipment.

Eventually we headed back to the hotel (more trains and trams) and once at the hotel began to pack. Then we headed to Plachutta for dinner—which is about a 7-minute train ride from the hotel. It’s a family-owned restaurant that focuses on the Viennese tradition of “tafelspitz” which is a dish that has been popular in Vienna since the 19th Century and was a favorite of Emperor Francis Joseph who led a very frugal lifestyle. He preferred simple but tasteful food. Tafelspitz is a lean cut of beef that boils in a savory vegetable broth. Apparently, it is the quality of the beef that makes the difference. But there are many different cuts of meat to choose from at Plachutta.

The dinner is served as a bit of a ritual— First you select the kind of beef you’d like. You’re helped with a diagram of the cow noting the different cuts. And the waiters will happily give you an explanation and make some suggestions. Given that the beef is cooked in a broth with vegetables, it creates a tasty soup. So a copper (must be copper) pot comes to the table with the broth and vegetables piping hot and inside that same pot are the pieces of meat. First, though you eat/drink the broth and then you move onto the meat which is also served with spinach and potatoes as well as a flavored horseradish and a creamy sauce. The restaurant was packed and many people were waiting for tables.

It was good, but I admit boiled meat is not my thing.
Then we headed back to our abode at Hotel Motto to be able to get up early the next morning to head to Brno, Czech Republic.

More on that tomorrow.
Fern