a week in vienna

In Schloss Belvedere.

So after reading that love letter I wrote to Munich, you're probably thinking that I ended up loving Munich even more than the place I was most excited to visit...Vienna.

clockwise, from upper left: Café Prückel; the Prater; an ivy-covered wall in one of Vienna's many hidden courtyards; Stephansdom cathedral; in the Hofburg Quarter.

Well, you would be wrong.  I loved Vienna even more.  I was blown away by Vienna.  I'm not even sure I can put my thoughts about Vienna into words.  While I could easily list the things I loved about Munich that made me love it and want to live there, Vienna is somehow more difficult to grasp.  It's a little dirtier than Munich, feels more urbane and multicultural (I think I heard Slavic languages spoken as much as German), and is slightly less...orderly.  The drivers were crazier, and I saw fewer bike riders.  (I'm pretty sure those two things are connected.)

Vienna, as the seat of the Habsburg Empire, was once a major world power.  It has a very rich cultural history.  Some famous Viennese?  Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss, Gustav Klimt, Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Egon Schiele, Hedy Lamarr, Fritz Lang.  (Oh, yes...and Christoph Waltz, of course.)  I had (and still have) no shortage of books to read about this city (I'll include my reading list at the end of this post).  And though the Austro-Hungary empire is no more, Vienna is still thriving.  It has a complicated past, which I think makes it all the more fascinating.

If you can't find something in Vienna to to pique your interest, I think you may be comatose.

We stayed in an apartment next to the Belvedere, which houses two palaces full of art, and is famous for its collection of Klimt paintings.  Though I loved seeing the Klimts and other art in the museum, I particularly enjoyed the grounds of the Belvedere.  Looking at that last photo, you might think I took these photos on different days, but no.  The day we visited it started out gray and drizzly, which made the shrubs and just-changing leaves of the trees look even prettier.  By the afternoon, the clouds had mostly dispersed and I was able to take that blue sky photo of the Lower Belvedere.

The grounds are open to the public, so Andy was able get up and run through the Belvedere every morning.

Otto Wagner's Karlsplatz Pavilions, and the golden-domed Secession Building, which houses Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze.

Vienna is stuffed full of museums--art, design, and historic--and we saw just a tiny fraction of what is available.  We walked through the Imperial apartments at the Hofburg and giggled at the somewhat Vegas-y, Ripley's Museum-ish quality of the exhibits at the Sisi Museum, the section of the Hofburg dedicated to the fascinating Empress Elisabeth of Vienna.  I loved getting to see so much of Gustav Klimt's work everywhere (well, maybe not the ubiquitous cheesy Klimt souvenirs), particularly the Beethoven Frieze in the Secession Building.  And the city boasts many examples of Jugendstil/Art Nouveau design, including Otto Wagner's Karlsplatz Pavilions.

But my favorite museum of the entire trip was the MAK (Museum for Applied Arts).  The permanent collection rooms have each been redesigned by contemporary artists.  (Jenny Holzer's take on the Biedermeier Room is pretty nifty.)  But my favorite part of the museum was the extensive collection of  Wiener Werkstätte items (the MAK owns the Wiener Werkstätte estate).  It was one of the best museum experiences of my life.  The MAK also has a stylish cafe with Ottakringer beer on tap and delicious Kürbiscremesuppe (cream of pumpkin soup).

Speaking of food...we ate well.  Very well.  Yes, we had giant Wienerschnitzel...the above are photos from Vienna institution, Figlmüller, where you can also order a delicious potato salad made with the ubiquitous pumpkin seed oil.  We ate Tafelspitz (boiled beef), and we had the giant pork knuckle at the Schweizerhaus biergarten in the Prater.  We had fried Emmental with cranberry sauce.  

But our favorite?  The Bitzinger Würstelstand near the Opera.  Our order varied only slightly with each visit.  The first time we had a can of Stiegl, but on subsequent stops we switched to their special draft Opernbräu, added pickles and hot peppers, or a side of frites.  But one thing did not change: we always ordered the Käsekrainer, a cheese-filled sausage that is apparently a favorite with late night drinkers.  You can have it served to you stuffed inside a big ole sausage bun, but we preferred to share it this way, with a piece of brown bread on the side (and adorable tiny forks!).  I can't say I'm always the biggest fan of street eating.  I feel like I'm always chasing down a stray napkin and trying not to drop food all over my clothes.  But I loved eating at the Bitzinger stand.  There are heat lamps for when it's chilly.  And in the evening you can watch the opera crowds.  (I love the idea of fancy opera-goers having a beer and sausage just before or after the show.  So one night we did just that, and got SRO tickets for Der Rosenkavelier, and afterwards stopped at Bitzinger.)  It was also here that an older Austrian gent struck up a conversation with me, and I had my first (and only) conversation with a German speaker that went beyond "Danke" and "Bitte."

l-r, clockwise: Café Prückel; Café Demel; Café Hawelka.

Vienna is famous for its cafe culture, and we sampled a few of them.  The Vanillecremeschnitte (vanilla cream and custard cake) at fancy bakery/confectionary Demel was amazing, but my favorite cafe was probably the more bohemian Hawelka.  Or maybe it was the light and airy Prückel with its 1950s-era decor. I can't decide.

One thing you notice when walking around Vienna is the large array of old signs and storefronts, much of it mid century neon (in some amazing fonts).  Sadly, these signs are disappearing, whether due to new stores taking over the space, or the current owner's inability to pay for the expensive servicing of neon signs.  Luckily, Vienna has a Sign Saint (that's not his actual title; just what I call him) in Achim Gauger of Vienna City Typeface.  I found Achim's Instagram account, where he uses his photography skills to document these signs, when I was looking up information about Vienna before our visit.  We met up with Achim, who gave us an incredible three hour tour of Vienna's first district; they were the most informative and interesting hours of our time in Vienna.  Achim knows more about Vienna (where he's lived for 15 years) than I do about the much smaller city where I have lived for the same length of time.  If you're interested in Vienna, old signs, interesting fonts/typefaces, or just beautiful photography, you should check out Achim's Instagram feed.

Achim taught us to look all around us when walking around Vienna.  And to take every interesting-looking little alleyway or side street.  Vienna was not built on a grid, and trying to use a map to navigate your way around it is an exercise in frustration.  Yet it's very concentrated and easily walkable.  Just start wandering...you eventually end up where you want to be.  Or someplace even more interesting.

Vienna is surrounded by vineyards, and the city and suburbs have many Heurigen, or small taverns run by the families who own the vineyards.  We took a short trip (just a U-Bahn ride to the end of the line) to Grinzing, where we saw the striking Karl Marx Hof housing project, got a peek at the beautiful vineyards, and sat and enjoyed Sturm (young wine, kind of like cider), Grüner Veltliner, and food in a the lovely, cozy setting of the Bach-Hengl Heuriger.

clockwise from upper left:  Prater Hauptallee; a Prater ride we did not take; Wiener Stadtpark (Vienna City Park); beers at the Prater's Schweizerhaus; the Wienfluss in the Stadtpark.

Like Munich, Vienna has some lovely green spaces, the largest of which is the Prater.  We strolled along the chestnut-lined Hauptallee, watched dogs play, saw the Ferris wheel that Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles rode in The Third Man, and drink beer in the biergarten.

I admit I'm more than a bit melancholy when I think of Vienna.  I feel like I made only the tiniest of dents in what I wanted to see of this city.  Now, understand...I wouldn't change a thing about the pace or manner in which I did see it.  I would far rather take my time absorbing a place, rather than trying to cram it all in in a mad rush.  I just wish I had another week to spend in Vienna.  Or three.  

I'll be counting the days until I return again.

More photos of my trip are here, on my Flickr.  For those planning a trip to Vienna, I found this blog, written by Vienna native Barbara, to be an invaluable resource:  Vienna Unwrapped.

xo

K

P.S.--For those who are interested, these are the books I read before, during, and after my trip to Vienna, with special thanks to my friend Nancy Hirschbein who recommended the great reads about Klimt's painting and the Wittgenstein family.

*The Third Man, by Graham Greene

*The Piano Teacher, by Elfriede Jelinek

*Fin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture, by Carl E. Schorske

*A Nervous Splendour: Vienna 1888-1889, by Frederic Morton

*The Empty Mirror, by J. Sydney Jones

*Waiting for Sunrise, by William Boyd

*Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913/1914, by Frederic Morton

*The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, by Anne-Marie O'Connor

*The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War, by Alexander Waugh

*The Radetzky March, by Joseph Roth

*The Kraus Project: Essays by Karl Kraus, by Jonathan Franzen

a week in munich

It's been a little over a week since we returned from Europe, and the trip still seems like a beautiful dream to me.  If you saw my pics on Instagram, you got a good flavor for what the trip was like.  I still have the Katzenjammer (hangover/blues), frankly.  We really had just the very best time.  I'll share some of our adventures in Munich in this post, and Vienna will follow soon.

This was our first big trip together.  I wasn't sure how it would go.  Two weeks of time with just each other, no work to distract us?  Hm.  But I shouldn't have been concerned.  We travel well together!  Yes, after 15 years together, it turns out we enjoy doing the same things.  And since it's been 15 years of basically nonstop work, I wondered if I could actually forget about business for two whole weeks.  The short answer is:  yes.  Most definitely, YES.

Having our usual routine disrupted?  NO PROBLEM.  Spending a full week in each city, we were able to travel slowly, adjust to where we were, and not feel rushed.  Andy was able to run nearly every single day--something he isn't able to do at home.  And I was pleasantly surprised at the return of my NYC-era walking legs.  We happily walked for miles around both cities.

In Munich we stayed at an Airbnb in a charming neighborhood about 15 minutes from the city center, called Mittersendling.  It was our first Airbnb experience, and it won't be our last.  The home where we stayed (the sunny yellow one in the collage) was lovely, as were our hosts.  The neighborhood itself was full of the cutest houses and so peaceful and quiet.  Other than the ravens, who made you feel like you were living inside a Poe story.  Staying at an actual home in a neighborhood, and not some anonymous hotel, helped us feel a little less like tourists.  Andy struck up a rapport with the woman at the bakery who sold him crusty bread and coffee in the mornings.  And we both fell in love with the local beer garden, the Augustiner Schützengarten.

Speaking of beer gardens, above are photos from Augustiner Keller, one of only three beer gardens where we actually sat outside.  Munich is known for its beer gardens, which are beautifully shaded by chestnut trees.  It was a little rainy a few days when we were there, but when it wasn't raining, the weather was--by our Michigan standards--lovely.  Yet no one was in the beer gardens!  I guess Germans save these shaded gathering places for hot weather.  But all the breweries of Munich have beer halls and restaurants that are warm and inviting, and that serve delicious German food and the best beer.

We visited quite a few of the major beer halls, but Augustiner Großgaststätte was definitely our favorite (it's the locals' choice, too).  Fantastic food, and they serve my favorite of the Munich beers--Edelstoff, a stronger version of their delicious Helles (lager).  We visited this happy, warm place more than once, and enjoyed sitting at the communal tables.  (The Gemütlichkeit?  Yes, we felt it.)  One night we enjoyed in turn chatting with a couple from Scotland, and then (to Andy's delight) drinking to the health of an Italian family, whose 60-something father had just completed the Munich marathon. On other visits, we just watching the ballet of the constantly moving, busy wait staff.

Typical Munich size-of-your-head pretzel, served with Obatzda, a spiced cheese spread.

We ate very well in Munich.  Though I think we could have happily eaten German food every day, we also enjoyed great Italian and Greek meals.  I had a Negroni at a little bar that made me feel like was in Rome.  (Munich is considered Italy's northernmost city.)  We had a delicious lunch of pumpkin soup and a tomato and mozzerella panini at the gorgeous place you see above, Die Goldene Bar, which is located at the back of the Haus der Kunst museum.  The waiter was very bemused by Andy, who was excited to see all the Herman Miller furniture in the place.

We didn't just eat and drink...though, y'know, you really could do so in Munich and be completely happy.  We visited the Residenz, the former palace of Bavaria's monarchs.  (I laughed at that "Abstinence is the mother of health" on the ceiling of the Antiquarium, a precept I completely failed to follow while in Munich!)  We even wandered onto a surprise practice session of a classical quintet in one of the chapels, which was kind of magical.

Munich has a wealth of museums.  The Lenbachhaus, which has a large collection of work from Der Blaue Reiter group, was my favorite.  And doesn't it look cool by night?

The Karls--Karlstor and Karl L.

But what I think we loved most was just walking around.  Looking at buildings and in shop windows.

Strolling through the Englischer Garten, checking out the ducks and surfers.  And of course, the dogs.  The people of Munich love their dogs.  We saw so many cute dogs, and tons of terriers (my favorite).  But the most fascinating thing to me is this:  many of these dogs were not on leashes.  In the city.  Just walking along the street behind (or in front of and constantly looking back at) their person.  It was crazy.  I don't know how the Germans are training their dogs, but I was in awe.  (And on one of our last nights we saw a man walking with his cat in this same manner.  How is this possible?)

This sign at dog's eye level on a grocery store front door reads, "Unfortunately, we have to stay outside."  Notice that the dog featured is a wire-haired dachshund, which I think may be the official dog of Munich, and which is definitely my new canine obsession.

l-r, clockwise: Gärtnerplatz, River Isar, Jugendstilhaus detail, mushrooms for sale at the Viktualienmarkt, Leopoldstraße in Schwabing.

We enjoyed exploring Munich's many neighborhoods, sitting in pretty squares to cop some free Wifi, looking at the Isar River, ogling the Jugendstil/Art Nouveau architecture, eating soup in the Viktualienmarkt and checking out all the produce sold there.

Munich is a breeze to get around in.  The public transportation is amazing.  As a once longtime NYC subway commuter, I was dorkily impressed.  It totally follows the German cliche of running on time.  

Munich is also really clean.  There are tons of people riding bikes.  Fearless bike riding--like, in the rain, in heavy city traffic, while holding an umbrella, bike riding!  There were plenty of nice wide bike lanes, something that took a bit of adjusting to as a pedestrian who is not used to having to look out for bike riders!  And interestingly, hardly anyone wore a helmet.  A definite and interesting lack of helmets and leashes in Munich.

Amazing public transport + obvious dog love + best beer in the world + lots of beautiful green spaces + amazing museums and culture = a place where I could totally live.  Munich seems to combine all the amenities of culture and convenience with a love of peace and quiet that makes it atypical of most big cities, and also a seemingly perfect place to live.

And the people of Munich were lovely and courteous.  When I got up the gumption to use my very limited German, they never made me feel like an idiot.  The same was true of Vienna.  Most people spoke much better English than I did German, though.  And several times (in both cities), kindhearted folk stopped to ask us if we needed directions when we were standing perusing our maps.

Even when things went wrong--like when our train skipped our stop at night and we had to hike three miles through dark neighborhoods to find our way home--it was an adventure rather than a hardship.  

The whole trip was a grand adventure!  I knew I wanted to go to Vienna, and Munich was more of a second choice.  But I ended up falling in love with Munich, and I hope we can go back again one day.  

If you're thinking of traveling to Munich, the Munich city guide at Design Sponge is indispensable, as is Eleanor's blog (she's one of the authors of the DS guide), Wahlmünchnerin.

You can see even more Munich photos on my Flickr stream, here.

Next up, Vienna!

xo

K

we're off!

Well, we will be, on Sunday.  But I'll be putting the shop on vacation in about an hour.

Man, do I wish we were traveling with this crew!

Collection C. Rivers, all rights reserved.  All rights reserved by sanspareille69

The shop will be on vacation from noon today (October 3) until our return on Wednesday, October 23.

If you're interested in following along while we travel to Munich and Vienna, I'll be posting to my Instagram whenever I can grab some Wifi.

The above photo is from the Flickr account of sanspareille69.  It comes from an amazing photo album of traveling European circus/variety acts, circa 1926-1936.  You can read and see more of the album here; I highly recommend checking it out.  It's fascinating!

Tschüss!

xo

k

nyc

My last visit to NYC (where I lived for 11 years, and where many of my dearest friends still reside) was in January 2011.  When I found out we would have some items in the Etsy Holiday Shop, it seemed like a good time to take a long overdue trip to the city.  Here are some snaps I took during our quick weekend visit.

Holiday lights in Astoria.

Love the edifice of this apartment building!

Breakfast on vacation means macarons and coffee at Mille-feuille.

Andy between the Dior and Etsy shops.

I thought the Etsy shop was really nicely done.  It looked pretty much exactly how I would imagine an Etsy brick and mortar store would look.

They were holding a holiday ornament workshop when we were there.

Some pretty jewels from jeanjeanvintage and a cute handmade ring holder!

The rack of vintage.  There wasn't a ton of it; we were there on one of the last few days the shop was open and were told much of it had sold.

Small Earth Vintage shoes on the right.

The tags they used on the vintage.  I love that: "Vintage by Karen of Grand Rapids, MI."

We escaped the cold drizzle with lunch at Randolph Beer--pickles, brussels sprouts and smoky corn!  And beer.  (I knew there would be lots of cocktails later, so I thought I should let Andy get some good beers.)  It was funny for us to see beer from Grand Rapids' own Founders Brewing in NYC, and it was hard not to laugh while the bartender tried to sell us on it.  

But forget about the beer.  Cocktails!  That kind of dark and blurry photo above is from Andy's Blackberry (I pretty much concentrated on drinking and talking once we started with the cocktails), and was taken at Amor y Amargo in the East Village, which has a fantastic bitters-based cocktail menu and informative drink makers.  I also loved the Darling Clementine cocktail (like drinking a pomander: gin, clementine juice, and cloves) and fried pickles at Sweet Afton in Astoria.  But my favorite was Long Island City's Dutch Kills--amazing drinks and perfect speakeasy ambiance.

If this vintage shop window is any indication, NYC hipsters are hugely into the Ugly Christmas Sweater thing.  It's a bit weird to see the not-very-vintage ugly sweaters bookended by a couple really nice cowichans, but hey, what are you gonna do?

Anyway, it was a short and densely-packed trip, and was completely fantastic.  I love NYC, and visiting always feels like coming home.

xo

k

mullet post

Business in the front, party in the back.

Business: we are taking a kinda impromptu quick trip up north for thrifting and fun on Tuesday. I love being in northern Michigan this time of year. Cooler temps, country drives, beautiful views, good places to eat. Maybe even leaf-peeping!

The shop will be open, but any purchases will not be shipped until we come back on Thursday. I don't think we'll get to make it up to Legs Inn, sadly, but hopefully we can have dinner at this place, which is housed in a former mental hospital.

That's Trattoria Stella. I will have a Manhattan, and pork belly if it's still on the menu. Go to their site and take a look at the menu. If you're ever up Traverse City way, Trattoria Stella is one of the best places to get a meal.

Okay, here's a little more business. Well, business and pleasure, since it's vintage. This shop preview has some great autumnal colors: mustard, grays, cocoa brown, olive. And a really fab angora cardigan.


Charcoal polka-dot capri pants and motorcyle-inspired jacket with the cutest clothing label I've ever seen!

Vine print blouse in autumn colors.

Sage crosshatch fabric dress with Peter Pan collar and cute pockets.

Pine green wool plaid pleated skirt.

Mustard wiggle dress by Minx Modes with amazing triangular cut-out back.

Winter woods print angora cardigan.

Jonathan Logan turquoise check dress.

Suzy Perette white eyelet and satin ribbon dress.

Woodcut floral print dress by Cos Cob.

Mod cherry red knit dress.

1950s blue rose and stripes dress.

VERY Joan Holloway. But how much did you love that blood-spattered green number she wore tonight?

Okay, I promised party. Here it is.

Caramel apple rice pudding. In vintage highball glasses. They were really good. The caramel isn't the typical sweet, thick caramel. The cider in it makes it tangy and a really nice counterpoint to the milky rice pudding. I posted a link to the recipe the other day, but here it is again, via Bon Appetit.

See you in a few days, hopefully with some newfound treasures!

xo
k