A few days ago I had to run the kind of errands (taking things to my tax adviser and so on) that make one feel in need of a treat. Since Café Landtmann on the Ring, one of the oldest and most traditional Viennese coffeehouses, lies on the route home from my tax adviser, I decided to stop there for my treat. Good choice! (See photo.)
Waldbeer Stanitzl at the Café Landtmann
It didn’t only look good. It was delicious!!! 🙂
In addition to the wonderful things planted and maintained by the MA 42 (Magistratsabteilung 42 – The municipal parks and gardens services), which does such a good job they deserve a post devoted entirely to their work, there are a number of other things growing in Vienna. This spring I became aware of some communal gardens near the university campus, where dedicated amateur gardeners are growing vegetables and some flowers. It’s a wonderful idea and terrific use of land that was otherwise just being wasted. Here is a photo to show what great results they have already gotten, where the growing season has really just started.
Communal gardens
Not far from there on a traffic circle, beautifully planted in yellow and purple by the park and gardens services, is a sunflower that was planted by an anonymous beautifier:
How do I know that it didn’t plant itself? Because it has a sign:
The sign says: Please water me. THANK YOU! Your Alsergrund “Grätzl*”-Sunflower.
* The word “Grätzl” also deserves its own post, it has so many associations. Short version: It is Viennese dialect and refers to one’s neighborhood.
Just a quick post to announce that the elderflowers (Holunderblüten) are in bloom in Vienna.
This may not sound very exciting to you, but it they are beautiful, smell sweet, and are used to make a syrup for a really tasty soft drink special to Austria. 🙂
They even mentioned one of my regular coffeehouses–Café Weimar, which has, in my opinion, the best Apfelstrudel in Vienna (which is saying a lot!).
ecbinvienna 