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Published: August 20th 2013
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Our last visit was in 2011. Back then we stayed in an apartment in Hernals (17th district). This time we are staying in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district, so much closer to the main tourist area around Stephansdom and also a short metro ride to the Museum Quarter. Our hotel is on busy Praterstrasse and within an area which is haunted by the spirits of expelled and murdered jews, for it was here where many Viennese Jews were gathered before their deportation to concentration camps in the course of the Holocaust. Many Jews also lived in apartments and ran businesses here. Tragic testimony of this are the small brass plates embedded into the footpaths in front of the buildings where they had lived. Inscriptions bear the names of family members, the concentration camp they were sent to and the year they were murdered by the Third Reich. The area still has a strong community of Jews. Numbers were boosted after the 1989 withdrawal of the Soviets from Eastern European countries. Most noticeable are the Orthodox Hassidic Jews because of their distinctive dress. This area is situated between the Danube and the Donau canal and, apart from The Prater fairground and the Strauss
Brass plaques in front of building on Praterstrasse
So many Jewish families were taken from this area and murdered by the Nazis. house, does not hold too much in the way of touristy sights. Because we had visited a number of the main tourist sites on our last visit, we were happy to spend some time getting to know this area and to mingle with the locals along the Praterstrasse.
Not many elegant shops on Praterstrasse, rather shops with lots of stock placed haphazardly in their windows, and small supermarkets. I discovered a shoe shop that I actually took a picture of the last time we were here. I have never seen so many shoes, in the window and spilling onto bins outside the shop. Johann Strauss lived for 7 years on Praterstrasse when it was an elegant and fashionable street. There are a number of good restaurants including Japanese, Korean, Italian, and of course, Viennese cuisine. We also discovered a delightful wine-bar run by a Georgian family (Cafe Ansari on Pratterstrasse) - there were a number of beautiful samovars decorating the shelves behind the large bar. The music was excellent and so we stayed and had a lovely lunch which included Georgian meat filled dumplings. So many bars and restaurants have just awful loud music playing - often from a
radio, so listening to pleasant, interesting music was really enjoyable. We liked this restaurant so much - it was so relaxed that we went there again for an evening meal. The place was buzzing with locals and we had a really beautiful meal with fantastic wine from all over Austria.
Here is a funny/sad story: yesterday we sat a table outside an establishment near our hotel and ordered a wine and a beer from the elderly waitress. She had long sparse grey hair and looked bored and when she had to question us to clarify how big a drink we wanted etc. she became very grumpy, crossed herself and raised her voice. This happened on 2 occasions. When I asked her for a wine list - she told me to go to a wine-bar if I wanted a wine list! There were others sitting around and she seemed to be very short tempered with them as well. Put us in mind of Basil Fawlty. I noticed that there were a few Greek drinks on the menu like Retsina and when I went into the restaurant there were bottles of Greek Metaxas brandy and Greek wine on the counter. When
she brought my wine I said "thank you" in Greek, she didn't say anything. When we went to pay I decided to ask her if she was Greek. She looked a little embarrassed but answered in Greek that her mother was Austrian but her father was Greek, from Alexandroupoli in northern Greece. She said she doesn't speak Greek to anyone now because "they have all died". I felt sad because she was obviously not happy and the business was probably left to her by her father and she has been running it for years, along with her little dog who was walking around the tables with his lead dragging behind him. She said goodbye to me in Greek, rather shamefaced, and we parted company.
We stayed in our hotel for 4 nights before our trip to Budapest and the hotel staff were kind enough to allow us to leave one of our suitcases in their luggage room until our return. We have returned from our stay in Budapest and are now staying a further 2 nights. We went for a ride on the Riesenrad - the giant ferris wheel in the Prater that was built in 1897. The wheel
Konditorei (Cake shop)
In Hernals (17th District) - pictured is a Hernals torte contains cabins which hold quite a number of people. The ride takes 20 minutes and so there is ample opportunity to enjoy the surrounding views. We also revisited The Albertina and The Leopold Museum. The latter being one of my all-time favourites!
This afternoon we took a tram to Hernals where we stayed 3 years ago. I discovered that the Turkish hairdresser that I went to then is no longer there. Where his shop was is now a dog grooming establishment! I remember he told me he left his wife and children in Berlin and ran away to Vienna with his young beautiful Russian girlfriend. Maybe his young Russian girlfriend dumped him! Poetic justice in that I say.
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ilya
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Hanbi would love that.
I wish doggies could go everywhere - I don't think little Hanbi would like to be muzzled though :)