New Year: Vienna, Austria

Before the NYE

It was the New Years Eve of 2019. We arrived in Vienna on the 29th December, so to give us some time to look around a little and get comfortable before the New Year’s Eve. Vienna is known for its Wiener Silvesterpfad with activities along the trail on the New Year’s Eve. This was not my first time in Vienna, but last time I only got to be here for a few hours, so this was my first time here to visit the city properly. It was a little cold this time of the year. I guess in some way that’s part of the atmosphere.

Wiener Silvesterpfad

“Over the past 29 years, some 12 million people have already enjoyed one of Europe’s largest open-air New Year’s Eve parties.”
Wiener Silvesterpfad official website
https://wienersilvesterpfad.at/en/
(retrieved May 2020)

The Vienna New Year’s Eve Trail – Wiener Silvesterpfad – is known to be one of the biggest events on NYE in Europe. It is a trail through a pedestrian only zone made up of several major streets in the city centre, with different stops and activities along the trial, from stations for food, drinks, music and dance, to shopping, speed dating, games and fortune telling. As expected, it was very popular and the trail was already packed with people in the afternoon of the NYE’s day. When I passed this stop showing people how to dance, I couldn’t help but joined the people there to learn a few steps of Viennese waltz. It is conventional to dance Viennese waltz here at midnight when it’s the New Year and everyone does that here. As I witnessed people dancing here at midnight, I was glad that I had learnt a few steps in the afternoon to be part of the tradition.

Figlmüller – The famous Schnitzel

A long queue of customers waiting outside Figlmüller.

I read about this place when planning my trip and fortunately booked a table for lunch then. When I got there, I saw people lining up outside the restaurant. And I saw the same thing a few more times during my time trip there in the city. This place is just so popular that there is constantly a line of people waiting outside to try their famous schnitzel.

The original Figlmüller-Schnitzel, made of pork since 1905, their potato-field salad with pumpkin seed oil and their Tafelspitz (Viennese boiled beef in the pot).

Delicious dishes. Freshly cooked. Generous serving. Friendly service. This place has been serving their original Figlmüller-Schnitzel made of pork since 1905. They also offer the Wiener Schnitzel (Vienna Schnitzel) made of veal. Their original schnitzel is delicious in a serving bigger than the plate. They also serve a range of other Viennese dishes if your stomach still has the room after the schnitzel. Book in advance to save some waiting time and avoid disappointment.

Sachertorte

Sachertorte is a well-known chocolate cake originated in the Austrian capital. It is made of a chocolate sponge covered with chocolate icing, and filed with one or two layers of apricot jam, depending on where you get it from. The ones from Hotel Sacher has two layers, while the ones from Demel cafe has one. They take their cakes so seriously that the two famous rival places was in a legal battle from 1954 to 1963 over who had the right to call its sachertorte the “original” one.

Reference: Soteriou H. (2014). Vienna’s chocolate cake war. BBC News. 14 May 2014. [Link]

Without even thinking about the cake, I actually went into Demel cafe by accident. At the time I was just causally looking for a place for a coffee, and happened to have come into this cafe. It’s not only until I started looking it up while waiting in the line that I learnt about their famous Sachertorte, which probably explained the length of the queue.

Eduard Sacher-Torte from the Demel cafe in Vienna.

While the cake looks indulging, it goes down so easily in your month that you barely feel the heaviness. The cake has instantly become one of my favourite desserts. It is a great choice for a coffee break or “fika” as we call it in Sweden.

Afterthoughts

Just a few days after I left Vienna, I went to a cafe in Switzerland and saw Sachertorte so I ordered a slice. Maybe it’s just in my head but it barely compared to the one at Demel. That just made me miss that cake even more. It’s been a while since the trip. I finally managed to sit myself down to put this together. It’s a nice city with both grand palaces and modern activities, as such it’s also packed with tourists. I enjoyed the local cuisine and had plenty of great food. What was your experience in Vienna? How did you like their schnitzels and cakes?