Of Tea & Tortes

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It's  not just about what you do [on holiday], it's about what you eat. The minute we stepped off the train in Vienna, we were hungry. The train station is swanky and gave us a lot of options to choose from, but not too many of them were healthy. We spent way more time than we should have (jet lag/sleep deprivation) looking for the Vapiano's on the map when we realized it was outside the train station. We had an amazing meal (all of which M could eat) and enjoyed the sunshine through the all-glass structure while we planned the day's strategy.

We checked in to the hotel and began wandering through the little shops of honey, specialty chocolates, more honey shops then chocolate ... it was like the streets were made for us! We committed to coming back when we didn't have to haul everything around and did the usual touristy things:

Cathedral - check
Main European plaza - check
Zara shopping - check
Starbucks run - check
Moment of devastation when you learn the Lipizzan Riding School is closed - check
Famous art museum - check

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I don't mean to dismiss the amazing memories I have of the above (I printed an entire photo book where they take up a large chunk of the pages) but there are two memories of Vienna that make my heart incredibly happy; and they both have to do with eating. The first was stumbling upon the Sacher Hotel during our afternoon wanderings. Mukarram didn't know why I was so excited, but I dragged him in for afternoon tea as I read to him the importance of the Sacher Torte. A specific type of chocolate cake invented by Franz Sacher in 1832 at this exact hotel. The cake consists of two layers of dense chocolate sponge cake with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle, coated in dark chocolate icing and served with fresh whipped cream (no sugar added). We were quickly seated (miracle) and ordered some tea and a slice of cake each, which is how I know M was excited about it -- no sharing! If you're in Vienna, don't stumble upon it like we did. Seek it out, go and buy your own slice. You're welcome.

The second, Haas & Haas tea  house, was a MUST for me. After spending the day at Schloss Belvedere we headed to pick-up our chocolates and honey then have dinner and tea at Haas & Haas before we headed to the Mozart symphony that evening. The food was mediocre but the tea was amazing. An entire  menu of teas to choose from, I didn't know what to do! I mollified myself by saying, "just choose one then buy a few from the shop." I don't remember what I ate but I do remember what i sipped: I chose fig rose and sipped to my heart's content. After our meal I was a little devastated that the tea shop had closed for the evening and wouldn't open until after we'd left for Prague the next day! Another reason to go back I suppose ... or order them online like I did.