Burg Lichtenstein

http://www.burgliechtenstein.eu/de/anfahrt.html

Seegrotte Hinterbrühl

http://www.seegrotte.at/002_englisch/frameset.htm

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1)      At the water – An ocean breeze is a bit hard to come by in Vienna, so the “Alte Donau” will have to do. It is quite beautiful there actually

“Alte Donau”

La Creperie

Zur alten Kaisermühle

Ufertaverne

Fabelhaft

Strandcafe

Straßenbahnerbad

Wake up

2)      Heurige – two of my personal favourites and a bit away from the beaten tourist tracks

Weingut Reisenberg

Steirerstöckl

3)      Donauinsel – Viennas very own “Jersey Shore”

Copa Cagrana

Sunken City

4)      Summer in the City – Ideal for an after work spritzer

Altes AKH

               Stigl Ambulanz

               Salettl

25 hours Hotel

Summerstage (some nice, some not so nice bars & restaurants)

Sand in the city

Bunkerei (Rather “alternative” but very nice location right in the middle of the augarten)

Eis Greissler (no spritzers but bio icecream)

5)      Away from it all – For those with access to a car, some locations outside of Vienna

Mole West

Klosterneuburg Heurige

Kahlenberg

6)      Donaukanal

Strandbar Herman

Adria Beach

Tel Aviv Beach

Badeschiff

7)      My favourite place in the summer

Krapfenwaldbad – Enjoy the view, and I am not (just) talking about the Viennese vineyards…

8)      Open Air Cinemas

Augarten Kino – Perfect for a Picnic

Hauptbibliothek Kino – very urban

Kino unter Sternen

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From the moment my husband and I arrived in Budapest, the city rubbed us the wrong way. We became sullen, cranky and disinterested. We walked around listlessly and looked at this and that without having the slightest excitement woken within us.

Budapest has the same shops and restaurants as Vienna. For example, Vienna has the famous Cafe Central and so does Budapest. Both cities have the Danube flowing through it. Both cities have similar architecture.

Despite the strong similarities between the cities, Budapest is a sorry, rundown version of Vienna. Everywhere we looked something was crumbling, chipping or sagging. When we did see a pretty building it was either a hotel, an embassy, or had a decrepit looking building next to it.

We were also never left alone by the Hungarians trying to hawk something to the tourists. More than once I gave a tight smile and said, “I’ll let you know if I decide” or “Please just give me a moment.” In Vienna, they could care less if you come in or buy something. On one side it’s rude, but at least the Viennese leave you in peace.

Though the food was good in Budapest, somehow it was sold in the most unappetizing way. We went to a really nice restaurant and hemmed and hawwed over the menu. We were trying to decide between tongue salad and head cheese. Finally out of despair we ordered just anything. Lucky for us it turned out and we enjoyed our meal, but somehow the hard decision-making process took the fun out of it.

To be honest, I couldn’t get out of Budapest fast enough. If I never see that city again in my life, I won’t feel bad about it.

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These are giant swimming pools using naturally heated water for people to swim around in them. It’s a really relaxing experience. You swim, you lounge, you eat and you go home.

Austria is full of these thermal baths. Vienna even has its own. However, Therme Wien as it is called is really awful. Overcrowded and not clean enough.

I highly suggest St. Martins even though it is an hour drive away from Vienna.

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http://www.restaurantwoche.at/lang/en/cities/wien/restaurants

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Taschenhalter, which means purse hanger, is a small, strong hook. When you’re at a restaurant, all you have to do is take the Taschenhalter out of your purse, place it on the table, and easily hang your purse from it.

* You no longer have to place your purses on the dirty floor of restaurants
* Keep your purse where you can see it to stave off thieves
* Less than 5 inches long and fits in every purse

Any woman would LOVE to receive this as a gift. I have to admit, the first time I saw these, I jumped at them and immediately bought five, for family and friends.

Hope this tip can make your holiday shopping a bit easier.

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Through a friend, www.sourcenaturelle.eu came to my attention. A woman who is currently living in Vienna started it. What the company does is sell organic and natural cosmetics from Austria and Germany. All beauty products in their shop consist of 100% natural ingredients.

Hey, I see your eye-roll of doubt. Believe me, when I was told 100% natural ingredients I thought, “Yeah right. This is just another scam.”

I actually spoke with the founder of Source Naturelle. She’s a medical doctor who carefully screens all products before she accepts them for her company. As she said in her own words, she understands what the ingredients mean when she reads them. At least someone does, because I sure don’t!

The founder of Source Naturelle started out because she herself wanted to use products that only had 100% natural ingredients. Friends and family would ask her for advice and she knew she was on to a business idea.
If you are interested in beauty products that use only 100% natural ingredients, this is the place to trust. You’re actually getting exactly what is being promised to you.

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First, the quality of Zotter chocolate makes you wonder what the hell this Godiva crap is all about. Godiva?!?! Ha! Go-diva off a cliff. Zotter chocolate has a texture to it that makes you swoon. So smooth. And a flavor that is so powerful. You just place it on your tongue and let it melt. Heaven!

Second, Zotter only deals with organic and fair trade chocolate. Also, the company tries to be as local as possible. When Zotter can buy ingredients from Austria, it will.

Third, Zotter comes up with the craziest flavors. Raspberry coconut chocolate is divine. Olive oil and lemon chocolate is, no joke, surprisingly good. Beer chocolate was not okay. When I tried it, my eyes started to water with the cruelty of the nasty flavor and though I desperately looked for a way to spit out the offensive taste, I had no chance. Oh well, there is a price to pay sometimes for being adventurous.

Now to my great joy and amazement, I discovered two weeks ago that you can take a tour of the Zotter Chocolate Factory in Styria, Austria. It’s a 1.5 hour drive away from Vienna. For the price of €10 you take a tour and try, taste, drink, and eat chocolate until you think you’re going to die.

The tour starts with a video. Then you go through the entire factory with an audio guide. I have to admit, I only listened to my audio guide for about seven minutes. The entire time I was distracted by the heady smell of chocolate and could only think, bring on the chocolate! And boy did they ever.

It was one chocolate fountain after the other. From white chocolate to milk, to semi-sweet, to dark. A single room with 15 different chocolate fountains. Then you go through a long hallway with every chocolate flavor that Zotter offers. Rose chocolate. Nut chocolate. Mint chocolate. Whatever. You try all of them.

Then you go to the drink chocolate. They call it Flying Chocolate because the chocolate is on a little conveyer belt that goes by and you pick your chocolate, drop it in hot milk, and enjoy.

But wait, there’s more! Then there is the chocolate covered fruit. But wait, there’s more! Then you go to the mixed flavors. Like the raspberry coconut chocolate. Or beer chocolate. It was to the point where my group of friends and I groaned in delicious agony because we just couldn’t see straight anymore. We just couldn’t taste any more chocolate.

Of course at the end of the tour there was a gift shop. We bought like crazy.

Overall the experience was amazing. I encourage any chocolate lover to go for a visit.

Zotter Chocolate

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This is a new shopping center and very beautifully built. The stores are what you expect to find, nothing special. Note also that there aren’t any price differences at this shopping center than what you would find anywhere in Vienna. The only real advantage is that the place is open on Sundays. And when it’s a cold, dreary Sunday, this proves to be a major advantage.

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It’s no Sea World, (Austria is a landlocked country after all) but it was still a great experience. I saw a giant turtle gracefully glide through the water. I walked through a rainforest and heard all the noise and chatter from the animals. I saw the biggest snake I have ever seen.

It can’t be easy building and maintaining a giant aquarium in the middle of a city that is kind of like New York City. So in the end, it’s worth a visit.

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