After a late evening, I had a subsequently late morning. I did a little grocery shopping. It is notable that many establishments are not open on a Sunday, so it seemed sensible to “stock up” in preparation.
In the early afternoon, the U6 and R37 lines took me to Heiligenstadt, an area to the north west of the city. Here I was in search of a Heuriger. This is a special kind of tavern in Austria where wine makers serve their new wine. It seemed a perfect place to spend a hot Saturday afternoon, and I had been told that it was somewhere Austrians went to “hang out”. This was something I was in the mood to do.
I arrived at what felt very much like a leafy suburb. The Heuriger in question that I was aiming for had once been the house of Beethoven. I encountered a statue of this composer in a park on my route.
On arrival I was directed to sit in a peaceful, shaded “beer” (“wine”?) garden where I ordered a tasting flight. Six wine samples duly arrived. Thankfully, there was a “Quick Response” code with notes so I could pretend I knew what I was doing.
I enjoyed the wines very much. More so, as I ploughed my way through them. I tried to persuade myself that I could smell the “acidity”, “fruits”, and “berries” mentioned in the tasting notes, but I would be honest in simply saying, “the wine was very nice indeed”.
I rested, and ordered myself a coffee. I also had a price of the “legendary cream slide” mentioned in the menu. I can confirm that it was worthy of the accolade.
I made my way back via the D tram, and U6 line. I dropped into a bookshop at Westbahnhof ostensibly en-spec that they may have a copy of the next volume of Ms. Everdeen’s adventures in my language. As chance would have it, they did. Purchase made, I also bought a chicken burger roll to have for dinner back at the apartment. The quality of food in the station felt very high indeed compared to that available at say, Waverley Railway Station.
The evening was spent on the balcony, amidst the dystopia that is/was Panam.
