Follow the D Straßen Bahn! Follow! Follow! Follow! Follow!

Made my first visit to a Heurigen today! A Heurigen is a traditional Austrian restaurant that is essentially the equivalent of the German Beer Garden. The word Heurigen is interchangeable with Heuriger, depending on how you use it in German (for those who know German it is an adjektival nomen), and it comes from the word "heute" which means today, because the Heuriger specialty is this years wine.

Alex, our RA knew of a few traditional places, so we took the D line Straßen Bahn out to its end at Nußdorf and found 3 adorable Heurigers, all of which were completely full. So Alex made a reservation at his favorite and we went and got an Aperitif at a nearby restaurant. Charlotte and I got martinis, which came in oversized shot glasses without olives and tasted mostly of vermouth: weirdest martini ever?Yes.

We got a call shortly after and headed back to the Heurigen, where our giant table for 10 was waiting. Christina's friend is in town and she is a former IESer, who is currently in Salzburg with the Fullbright program, so our group was a fun mix of old IESers, current IESers and then of course Alex, the perpetual IESer. We order enough white wine for all of us, as well as two bottles of carbonated water, so that we can make our own Spritzer.

Heurigers are different from restaurants and do not serve food, but there is a buffet style counter, from which you can order breads, cheeses, potato salads, meats, etc. I asked the lady what she recommends for a first timer, and she put together a plate of a slab of meat, sauerkraut and a hunk of knödl or dumpling. Amazing meal and amazing wine! The whole experience was incredibly fun and relaxing and even though I was extremely tired by the end, it was so worth it!