Coming from Hawai’i, we believe that rainfall is a blessing. We view rain as a way to wash away the bad spirits and invite the good spirits in. After the hard partying and the emotional draining stay in Krakow, we were looking forward to a quick day trip in Wien (Vienna). Unfortunately, we weren’t prepared for the heavy rain that Wien had in store for us. A local shop owner, who sold us three umbrellas, said in broken English, “When it rains in Wien, it pours and never stops.” Boy was he right. Soaking wet and cold, we tried to make the best on what we got. I figured the rain is supposed to wash away any bad things that may have followed us during our time. Since we were going to sunny Italia, we needed to arrive fresh!
I started my day off right with a nice English breakfast at a local cafe in the train station. In Hawai’i, we don’t get a lot of opportunity to get an English breakfast. Come to think about it, I’ve never seen an English breakfast option anywhere.
The rain was a little too heavy for walking around, so Mike (my trusty travelmate aka The Professor) suggested we hop on one of those “hop on hop off” tour buses. Smart man. We got to see the whole city of Wien in a nice, dry, semi-cold bus. I enjoyed the bus ride, despite all my complaint about my shoes being extremely wet.
See…look how much I enjoyed the bus ride. It put me right to sleep. Honestly, I didn’t learn a lot of Wien. I can’t tell you a thing, except that Wien has some great food.
I completely lost the information about this restaurant! Mike, the expert apple strudel eater, said that this strudel may look great, but it doesn’t taste great whatsoever. I had to agree, although, I’m not expert apple strudel eater. Maybe if they heat it up, it would taste better.
Doesn’t that look good? What a disappointment….it’s like a pretty girl with no personality. What a shame.
Who knew the best authentic Japanese food in Europe would be in Wien? I tortured my travelmates, Ron and Mike, on my quest to find really good Japanese restaurant. Honestly, I didn’t research Japanese restaurants online, but had a “YOLO” philosophy any time I saw a Japanese restaurant in the distant. Thankfully, Ron and Mike just humored me on my quest. Tenmaya is a teppanyaki-style Japanese food. Apparently, Tenmaya is a pretty famous restaurant in Japan. We were lucky to stumble upon this restaurant with dumb luck, which has always been our travel style.
Tenmaya is legit. Compared to other restaurants, Tenmaya is on the expensive side, but for the quality of food, it’s justifiable. I got the two choice entree with dessert. There was a lot of choices, but I ended up with tempura and teriyaki beef. The portions was big and came in a very traditional obento box. Thinking about that meal, the beef was quite tough, but it was still the best Japanese restaurant in Europe.
My meal was roughly 31,00 euros, which was about $40 USD. Yes, expensive, I know. It was worth it. At that point, I haven’t had white rice in two or three weeks. Plus, I needed some comfort food for my soggy shoes situation.
My dessert was a Japanese coffee jello shaped in a lotus flower, which is quite common dessert in Japanese. It’s basically real coffee (possibly espresso) mixed with a clear gelatin. I’m sure there was some simply sugar mixed into it. If you like coffee, this is your dessert.
Ron and I. Yes, I’m wearing NO makeup. Yikes, I know.
Mike was on a mission after lunch to find some really good torte. Not only just really good torte, but the originators of really good torte. The Original Sacher Torte is a small, but very busy cafe. It was packed, but we were lucky enough to find a nice small table. The rain didn’t help with all the congestion, but it was nice to have somewhere dry to sit at. Mike and Ron obviously got the famous chocolate torte, which recipe was been the same for over 175 years. I got this ratatouille open face sandwich, which kinda tasted like a tuna sandwich. We all ended up with hot chocolate (another famous must try from the cafe).
The torte is a rich creamy smooth bitter cake-like dessert. It’s not light whatsoever, nor sweet. The torte itself looked beautiful. It had a semi hard chocolate layer on top and in the middle is a nice firm, but not quite a sponge like texture. Each slice came with a hard shell seal of the cafe, kinda like those old stamp sealers that was used in the Victorian ages. A not too sweet fresh whip cream helped add some sweetness to the torte.
The ratatouille sandwich was about the size of a store bought hot dog bun. It was a nice three bite snack. It was quite good. I wonder if I’ll ever have this again.
The hot chocolate tasted as if the waitress took a slice of torte and blended it up. It was rich, dark, smooth, and bitter. It was good. If you like dark chocolate that isn’t too sweet, you will love this. Don’t expect tiny marshmallows or intensely sweet chocolate in this drink.
Wein, your rain may have put a damper on my mood, but your food lifted it up again. The rain was a nice cleansing before we set off to Italia! Ciao, Wien. A hui hou kākou (until we met again), Wien. Aloha ‘oe.
Dude, I can’t believe you still have more stuff to share from your trip. You had SO many adventures!! I would’ve gained 20lbs based on all your food pictures haha. And you had an English breakfast in Vienna? How come you never had vienna sausage?! Hahaha.
@Tiera: HAHA. I should’ve had vienna sausage, uh? But it won’t taste as good like Hawai’i's vienna sausage. Ya, I still have a couple more stories to talk about and if I wrote it everyday, I think I have two weeks more of my adventures. I love sharing them, but most of all I love reliving it. It’s fun to look back and start laughing at yourself. Girl, you are still young, you should go out and travel. Don’t let work, money, boyfriend, etc stop you from traveling. Find a way to get there and just go, seriously. I know people like to say, “Well, Rome is not going anywhere”, but we can’t guarantee that we will still be around. Do eet! Do eet! LOL
Ahhh… hate it when you go somewhere and the authentic food isn’t nearly as authentic as it should be!
Such a shame about the rain
If only it just stopped for a little bit!
@Jaina: HAHA. Ya, you are totally right, but it was nice at the time. Funny thing about the rain, it stopped when we started eating. Then when we were done with our Japanese food, the rain started again. LOL At that point, you just had to laugh.
OH, on a random note: I bought a Nexus 7 through Google Play. Man, google sent me a defective one. WTF. I had to send it back and get a new one. I’m not saying Apple is better, but right now the score is: Android: 0 Apple: 1.
Damn, man, sounds like you’re euro trip really was intense. It’s a shame the weather was so lousy for Vienna, I’ve heard it’s a beautiful city… Then again, food is always the best part of traveling anyway, so I guess you did it right, haha. I hope you had better weather for your time in Italy!
@Jeremy: Ya, it’s quite a shame with all that rain in Vienna. Despite the rain, it was still a busy city. There was a lot of people walking around with their umbrellas. Unlike, Berlin, when the rain came out…the town stop being as busy. Honestly, I want to go back. i feel like I missed out on a lot in Vienna.
Jen:
It’s really nice to see you writing a lot again. You are on a roll. Keep it up. I can’t wait to hear about Italy.
Mike
@Mike: I can’t wait to start writing about Italia! Tuscany should be interesting. All we did was eat, drink, relaxed, and repeat. LOL
I’m on a roll….thanks. I don’t now how long this roll will last, but I’ll ride it out.
I can give you some tips for an English breakfast! Back bacon instead of streaky bacon, sausages are always an option, grill the bacon. Baked beans on the side seems to be super common, a grilled tomato, and sauteed mushrooms. You can get toast but its not standard. Typically the eggs are fried or poached. People usually eat that on more special/relaxed mornings. Most common are bacon baps (bacon in a bun) or a sausage bap. They also do pre-made waffles and pancakes in packages. It’s weird but true.
That chocolate torte looks awesome! I would’ve loved to try that stuff. I HATE wet shoes and socks. Not just “hate” but HATE it. Maybe next time you go traveling it might be an idea to invest in some Merrell’s like these: http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/merrell-avian-light-sport-gtx-womens-walking-shoes-p184724
My husband and I got some similar ones about 3 years ago and have logged about 2,000 walking miles in them before the soles finally gave out. They keep the feet nice and dry and you can always add more water protectant to them if it ever starts to fail.
Btw, I am FASCINATED by that Japanese coffee dessert. That looks awesome. Such a shame it rained so much on you.
Keep sharing your stories cuz I’m loving them!!
@Rachel: *drooling* Thanks for the tips on an English Breakfast. I don’t think I could ever make it as well as you described it. Maybe you can make one for me
One day…
Thanks for the shoes suggestions. I’m going to REI in Chicago and hopefully I can find those shoes. I don’t want to go through that again.
I’ve never really made coffee jello, but remember seeing my mom making it when I was younger. I found a recipe that my mom said is like hers (she can’t quite remember it exactly).http://japanesefood.about.com/od/japanesedessertsweet/r/coffeejello.htm Seems simple enough. Blog about it if you do make it.
Ditto! I was like wow she must’ve taken a gazillion pics but you know what I’m so glad because I get to still enjoy your travels.
I never thought about the rain in that way but maybe instinctively knew it because when I’m very stressed out I often wish for rain (as long I don’t have tennis!).
Great pics, I like the “on the bus” one the best (reality!)
@Tania: HAHA. My friend, Mike, took that picture of me and my other friend, Ron. I’m glad he took that photo. It always makes me laugh when I see it.
The whole rain purification, I just learned that in my Hawaiian History class last semester. I’ve always felt the same way like you. When I’m stressed or tired, I often wish for rain. Weird, when I think about it.
That English breakfast looks awesome and filling and definitely would wash away the rainy woes of the day! Cool shot through the glass, with the rain coming down. Like a painting with the paint melting. You fell asleep on the tour bus. Awesome! LOL – pretty girl with no personality!!! And authentic Japanese food in Wien?! I want to eat Japanese with you. I’ve been to Japan but not sure if I can remember what “authentic” tastes like after all these years eating “American” Japanese. I’ve paid much more than $40 for Japanese everywhere
. Oh, how I miss Japan! Mmmmm….Coffee Jello. You look great with no makeup! I couldn’t even tell. That’s a good thing 
. Mmmmm….torte.
@Lisa:
Yes, let’s eat Japanese food together! I would love that.
The photo of the rain was dumb luck, but I like your interpretation. It does look like a painting being washed away. Well, it definitely felt that way.
OH, girl…me without makeup is not a pretty sight. I have allergies, so it looks like I have two black eyes all the time. There is nothing I can do about it…not amount of cream can take it away. It sucks, but thank goodness for concealer, right?
I don’t even bother with concealer anymore! I call them “badges of motherhood”. Ha!
@Lisa: HAHA! I like that…”Badges of Motherhood” I’m going to use that when I become a mother. I guess my bags are “Badges of a College Student.” Meh, doesn’t have the same ring to it, uh?