Café Phil & Corns n’ Pops, Vienna

Directly across the street from Café Sperl (covered in my last post) is Café Phil at 10-12 Gumpendorferstrasse – it is a mutant of the traditional Viennese kaffehaus (but not the kind of “coffeeshop” one finds in Amsterdam).

Cafe Phil provides hot beverages and sells books and magazines.

It also sells vinyl, CD, DVD, etc. The ambience is so laid back that the people were falling asleep!

It also sells the furniture used by the patrons and the lights. Apparently, a weekly TV show about popular culture is filmed here.

Despite its looks, just like the traditional kaffehaus, one can linger for hours with just one cup of coffee. It is indeed a great place to relax by yourself and meet people if you want.

Just a bit up the street from our rental apartment is a Museli bar called Corns ‘n Pops (37 Gumpendorferstrasse).

Look at the choices on offer.

Serious about cereal ?

And the variety of toppings.

We had a very late breakfast there.

We were rather busy planning our day’s activities. Instead of creating our mix, we deferred to the menu suggestions. I was the laziest and ordered the museli du jour – which had among other goodies a sprinkle of grated ginger on top.

While we are on the topic of food and drinks on Gumpendorferstrasse, a few store fronts from Cafe Phil is a Korean restaurant Hanil (at no.14) – whose offerings are as korean as it can be in Vienna – it also runs a couple of sushi joint across town. Next to Cafe Sperl across the street is Ra’mien (at no.9) – a design-conscious, minimalist pan-asian restaurant – where we had noodles for dinner one night – the place was packed with people ready to go out for the evening.

Café Sperl, Vienna

According to Wikipedia, the Viennese coffee house is an institution of Vienna that played an important part shaping the city’s culture. Around the end of the 19th century, it was the place where intellectuals, politicians, artists lingered – reading newspaper, writing, talking and playing games. We tried lingering there …

This café is located further down the street from our rental apartment where it splits as Gumpendorferstrasse to the left and Lehargasse to the right.

As it turned out, Café Sperl at 11 Gumpendorferstrasse is the real deal and not a touristy place. As is common in many Viennese Coffee Houses, there are marble tabletops, Thonet-like chairs, and newspaper tables.

The square tables by the window (pictured above) allow patrons to play card games and chess – one evening, we saw a group of ladies playing cards in there.

The seating arrangements around the windows are also particularly welcoming, as it accommodates a variable number of people and encourages informal socializing between separate groups.

The high ceiling, windows, and mirror at the end makes the place very airy despite the wood panels and velvety upholstery.

Patrons can spend as much time as they want with a cup of coffee while reading all the newspaper and magazines. I cannot help but think of the Starbucks inside Barnes and Noble in the US. Notably, I do not remember seeing a television any where – so it cannot turn into a sports bar.

The English has billiard table in public houses (pubs) which may serve a similar social gathering function as the Viennese cafe, except that the conversations in a pub are likely to be driven more by alcohol than by the news. Billiard or pool tables in cafe are unimaginable in the US and Britain.

We went there in late morning and had a leisurely lunch there. I suspected the billiard tables will be used in the evening. These are not pool tables, they have no pockets!

One of us had a special wiener schnitzel that is covered not just with bread crumbs but also with nuts and corn.

Although they do not have a bar, I believe alcohol is served. Don’t remember seeing any sign of internet access here – still relying on the olde newspaper for info?

Apparently, the cafe was featured in Richard Linklater’s 1995 movie Before Sunrise, with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, which along with its Paris-based sequel Before Sunset, I recommend highly.

The interior was also used in the movie A Dangerous Method, which featured Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Do check out Café Sperl‘s web site which offers several beautifully captured interactive panorama of the interior and exterior of the cafe.

22 Gumpendorferstrasse, Wien

For our stay in Vienna, instead of booking hotel rooms, we and Sis rented an apartment for the week.

The apartment is located on the second floor of 22 Gumpendorferstrasse in the district of Mariahilf 6.

There are four apartments per floor. The building is entirely residential but the area still has some light industry.

It is in an old building but the apartment’s interior was completely renovated. Very NY Soho loft.

High ceiling, airy, and modern, the whole apartment is painted white with minimalist furniture. A few big mirrors added more space.

The curtains in our bedroom were psychedelic.

Modern bathroom. They supplied us with threes of everything from towel to toiletries, and even 3 Nespresso pods in the kitchen.

This piece of glass separates the kitchen and the bathroom and I believe it is a map of Vienna.

The kitchen is modern and has a pass-through to the living room.

Interesting bookshelf, possibly home made. The little red and blue blobs were plastic spaceman figurines that were glued onto the bookshelf. We were happy to find English language Lonely Planet and Wallpaper guide books.

Whose’s design is this? I have seen a series of lights with a red cable  in a catalogue before but just cannot remember now.

The building kept the old elevator, giving it much character. One has to close both doors after use otherwise it is stranded on the floor you got off.

Except the ground floor, a key is required to call the elevator to your floor.

This was our home for the week. We booked it at Viennaresidence which caters to mainly business short-stays – I will use them again.

From Munich to Vienna by Railjet

After we attended the Champions League final football game, we left Munich the next day for Vienna – the beginning of a week’s vacation. Our train was RJ65 departing at 11:27 from Munich to Budapest on platform 11.

Our train is run by the Austrian Federal Railway (Österreichische Bundesbahnen or ÖBB) and the service is branded Railjet.

Although there was the Bistro on the train and we had breakfast at the hotel, we still bought a load of snacks at the station.

Sue booked us tickets for First class Business – which is apparently even better than first class. While it cost us quite a bit for this segment of the trip, it was also the best rail travel experience we ever had.

Many aspects of our train seat are like an airplane’s seat. The three of us were seated in a section which can accommodate four passengers, two and two facing each other. There were enough spaces that we kept in our section most of our luggage except my bulkiest bag.

Reading lights, power sockets, reclining seats with foot rest … roomy, no crowds, quiet, no city center-airport trip, seat-side service – definitely a nice way to travel medium distances in Europe.

An attendant came to ask if we wished to order drinks and lunch, and offered us newspaper and magazines. We did not have to go to the Bistro.

The train stopped at Salzburg, Linz, and a few lesser known Austrian cities.

The train was quiet and steady; some of us were fast asleep at 200 km/h. This screen in our section displays a map indicating our progress and the schedule times of arrival and departure.

Sights rushed by at high speed, … I would not have minded stopping here.

We reached Vienna at 15:44, arriving in Wien Westbanhof, all of us well-rested. A very nice way to travel indeed.

The next few posts will be all about Vienna.

Champions League Final Munich 2012

As mentioned in the last post, we were the guests of a broadcaster of the Champions League Final in Munich. We were so excited.

Go back to the post and see us holding the cup !

The game started with the usual fanfare, which we normally ignore when watching the game on TV. The two finalists are Bayern Munich and Chelsea. The fans of the home team was on our left.

Chelsea was on our right. The Munich fans won the visual display of support with better props and more fans participating than the other side.

Flares in the Munich camp. The smoke was choking when it reached us.

Munich scored first at the 83rd minutes by Thomas Mueller.

Chelsea fought back and scored at the 88th minute by Didier Drogba. So near the end … , it is destiny.

The unthinkable happened to the home team – they lost the championship game. Chelsea beat Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties.

The Munich players were paralyzed on the ground with the pain of losing while the workers brought out the podium for the winners. Notice the line of policeman facing the Chelesa fans preventing from rushing into the field.

The winners posed for the world’s press.

The Allianz Arena (known as the Fußball Arena München during UEFA-organised games) looked stunning at night, just what a giant flying saucer from the 60’s would look like. It is normally entirely red or blue. The home team supporters left quietly.

Back to the Champions Village for more food, drinks and entertainment, I imagined the parties would be a lot more energetic and celebratory had the home team won.

A beautiful game in a beautiful stadium. For more info on the match and clips of it, go to the UEFA site here.

Champions League Final Munich 2012 pre-game

We were very lucky to be the guests of a broadcast partner of the Champions League Final in Munich. For my American friends and readers, this is the Superbowl equivalent in European football (soccer) – so it is a very big deal here.

The final match was held on May 19, 2012 in Munich at the home stadium of one of the finalist – FC Bayern München – the city was packed with their fans wearing red and the atmosphere was incredible throughout the city and the biergartens. The other finalist was Chelsea FC from London, in blue, their fans were in smaller numbers but no less vocal than the locals.

A day before the match, the Cup was displayed in the Commercial Partner’s lounge, and as guests, we had a chance to hold the Cup! Apparently, it is one of three identical official cups – the one we posed with would be used on match day.

The stadium is named Allianz (an insurance company) but its name was not mentioned as it was not one of the commercial partner.

After we were bus-ed to the stadium, we were lead to an area (Champions Village) where the organizer served us pre- and post-game buffet and drinks. There was a fan shop and live entertainment.

Other partners like Ford, Mastercard, Sony, Heineken … had their own parties.

There was also a final result prediction lottery at the Champions Village. Of course, the result did not turn out as predicted.

In the UEFA lounge, we were watching the field before the broadcast transmission began around the world. See countdown clock below.

The sun was setting as we entered the stadium – it was a beautiful evening.

Our seat was in the middle of the stadium and half way up, a few rows below these TV cameras. Great seats.

More about the game in our next post.

I ♥ NY: Lunch in Times Square

This was written many months ago and forgotten as a draft.  Likely, much of it has changed or it is no longer news. But since I just returned from NY, it’s time to post it.

The day I picked up my passport from the Swiss consulate office on the east side, I decided to walk through midtown Manhattan. A cloudy January day.

Walking from east to west on 42nd street.

This giant inflatable rat was planted on 5th Avenue in front of a business that has a labor dispute.  It is routinely seen around the city whenever publicity is needed by the unions.

I used to work in the building on the corner of 6th Avenue and 44th Street.  The ex-Russian tea room chef who opened a lunch cart on my street corner was still there.

He apparently owns several food cart (‘Kwik Meal”) around the city but he still works at the original.

Lamb over rice was his specialty and I was a regular.  I bought a portion and walked towards Times Square.

This kind of chimney is an unusual-elsewhere but regular NYC sighting: steam from underground – and emerging right in the middle of 45th between 6th Avenue and Broadway.

The biggest change since we left our apartment at 48th Street was the creation of the pedestrian zone and addition of tables and chairs.  It was a long overdue and much appreciated change made by the city, reclaiming street space for pedestrian from cars is a no-brainer.

It was a bit cold, and with traffic flowing by me, I ate my lunch.

I passed through Times Square every morning either on foot when we lived on 48th, or by public transport when we moved to Edgewater. See the billboards – Times Square still had the 2010 new year greetings and the crystal ball was visible (just barely) in the picture.

After we revived this draft post, we discovered this NY Times article (June 4, 2012) about American food truck invading Paris successfully against the belief that “The French will never eat on the street. The French will never eat with their hands. They will never pay good money for food from a truck.” It is apparently Très Brooklyn !

I ♥ NY: A Weekend In New York

I (Chris) was back in New York for a business trip. This is first time I spent a whole weekend there since we moved two years ago.  The meeting ended with the beginning of the memorial day weekend and I was happy to see many good friends over several meals. With my colleagues, we had a steak dinner at Smith & Wollensky.

On Facebook, I put out a message to all my friends, asking if any one can meet me in NY.

On Friday, I met J and A for beer and wings at the Press Box on Third Ave. P joined us later that evening

After the drinks, we went next door to a Turkish restaurant that we visited a while back – Sip Sak.  I had a lamb shish kebab – the meat was very tender but under-spiced. The maitre d’ was a character and quite rude to us (and other customers). He seemed offended when we did not order the specials and shared a dish.

On Saturday, midtown Third Ave (around 50th street) was empty. All the New Yorkers have left town for the long weekend.

The residents left the city to the tourists who were enjoying the street market that took over Lexington Avenue.

I met G and Sh for lunch uptown at Le Monde near Columbia University. It was a very hot day so we sat inside the bistro.

Later, I met Se and O at the Mermaid Oyster Bar on MacDougal near Houston – a branch of the Mermaid Inn.

We were early enough to take advantage of their famous seafood happy hour – east coast and west coast oysters – half a dozen each.

On Sunday, I was in Chinatown but did not go to my usual place as it was too crowded so I had lunch at this other noodle shop.

I joined Y and So (plus a few of So’s friends) to see Jiro Dreams of Sushi at Symphony Space on the Upper West Side.

The documentary movie had shots after shots of mouth-watering sushi, dripping with soy sauce in slow motion, and accompanied by Philip Glass music. According to its website:

JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI is the story of 85 year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. Despite its humble appearances, it is the first restaurant of its kind to be awarded a prestigious 3 star Michelin review, and sushi lovers from around the globe make repeated pilgrimage, calling months in advance and shelling out top dollar for a coveted seat at Jiro’s sushi bar.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and have to thank So’s thoughtfulness for booking us all a table for dinner at Momoya after the movie.

Although Momoya’s sushi cannot be compared with those of Sukiyabashi Jiro, it was nevertheless satisfying.

I had a great weekend, thank you – and especially Y for the accommodation.