It was supposed to rain today, so we planned to visit one of vienna’s oldest and most beautiful coffee houses, Cafe Sperl. It was everything I dreamed of and more! The coffee was d😊wonderfully bitter and creamy, the perfect compliment to the spectacular apricot cake! I’ve been looking for the best apricot cake in Vienna and I’m sure I found it. The ​​Crust was crumbly and a bit crisp and it tasted slightly of graham crackers and butter- perfect! The soft sponge cake in the middle was moist and full of vanilla, but the crowning glory was the perfect, sweet-tart apricot topping. I literally cried. It was that good. It was that perfect. I’m sure the beautiful surroundings and the piano player didn’t hurt either 😊​The Best Apricot Cake. 🍑 Adam tried the Sperl Torte. It too was delicious. It tasted like Ferrero Rocher candies. 

​The pianist ❤️

Thanks again to our handy Lonely Planet guide, we went to a great cafe for breakfast. The ambience was really cool and relaxed. ​

​​Vinyl Record press in the shop. Super cool! 

​Adorable! Amazing coffee!Delicious and gorgeous espresso macchiato Ham, leek, and cheese quiche with fresh salad. It was really good! The dressing was garlicky-herbed yogurt. Mmmm! 

Poor light makes these pictures ugly, but the food was good 😊 Tom kha Gai and Larb Gai- Thai classics filled with ginger, garlic, lemon grass, and fish sauce…. some of our favorite flavors! A Yelp reviewer said we had to try the grilled asparagus with tofu. The reviewer was wrong. What a bland dish! I should’ve known better 😔 Adam ordered the beef Bibambap- a rice bowl with delicious Korean grilled beef, kimchi, pickled veggies, and a fried egg on top. It was super flavorful and delicious! 

After seeing Wonder Woman (great😊). We went for a stroll through one of Vienna’s beautiful parks. We bought a bottle of Austrian Reisling and some pretzels, sat in the grass, talked, laughed, listened to music, and relaxed. What a perfect Friday evening! A beautiful building designed by Otto Wagner (possibly my new favorite architect:) Click here for more about Otto. MozartMore excellent wine. 

The food here is truly excellent! The produce is fresh and of high quality and the preparation is expert level. Every element is cooked and seasoned perfectly. Some of the best food, technically speaking, Ive ever had. France could learn a lot from the Austrians 😜 It’s all very classic. Not exciting or surprising like Thai or Mexican food, but prepared with such expertise it makes it exciting. Delicious house made baguette and brown bread with butter, pumpkin seed oil, and fresh cream cheese whipped with olive oil. Salmon tartar on cold mashed potatoes. It was very delicious. So fresh and light.Cold, crisp salad with a light vinaigrette. Roasted Guinea fowl over sautéed summer vegetables and pasta. The Guinea was roasted absolutely perfectly. It had crisp, flavorful skin and juicy, tender flesh- very hard to accomplish. Adam had the fish of the day. Some kind of white fish, perfectly cooked and served over couscous and cooked cucumber. The cucumber was classic, but a bit odd for our taste. Amazing Austrian Reisling. The waiter described it as “perfect. 3 times champion wine”.  I agree. It was a real champ!!! 

I bought some amazing little strawberries and ultra fragrant apricots in Bratislava yesterday – the perfect topping for the fresh yogurt we bought at Lingenhel. We sprinkled a little sugar on top. Oh my, it good! 😍​Such beautiful produce! Excellent creamy, tart yogurt. 

I really wanted to go on the local food tour we read about, but Adam wasn’t willing to pay €65 each, so he said he would lead the tour himself. He did a pretty great job! ​Slovakian artI guess this is famous 😜Amazing gelato at the oldest gelato place in Bratislava. I had banana-chocolate and apricot. Adam had vanilla and chocolate. The famous Bratislava Roll filled with poppy seeds. We did not like it. It was dry and mealy and the filling tasted oddly of mud. Why is this famous? 😒Palace gardens Fragrant fruit stand- I couldn’t resist buying some tiny, aromatic strawberries and gorgeous apricots!!Excellent local beer- 12%! It’ll sneak up on ya 😳

Local brewery with more great beer. Again with the high %! Mushroom ragu on toast- mmm!​​Everything was just a little bit dingy. ​

The oldest restaurant in Slovakia. It was really beautiful. Too bad the food was so… meh 😞​Weird spinach soup Kofola- “the people’s kola” (communist’s answer to the capitalist’s wildly popular Coka-Cola) The meh meal- white bread dumplings, sweet red cabbage, and pretty good duck. Super stringy smoked strong cheese. Our favorite food of the day. Soooo delicious!

We got up early to catch a train to Bratislava, Slovakia 🇸🇰 Luckily, we bought cheese at Lingenhel yesterday. The sweet counter girl didn’t know what it’s called. She said “it is fresh cow cheese we make here” and that was enough information for me😃 We also had leftovers from last night’s dinner and Adam went to the bakery for fresh bread this morning. A great way to start the day! Off to Bratislava! On the train 🚂 Some marketing people were giving away bitter lemon soda. It’s pretty good 😊 

I seriously can not believe how good Austrian/Viennese food is! We haven’t had a bad meal. The food just keeps getting better! Tonight we followed our guidebook to an adorable, homey restaurant near our Airbnb. Excellent Austrian beer and wine. Spicy house-made pickles- the perfect contrast to the rich, roasted meats. Roast pork neck and belly with herbed dumplings. The pork was sooo good! Rich and flavorful, perfectly seasoned, and wrapped in crispy, cracklin’ skin. Expert level roastery. Adam had the mixed platter with pork neck and belly, ham, smoked sausage, and dumplings. All served with freshly grated horseradish and spicy mustard. Excellent wine. Mediocre apple strudel (you can’t be good at everything I guess 😄).Our kind waiter brought us apple schnapps at the end of our meal to “aide wis dee digestiv”. He had us figured out! 😂

After lunch we made our way to Schloss Belvedere-  a beautiful Baroque palace turned art museum. We decided to go to the Belvedere Schloss instead of the Hofburg (more famous) because we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see Klimt’s, “The Kiss”. Neither of us are huge Klimt fans, but it’s famous, so why not? Boy were we wrong! I was so overwhelmed by its beauty and presence, I was brought to tears. It’s truly a masterpiece! The pictures do not do it justice 😔“The Kiss II” 😜The palace and gardens were so pretty 😊A fun painting by Monet 😃After all the art and trekking around the city in the heat (it hit 91* today), we needed some refreshments. We stopped at a convenienceer’s store and grabbed drinks then went to the most famous Wurst stand in Vienna- Bitzinger! The currywurst was saucy and spicy, and my sparkling apple juice was just perfect!