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Night location: Vienna
Another leisured start to our day with a sleep-in and delicious breakfast. Today we decided to visit the Vienna Prater which is a leisure area with a famous amusement park opened to the public by Emperor Joseph II in 1766. In 1897 the Giant Ferris Wheel called the Riesenrad was built and instantly became popular as the Viennese could look out over their city from 65 meters above the ground. It has 30 cabins in total, none of which are original due to a severe fire that damaged the wheel in the final days of World War II. Interestingly, even though Vienna was severely damaged in the war, the Riesenrad was rebuilt in record time and was operational again in 1947 and came to symbolise the reconstruction of Vienna. We really enjoyed our ride. It was a bit disconcerting when the cabin sloped to the side depending on how the passengers were standing, but nevertheless, the view was beautiful and the experience memorable.
Also in the park is the Liliput-Bahn, a miniature train that covers four kilometres in about twenty minutes. This was a fun way to see the grounds including what appeared to be some of the old hunting woods.
The remainder of the day was spent wandering around the Old City shopping. We went to the famous Demel Coffee House and enjoyed cake and hot beverages. As with the Sacher cafe we felt a bit underwhelmed as it seemed a bit rushed and touristy.
By far the highlight of our day, if not our trip, was our dinner at Tian Restaurant. This is a vegetarian restaurant which has been awarded one Michelin Star. We opted for the six course degustation. To start we were offered an Aperitif which we declined and instead they offered us a non-alcoholic version of pear juice, bitters, elderflower and soda water. Truly exceptional. Being in Vienna, a city famous for its art influences, it was no surprise that every dish was intricately beautiful. The flavours were innovative and our highlights were the main course of baked potato and beetroot, which had an edible silver leaf to imitate it being cooked in foil, and David's dessert, where a thin chocolate shell was melted by warm caramel sauce to reveal a rich chocolate cylinder with a scoop of passion fruit sorbet balancing on top. Accompanying our meal we were offered both red and white grape juice that was unlike any we have tasted before. The byline for Tian is 'Experience Taste' and we certainly did tonight.
- comments
Althea Halliday Hello darlings Your father read David's comment about the Tian Restaurant aloud to me, and I was impressed by the superlative 'best meal ever'. Now that I have read your blog for myself, I can understand why. Your photos of the ferris wheel were excellent, particularly one where the wheel seemed to be 'framed'. That is another thing that I really like doing: studying the photos. Haven't you packed a lot into this holiday! I am returning now to the gilded glitter that I saw on my way through. Love, Mum xx