What to do during Viennese Winter
Explore Kaffeehauskultur
If you aren’t yet familiar with this form of viennese ‘culture’ be sure to try it out this winter. Of course it is an activity Viennese people take part in all year round. However, on these long, cold, gray, wet, gloomy, windy, snowy, stormy, bleak, icy winter days there is nothing better than an extra- long café-sitting-session. There’s not much more to this very specific social practice that has been under UNESCO world heritage culture status since 2011. The only requirements are to be able to sit in one of the historical viennese cafés and sip on your, most likely, very specifically named coffee order. At some point it would be best to find your ‘Stammlokal’, meaning a café or bar you go to so often you become a regular. Here is a short list of special Viennese coffee orders that can make you look like a real local:
Kleiner and Großer Schwarzer - just a fancy way of ordering a single or double espresso
Kleiner and Großer Brauner – single or double espresso with a small cup of cream
Wiener Melange – basically a cappuccino with more foam than milk
Verlängerter – an espresso that is ‘stretched out’ with hot water and no added milk
Franziskaner – also an elongated espresso with hot milk and creme
Einspänner – espresso with just cold foam on top, and served in a glass usually
Now to the traditional Kaffeehaus recommendations:
They usually include a small marble table and wooden Thonet-style chairs. They’re often badly lit, if you’re lucky, they have a few candles on some tables. At least one unfriendly waiter that might not accept your request for oat milk, is a must. But it also means high ceilings, often dark wood details, old fashioned coat hangers and newspapers available for everyone.
Here are some traditional and well known viennese Kaffeehäuser:
•Café Jelinek
•Café Sperl
•Café Korb
•Café Eiles
•Kleines Café
•Café Engländer
Now to some more modern interpretations of Kaffeehauskultur, for a younger crowd:
•Café Europa
•Café Nil
•Ddsas Menta
•Café Espresso
Romanticize your study days:
public libraries
Since we will not just have our free time during the winter it is important to plan well for the busy study days. Vienna has some good libraries that make for a productive study environment while also accommodating to the cozy winter aesthetic we are trying to uphold before we’re sick of the cold. Here are my recommendations:
•The obvious choice: Nationalbibliothek at Heldenplatz (the yearly pass is around 30 euros)
•MAK library: a hidden gem that is quite small but absolutely beautiful
•The library at the main old building of the University of Vienna
•The small libraries of the University of Vienna campus at the Altes AKH
Some study-friendly-cafés:
•Café Journal
•Das Café (come early because it fills up quickly)
•Café Zehn Siebzig
•Café Camus
Afterwards you can freeze at a Christmas market
I used to think Christmas markets – also called Christkindlmärkte – were a fun activity for children. However, I recently discovered the pleasure of smaller markets with good christmas punsch! Nothing could make me go to the big market at Rathausplatz though, it is a tourist trap and a recipe for overstimulation. That's why I like to go to the smaller ones I am about to list below.
•Spittelberg Christmas Market
•Karlsplatz
•In Türkenschanzpark
•In the Altes AKH
•At Freyung
•At the Liechtenstein garden palace
