violist

Donauturm day.

I walked from one of the U-bahn stops on the river and then
through the park: it was a gorgeous day, and I must have
moseyed rather slowly, as I didn't get to the tower until
right at 11, despite having allowed huge scads of time.
Our jolly crew took a breathtaking ride up to about the
150m level, where we had several tables reserved at the
buffet.

A great panorama, varied by our revolving at once per 20
minutes or so, so we all got to see it all. As my eyesight
isn't very good, I sat at the aisle end (good for getting
food) until late, when others had cleared out, and I could
move over and squint to my heart's content.

The food was quite varied and good on the whole. The oddest
thing I got was minced up tripe and lungs in a slightly sour
sauce; everything else, various kinds of roast (hot and
cold), fried chicken, herring, salmon, mussels, stews,
vegetables, salads, was abundant and tasty. Ottakringer beer
for about a 25% tourist tax.

szg's bungee jump was cancelled for some reason, so there
went the thrill of the day. A few of us visited the open-air
observation deck (I think where the jump was supposed to
take off from) - same view, only windier.

I returned to the hotel and picked lili up at the bar, well,
you know what I mean, and we went on a field trip to see the
beautiful blue Danube. We explored the riverbank for a while
and then crossed the pedestrian bridge to the island, where
we found a wine bar and Iris30, not necessarily in that
order. We passed up the opportunity for a glass of Sturm
preferring beer and red wine instead, after which we decided
to take the subway to the Prater (what else to do when it's
dark?).

The Prater is sort of like the Alaska State Fair times ten
(description borrowed), only a little more seedy around the
edges. Food stalls, sideshows, rides, including a giant
Ferris wheel and this star-shaped thing that whips riders
around on its arms - very vertiginous-looking.

We'd planned on dining at the boiled beef restaurant near
the hotel, but we got a little peckish a little early and
found ourselves in front of the Schweizer Haus, a jolly
beer garden stuffed with locals (or at least, people
speaking varieties of German). You sit at long tables with
bunches of strangers, and ingest curious liquids and pinguid
meats. We split a large roasted pork hock and an order of
potato pancakes, and that was close to the end of us: an
enormous amount of food, but the issue was that it was
dead salty and not roasted with quite the level of care that
I've become accustomed to at my favorite Munich places, so
a little dry. Budweiser dunkel and some glasses of cheap
Zweigelt helped it down.

And in the fullness of time U-bahn and back to the Hilton
for our customary nightcap at the lounge.