September in Vienna is a month with Most & Sturm

If you are lucky and visit Vienna during September or October you might want to experience some very local tradition.

During those months the grapes growing around Vienna's vineyards enter their last days of existence.

They are picked by hand and pressed and as a result you will have a delicious Most. 

This word derives from the latin MUSTUM, meaning young wine. 

As this young wine consists of natural yeast, a chemical process starts, depending on the storage temperature, quicker or controlled and slower (eg in the fridge)

Glucose and fructose are seperated into alcohol and carbonic acid. The result is a sweet, slightly alcoholic and sparkling grape juice, with yeast particles and therefore cloudy

As soon as the alcohol indicates to be at 1% this easy-to-drink-juice becomes a Sturm. You will notice that the alcohol raises quickly to 4%. This is the moment, where Sturm is allowed to be sold in Austria.

The sweetness makes place the alcohol and now it is not only a healthy beverage, but also an alcoholic one. The alcohol will continue to raise and reaching the 11%mark indicates the start of wine production.

The word Sturm (exact translation mean storm) describes the cloudy yeast particles which have a constact chemical reaction if you storage the beverage in a warm place. Therefore never ever close a bottle of Sturm! It will explode within some hours!

Enjoy the Most or Sturm with good, traditional viennese food - visit a vineyard around Vienna to experience these unique feeling of a fresh and healthy, natural drink!

If you explore Austria's countryside we highly recommend Styria in this time of the year. Wine lovers will enjoy the vineyards and the different tastes of the new wines!

Film Festival Vienna

credits: orf.at

For more For more than 20 years, each summer the Film Festival has inspired up to 700,000 visitors from within Austria and abroad.

The open-air spectacle in the unique surrounding of Vienna's Rathausplatz offers you first-class music and top international gastronomy for free. Experience the variety of cuisines with music all over - all al-fresco style! More details here
Not just the programme with top productions from the classical, opera, jazz and pop worlds and the culinary offerings inspire with their outstanding quality; its high-quality technical implementation also makes the Festival an overwhelming success and an annual summer highlight in the heart of Vienna.

Some highlights of the summer:


DO 03.07.  Legends – Live at Montreux
SA  05.07.  Orfeo ed Euridice
DI  08.07.  Frank Sinatra – A Man And His Music Featuring Nancy Sinatra
MI  09.07.  Marvin Gaye Greatest Hits - Live in Amsterdam
                  In Memoriam Paco de Lucía
DO 10.07. Im weißen Rössl
FR  11.07.  In Memoriam Claudio Abbado
SA 12.07.  Romeo und Julia
SO 13.07.  Aida - Tutto Verdi
MO 14.07. Fantasia
MI  16.07.  Richard Strauss
SA  19.07.  Glen Hansard plays Baloise Session

Bermuda in Vienna?

Photo: KF/wikimedia

Did you know that we have a Bermuda Triangle here in Vienna?
Well, don't be afraid to get lost, you may only get drunk.


The Bermuda Triangle is situated in Vienna's oldest part of town between Schwedenplatz and Morzinplatz and near Rotentumstrasse. You can easily acces it by U-Bahn Station Schwedenplatz with the lines U1 and U4.

To be more precise you will find a bunch of unique bars, restaurants and clubs between Rabensteig, Seitenstettengasse and Judengasse and up to Ruprechtsplatz. By the way, there you'll find the Ruprechtskirche, one of the oldest churches in Vienna.

The building in Seitenstellengasse 4 is home to an israelic temple, therefore do not be surprised to find police wandering around.

The founder of the Bermuda Triangle was the Restaurant Krah Krah, it's name simulating the sound of a crow. It was in 1980 that Sepp Fischer invented a beer bar, today seen everywhere. Guests come from everywhere to taste one of the 60 beers, you even can try the Kulmbach Kuminator, the strongest beer of the world.

Other bars in Bermuda are:  Stehachterl, Bermudabräu, Casablance, Gnadenlos, Slammer, Kaktus, Kuchldragoner, Mojo, Morgans & Vulcania.

So get out, book your place, enjoy sitting al-fresco in summer and endulge in Vienna's traditional food.

Photo: Krah Krah

Advent, Advent ....

This weekend the traditional "Adventzeit" will start. Children will say:

"Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt, 

erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei, dann vier,

dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür."

(Advent, Advent, a candle burns, 

first one, then two, then three, then four,

and then the Christkind has arrived)

Advent is the time before Christmas when Christian people are in expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christmas. "Adventus" comes from the Latin and means "coming".

It is also the time when traffic jams are starting to build up, often mixed with weather chaos and huge queues in front of the cashiers. And the time, christmas lighting is turned on and mulled wine is drunken excessively.

And time of the "Adentkranz".
This is a green spruce wreath decorated with 4 candles and some christmasy schnick-schnack.
Either you buy a ready made wreath or you buy pine bundles and with lots of patience you manage to get a wreath, pin in the candles and use your creativity to match nice items for decoration. It will take at least an hour to finally have the wreath ready.

The story goes that the evangelic priest Johann Hinrich Wichern had a wooden wreath with 24 candles, 4 big ones for the 4 sundays and 20 "normal" ones.
Each day one more candle was lit so that finally on the 24th there were 24 candles enlighting the church. Each day the light was brighter and prepared everyone for the coming of Christ as the "Light of the World".

Nowadays it's a big business for the flower shops and each year prices increase and quality decreases.
So, if you dont want to spent 50 euro, the better, you make a DIY wreath.

Austrian families will have had lit up the first candle this sunday. And each next sunday the light will become brighter, with the increased number of candles burning. So, wherever you go in Vienna, watch out for the green wreaths.

Unfortunately you will not find it in bluedanube apartment as we decided to put safety over tradition. Tradition also has it that many of the wreaths start small fires .....

Here is my hand-made DIY wreath, done with lots of love, patience and passion.

Schoenbrunn Christmas Market

If you want to combine one of Viennas top locations with romantic Christmas feelings, the Schoenbrunn Christmas market is the perfect place to go. Located in front of the palace, the advent village is providing an unforgettable atmosphere. It feels more relaxed and less crowded than other markets in Vienna. This year, when the market celebrates its 20th birthday, around 80 exhibitors are offering anything from local hand crafted artifacts to fancy Christmas tree decorations, made of various materials like wood, glass, stone, and pottery. No need to leave hungry or thirsty as you can enjoy a lot of specialties like fine Austrian wines as well as punches, mulled wine and tea specialties, including non-alcoholic and sugar-free varieties. Gingerbread and Christmas biscuits go well with these fine drinks, but if you are not so much into sweets, also soups and stews, baked potatoes, raclette, pasta and different kinds of sausages are available.

Every evening local and international choirs and gospel groups will perform traditional Christmas music in front of the palace under the giant Christmas tree.

Children will enjoy the market as well with interactive games, Cookie-baking at the Imperial Bakery or the “Schloss Schoenbrunn Experience” in the Children’s Museum.

Once Christmas is over, the market will be transformed into a New Year’s Market which will open on December 28^th to January 1^st.

Directions for visitors staying at bluedanube apartments: U1 to Karlsplatz and the U4 to Schoenbrunn. Approx 20 minutes.

Christmas Market Schoenbrunn

November 23^rd to December 26th, open daily from 10am to 9pm,  
December 24th 10am to 4pm
December 25^th and 26^th 10am to 7pm

New Year’s Market Schoenbrunn

December 27^th to January 1^st, open daily from 10am to 7pm

Further Information can be found at www.weihnachtsmarkt.co.at