As mentioned previously on this site, my friend Val is in town for a week or two as part of her ‘round-the-world trip. She came here directly from Prague, but was in Budapest before that, and SE Asia before that.

Tonight, we decided to dine at 7 Stern Bräu, a brewery and restaurant right near where we live.

But before we discuss our evening at Sieben Stern Bräu, I’ll tell you about a last night: Saint Patrick’s Day.

We met up at Val’s relatives’ apartment in the First District. They were lovely people and treated us to a wonderful spread of Spanish and French cold cuts, delicious champagne and sparkling wines, chocolate covered espresso beans, and the delightful pairing of smoked salmon and oberskren. Maple adored the smoked salmon, boiled eggs and the small cherry tomatoes that seem to have become widely available here in Europe—probably from Israel or somewhere in the middle east, I would imagine.

Maple and Halane went home, so Val and I decided to tear it up a bit in my ‘hood and check out some of the locals. We started, appropriately enough, at a place called Kleine Local—little place, in English. It was a great little spot, with decent brew on tap, a little menu for food, and a nice bartender. Unfortunately, I have never hung out in a more smoky bar in my entire life. The size (small) and the ventilation (none) combined with a handful of smokers made it nearly unbearable. However, we persevered through a couple drinks, and then decided to walk to Wirr. Wirr was, however, completely packed, so we wandered up the street to Backbone, a little Irish bar at the intersection of Burggassse and Schottenfeldgasse.

The Irish bar proved to be a good call on St. Paddy’s. A large contingent of Irish folks sang songs and beat drums in the corner and generally made the place festive as hell. A couple came in behind us and I overheard the guy say “I’m Irish/German. That’s the thing most of you Europeans don’t understand about America—more Germans live there than have ever lived in Germany”.

blink

Anyway…

Back to 7 Stern.

I called earlier to reserve a table at 7 PM, but when I found out Val was having drinks with some people and not heading to our neighborhood until 7:15, I changed the reservation to 7:30. Unfortunately, the bartender never told the waitress and she gave away our reserved non-smoking table (a precious commodity in Vienna and 7 Stern Bräu). She was very apologetic and helped us find a table in another part of the restaurant, but I was a bit pissed. To top it off, nobody gave us a free drink or anything else, despite the fact that we had to sit in the smoking section with a baby.

And now to begin my rant afresh: smoking is ignorant, annoying and horrid behavior. I know I do stupid stuff, but I just don’t understand the ignorance of smoking. That it will kill you is a scientific probability. That it’s offensive to others is also fact. But Austrians seem to smoke more than any other humans on the planet. They can’t possible all be ignorant or louts, so I just don’t understand it.

Regardless, it took me a beer or so to loosen up and not be a dick to the waiters and feel entitled to special treatment. But seriously: that’s annoying. Additionally, the food wasn’t so good tonight. All-in-all, a disappointing evening as far as the place was concerned. However, it was fun to hang out with Val, despite the fact that she and I were nursing somewhat severe hangovers.

Tomorrow, I think we’ll try to hit Mocca Club, then the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna, followed by the Belvedere.

Update: just read on the Vienna Museum’s website that they are closed for renovation. Na ja.