A Canadian beer drinkers guide to Vienna

First things first, relax. I know you’ve heard wonderful things about the fine offering of European beers and have high hopes to sample them all and make your country proud through egregious consumption but you should take it slow. Here are some things you need to know:

1) Beer and other spirits are much more “cost effective” in Austria.

You may have been used to paying $12-$15 Canadian for a 6-pack and upwards of $35 per 24 pack of your favourite lager in Canada. In Austria, that same beer or a beer of equal or better quality will cost you about 5€ or less for 6 delicious cold ones. One unique difference is that there is no distinction for tall boy cans as we know in North America but don’t worry the big beers won so you won’t find those amateur 355 m.l. cans anywhere. If you`ve become accustom to buying beer in 2-4`s, there’s no problem in Vienna and they`ll happily accommodate you. Each beer is roughly 0.70€ per 500 m.l. can (about 17€/2-4) and comes gift wrapped for your convenience.

The local beer is called Ottakringer and seems to be quite available all over the city if you wish to contribute more directly to the local economy. You still have easy access to Heineken and Corona’s if you don’t feel like adapting.

Ottakringer Heller (Blond Lager)                     Statue depicting man’s struggle for the perfect beer

 

If you prefer wine then you can easily obtain some of a quality unknown to myself for 2 or 3€ and all spirits are available at the many grocery stores in the city. Vienna has many local vineyards due to it’s favourable climate and as such I’m confident that you’ll find one that pleases you. I welcome any suggestions.

The only thing that should scare you is that most grocery stores close around 6 or 7 p.m. in Vienna. There are a few that are kind enough to leave their doors open until 9 p.m. One of those Grocery stores is called Billa and if you find yourself near the University of Wien, all is not lost.

2) Bars are open much later in Austria than in Canada.

A usual night might consist of beginning to drink at 7 or 8 p.m. depending on the time zone of your favourite hockey team, then someone shouts “BAR” and you all consume like a madman to head out into the streets around 10:30/11 p.m. You were used to last call happening around 2 a.m. and even though you may have been kicked out for downing too much tequilla, you could usually plan to stay out until 3 a.m. at the latest.

In Austria you probably had one or two pints with your Wiener Schnitzel at dinner. You will then carry on with the momentum per Canadian tradition. When someone shouts “BAR” relax, you don’t need to drink yourself stupid. Austrian law allows you to consume your spirits on the street at a more reasonable pace. Pay attention Canadian law makers! Drinking on the tram is prohibited which is only enforced if you’re visibly intoxicated and annoying other patrons. Also please note that you might be out later than you expected due to the fact that bars close late but you can relax knowing that the U-Bahn trains run all night on Friday and Saturday so it’s safe to say that you should rest up before going out with the Austrians. You may never come home.

A First Look at Vienna

I am now officially a Canadian expat. While I feel the term itself carries a negative connotation I feel positively at home.

The first thing I noticed is that there seems to be many more similarities than visible differences. Popular culture has a way of bringing people together through a sort of vicarious shared experience. There are many popular expressions and movie quotes that translate across country borders. So far the movie Borat and Eurotrip have helped me to make friends. While my personal brand of humour may not be as effective as it clearly was in Canada, I have found that if I don’t hear the sweet validation of laughter after a bawdy pun that I can simply say that it’s a Canadian thing. This will quell the awkward glances of people you are sharing dinner with and return social order.

Vienna is a beautiful city. The city itself doesn’t have the towering buildings and the skyline that are normally synonymous with powerful cities. The architecture reminds me of Old Quebec. The older buildings are close to the street and the city is very green. There are trees everywhere and each morning I’ve had a choir of song birds play soundtrack to my meals.

Breakfast consists of delicious coffee and a large variety of breads. The bread was put to work by acting as a place holder for finely sliced ham and mozzarella cheese.  There was also a delicious strudel with a filling similar to cream cheese (but healthy) that was very tasty. In the afternoon we toured to market which seemed a lot more like a glorified yard sale than a market that we would think of in Canada. I purchased a 6-pack of Ottakringer, which is the local beer, for 3.40€ that would be put to work later on in the evening. We then decided ice cream was necessary. It turns out there is no distinction between gelato and ice cream as we know it in Canada. Gelato won and I’m very ok with that.

I was later introduced to the AIESEC team and was able to get to know them better over wiener schnitzel and a unique style of potato salad. I was made fun of for taking a picture of my meal which means that not all that much has changed since I moved from Canada. It is customary that before you start drinking a new beer that you Prost (cheers) everyone at the table with a beverage and look into each person’s eyes. I was worried that my soul was being harvested at first but you get used to it after it’s gone. I brought up the game duck, duck, goose which is a conversational staple for me. It turns out that no one in Europe had the privilege of growing up with this delightful game. I can only imagine that they all had miserable childhoods. The conversation flowed in and out of English and German. It turns out that most Europeans are fluent in 3 or 4 languages. I feel self-conscious being the only uni-lingual person in the country so I won’t yet be able to ruin jokes in German and French.

Later we went out to a house party where I continued along a seemingly impossible task of making friends. We shared a few drinks and since we were conveniently arranged in a circle played a friendly game of ming, mang, mong. This is a very simple game but after a few drinks many people continued to make mistakes and had to pay toll to the mysterious clear bottle of alcohol as penance. I attempted to teach the group the drinking game yeah haw, which I know is against the cardinal rule but I wanted to fit in. This worked well for a little while and the gun and bar fights didn’t result in too many casualties.

We left peacefully enough at around 3 a.m. and played a light game of football in the streets of Vienna. The night would not be complete without a Frankfurt so I ceded to my desires and was pleasantly satisfied.

So far so good!