Liquid Market

The liquid market took place on the 29th of July for the very first time and was the perfect place to try out the best cocktail bars in Vienna: Sign Lounge, Halbestadt, Miranda, Botanical Garden, and many many more.

We already bought our tickets, that included all the beverages we could drink beforehand and paid only 28€ while the normal ticket were 36€. The price wasn’t that bad considering how much you normally have to pay for a high quality cocktail.

The weather was perfect, the atmosphere was a chill Friday evening and everybody had a great time discovering new bars and tasting a lot of cocktails.
My favourite from the ten cocktails I had was the basil martini (it had a way cooler name but I sadly can’t recall it anymore). It was super refreshing and just the perfect combination thought of by the Sign Lounge.

I really hope that the liquid market will take place again next year and in case it does, you definitely should drop by and test the cocktails for yourself! I will be sure to post about it beforehand and therefore remind you of this lovely event :)

Memobottle – Waterbottle

I absolutely love my new waterbottle I discovered on Kickstarter!
It is not a new fact that we should drink lots of water (especially in summer) but I often was really lazy to bring my normal round bottles because they did not fit into my bags. The design is just perfect, why did not anybody think of a flat bottle sooner?

I already recommended it to my friends, gifted it to some and finally got around to write about memobottle here. You can find the bottle on Amazon but I bought it directly on their website http://www.memobottle.com/ since I heard that people received fake copies of the memobottle company on amazon.

The memobottle comes in two sizes (A6 with 375ml and A5 with 750ml) and is BPA-free.
I just keep water in mine since they are not dishwasher safe and I am not too sure if the can experience discolouration by tea or other drinks.

I did not get sponsored for this post but I do can really recommend you those bottles because they are super practical and stylish at the same time :)

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Junn Bar & Kitchen

This is the perfect place to meet friends and work colleges alike for some drinks or yummy food in a very stylish and hip restaurant. Even though it is located in the first district, the prices are fair and not too pricey.

Erwin and me decided to share a starter for two people. The starter contains six different yummy dishes for 12€, which is only 2€ per dish! Everything tasted as delicious as it looked and I was really surprised by how lovely the edamame tasted.

The cocktails they offer, not only sound cool, they have an Asian twist to it.
Even though the calpis cocktail sounds sweet, it is really strong so beware!

Food wise I went with a brown wheat bao which tasted nice even though it was quite hard to eat elegantly with everything dripping onto the plate. Not date-night approved ;)

The ramen Erwin had looked neat with lots of toppings but compared to Karma ramen you definitely could taste that the noodles weren’t home-made.

For desserts we decided on coconut mochi filled with peanut and sesame sauce with some fruit. Like most Asian restaurants they don’t have a huge selection on desserts.

I heard that the lunch offer is really great so I hope to return for that soon!

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National Park Donau Auen

It already has been a very long wish for me to visit a national park in Austria and thanks to Igersvienna (an instagram group) I finally had the chance to visit one.

The national park Donau Auen is the nearest to Vienna and definitely worth a visit even though there are no impressive mountain tops, you get to see (nearly) untouched nature by boat and do some work-out with your arms while paddling along the river ;)

We got there with a rented van and it is definitely easier to go there by car than take the public transport (which I am not even sure is an option..)

The park rangers told us lots of interesting information about the park and its inhabitants.I won’t get too much into detail here because you should hear it for yourself when you are there :)

We got to see lots of (water)birds and even a turtle could not be disturbed by us and seemed to enjoy two boats full of people snapping picture after picture.

I loved the view, especially when you glide by Hainburgh an der Donau which is really photogenic and such a cute town.

The tour is definitely something many people would enjoy, especially kids so for summer, this is definitely an activity for the whole family.
My smile is not lying! :D

Feinkoch

Located in Neubau, the hip and trendy district of Vienna, Feinkoch not only offers menus to cook at home for (single) cooks, you can also find lots of special treats for your special foodie or just for yourself ;)

You can pick a recipe and then get all the ingredients for the exact portions you need. I really like the concept which is pretty handy for people living alone. You can also check out the available recipes they have at the moment online.

It’s so cool how they used all those old wooden crates to make furniture and I especially love that white cabinet!

I like to buy the sweet bars they have, even though I am not a huge fan of chocolate, I really enjoy the chocolate bars from the grown up company!

Definitely something you should check out, especially if you love to cook but are living alone!

Blooming Portraits

All the blossoms have vanished already and made space for the lush green that is taking over Vienna again. The temperatures are gradually getting warmer and I really am looking forward to the great weather.

I had the photo shooting with another blogger Agata, here Photography site can be found here and her blog here.

I asked my friends over facebook what picture they liked the most and apparently it is this one with the magnolias. Not the one I would have chosen if I am being honest!

As you may know I love the Japanese garden and am way more comfortable behind the camera but Agata did a really good job and managed to capture me in moments where I did not look super awkward.

This is one of my favourites and it feels a lot more like spring than the other one.

Do you have a favourite picture? :)

 

 

Duspara – Restaurant Review

Duspara is located right in my district near Matzleinsdorferplatz and one of my favourite restaurant finds of 2016! They serve Austrian fusion dishes and the cook was an employee of Steirereck, one of the best (15th place) restaurants in the world.

I chose it for my birthday dinner with the Mister since it is a semi-fancy place in the evening (and a casual restaurant for lunch). Since I have been there for lunch and dinner I can recommend both options. For dinner you have a lot more choices though and a surprise 6-course menu only costs 42€.

The tomato and curry soup that the Mister chose was one of the best soups I had in my life! Such an amazing taste and every bite seemed a little bit different thus not getting boring. I think I could have had a huge bowl of that soup just for myself.

My main dish was beef cheeks, semolina slices and cooked vegetables which was also done perfectly. From the on-point cooked vegetables to the amazing sauce and the super soft cheeks. I had nothing to complain about!

For dessert I had semolina pudding with mango-passion fruit sorbet and the Mister had the crème brûlée with raspberry sorbet. My dessert was alright but this was the best crème brûlée I had in my life. I scraped the plate after the Mister was done and savoured the after taste. Yeah I am a bit weird.

If you are looking for delicious food and a great evening, you should definitely book a table here. I have been to a lot of fancy restaurants in Vienna already but taste-wise they did not impress me as Duspara did. I can’t wait to go back!

Warm April Days / in-season calendar

The weather in Vienna and especially the temperatures are really nice and warm for April.

The cherry trees and magnolias have been in a lovely bloom already and the leaves of the trees are fresh and light green. Spring is definitely one of my favourite seasons!

The farmers market has more goods to offer and the buzz is back on a Saturday at Naschmarkt. To help me plan on what seasonal goods to cook with, I bought an in-season calendar over amazon (and not just because the pictures are so pretty :)). You can click on the pictures to see them in full-size.

I had a fun photo-shooting at the Japanese garden in Vienna with me as the model. As soon as I get the pictures I will put them up for you to see but it will take some time since the photographer is quite busy and on holiday at the moment.

Magical Theme for March: shapes and figures

Since it is spring and sunshine makes me go adventuring outside, I decided to search for shapes and figures in nature.

We spend a lot of time in front of a screen nowadays. Not just on a pc/laptop but also on the mobile phone.

I started to read more novels again, especially while enjoying the warm rays of sun outside and wanted to give you a book recommendation.

The book is written by Dave Eggers and is called “The Circle”.
It is about a world similar to ours and the protagonist, Mae and how she changes due to technology. In this dystopian novel, the internet has undergone a change and all those individual profiles on different pages we know, have melted into one single profile for a person on the internet and how transfixed people become on their online presence and by connecting online, that they forget to live in the actual world. It made me enjoy nature even more!

The only thing that I did not like is how flat the characters seem but the book definitely made me more wary of the internet, the data we leave behind and the time we spend or waste.
Have you heard of the novel? I always love to read dystopian novels so suggestions are very welcome :)

Vegan Beauty Basket March Edition

I have been super eager to receive this parcel!
A present to oneself is one of the best… besides having a great time with people you love and home-made cookies ;)
Talking about presents, it was my birthday on Saturday and I had a really great time.
We stayed up really late, had great conversations and cheap booze.
I celebrated at Rupp’s, an Irish Pub at Arbeitergasse 46 which I can totally recommend! It is super cozy and they only serve vegetarian dishes (with vegan options) which I think is a nice alternative.

Ok random input end, now back to the beauty box.
The February edition which I talked already about here, wowed me a bit more but I still like all of the content except the eye-shadow colours which I sadly could not choose myself.
Eskay – Deo Cream 7€
I had the option to choose the scent here and I opted for rose with bergamot. The other options were lavender, mint and a neutral scent. I generally love deo creams and really like the consistency and scent!

Michael Droste-Laux – alkaline gem bath salt 2,5€
Since I just have a shower and no bath tube I wasn’t sure if I can try it out but apparently you can also use it as a foot- or hand bath!

Evolve organic Beauty – Hand/Body wash + lotion 4,5€ and 5,5€
I love the fresh and earthy orange scent with wood accents. Since the bottles are the perfect travel size I will save them for my next trip.

Highdroxy – Face Serum 34€
My face had some dry patches but it got a lot better after only one use of the serum. It is made up from mandelic acid and supposedly should help renew my first skin layer. From the whole box this was is my favourite item!

Purobio – Eye shadow Pallet 12,99€
I love nude shades for my eyes and would never haven chosen those colours. So either I get adventures or I will give it away to a friend who can appreciate that pallet more than me.

Have a nice week ahead of you!