Thursday 27 March 2008

DO NOT DELETE The Art of Losing Oneself in a Cup of Coffee



Pane e Tulipani
Bread and Tulips?
Emphatic no!

It's SacherDemeltorte!
We are at Demel's,
after all.

Wiener Melange
Translation: Cappuccino,
Viennese Style
Would you believe that
when I am at Demel's,
I lust not after their sweets
but the silver sugar bowl?


Kandierte Veilchen
Candied Violets
You may eat the candy,
I keep the box.
Deal?


Kleine Naschereien
Small Sweet Temptations
All I am seeing
is this pretty little
three tiered dessert stand!


Fire Place Mantle
Being a world class pâtisserie and chocolatier,
you ought to have a fire place in your shop,
with a large mirror above
to better reflect your treasures,
don't you agree?

Oh well!
Once upon a time,
when I was a little girl,
the room with the fire place
was furnished with coffee tables and chairs.
Yes, in the good old times
you were able to sit around the fire place
at Demel's,
sipping Kaffee mit Schlag and nosh on Demeltorte
and feeling right at home.
Imagine
the stories that mantle could tell,
the secrets, the moods, the sheer humanity
it must have absorbed,
while people did nothing
but drinking coffee.
Or so they say.


An Empty Cup
Good coffee served,
a few pages read,
our quiet contemplation
has to come to an end,
"that enchanted realm
containing all the wealth
and riches of the world
" *)
has to be left behind, again.

*

*) Quoted from
Xavier de Maistre's "A Journey Around My Room"
(who wrote this book in 1790,
while under house arrest for forty-two days
as punishment for having gotten himself into a duel).
The French original,
"Voyage autour de ma chambre,"
is available online,
at the "Association de Bibliophiles Universels" website.


24 comments:

  1. Definitely Dremel's is an essential place to visit when the opportunity comes to pay Vienna a visit: for all the reasons you have shared!

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  2. Obviously, here will be quite a crowd at Deme'ls when all your blog readers arrive!!
    You make it look most inviting.......

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  3. I'm not a coffee lover but I'd bet they do fine heisse schokolade mit schlag.
    Beautiful pictures, as always, so gorgeously, droolingly evocative!

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  4. Love Love Demels, and sitting outside on their little terrace in front of Demels is so much fun. We will have to do that in April when I am there. Must try the Demetorte!
    susanvon

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  5. Ahhhh ... Cappuccino! And candied violets. Such delights.
    And tulips too!
    I made some candied violets last year, but they lost all their colour. Sad.

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  6. Yum that looks good, I could use some chocolate right now. Does Demel sell white chcocolate too?

    www.thequietone.net

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  7. These photos are gorgeous!!

    And PS, I wanted to thank you for all of the wonderful tips that you left about DC on my blog!
    Take care

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  8. I think a wonderful cup of coffee with you would be the very best.
    I love that sugar bowl and 3 tiered tray too.
    Your photographes are so elegant.

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  9. Lovely post - though have almost cut coffee out because of the caffeine.

    Thanks for comments on mine - daylight saving takes effect this weekend (I think). Gather it makes a difference to the number of peak traffic accidents in the winter, particularly up North.

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  10. So nice to read your post before getting down to work ! So elegant...
    I love love tea rooms and I totally agree about the delicate 3 tiered cake plate...
    Your gorgeous photos make me want to go back to Vienna some time I hope...

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  11. how lovely that was...a virtual trip to a coffee shop with beautiful images and words

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  12. I totally understand lusting after that silver sugar bowl....and that adorable little tiered stand! I'd be doing the same if I were having coffee at Demel's! I can also understand your wanting that gorgeous round little candy box more than its contents....perhaps you, like me, also have a collection of such lovely boxes.

    The quote from "A Journey Round My Room" is just perfect...I see he didn't let being confined to his room discourage him!

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  13. I lose myself in this blog freuently!

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  14. You seem to have mastered that art with coffee, and with photography too.

    The pictures are so elegant. Tulips are one of my favourites and the colours of the ones you have photographed are awesome. :)

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  15. Great idea the photo essay. Since I am an ardent tea lover, would replace with tea :)

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  16. Merisi- you such a wonderful way of capturing beauty. It is truly a gift. Thanks for sharing it.

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  17. Lovely!

    Paz

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  18. You're wonderful, and really do refresh the soul... and your wit regularly wakes up my poor roommate ;-)

    I've become quite addicted to you site, because this puts a smile on my face that speeds me through my whole day. Thank you for your generosity.
    constance

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  19. no, no, no, I would like the violet tin please, you may have the violets...:)

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  20. I miss Demel, I really do...

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  21. A wonderful, delicious post, Merisi. Vienna is truly magnificent and the photos and words are memorable.

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  22. Again, you give a wealth of beauty and of words, in a single entry. -happy sigh-

    Mari-Nanci

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  23. Oh I want to come and visit you and sample all these fabulous delights (except I'd need tea - can't drink coffee, alas)!

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