Thursday 20 October 2011

Coffee, Anyone?
Espresso with Cream at Café Prückel


Your Choice
Single red Zinnia
to the left


or single red Zinnia
to the right
of your reading lamp


Having a hard time
deciding which side your zinnia should lean to?
No problem, simply sit down
and enjoy the view of an orchestra's
worth of flowers on top of the
glass vetrine with the sweet
t e m p t a t i o n s


and order your
espresso with cream
on the side


Select a newspaper
or three or a magazine,
but feel also free to read
your own book
from cover to cover


Your waiter will let you get lost
on your island
between the lines,
as lost as you allow yourself to become,
because everything stands still while you read
or contemplate or create in the far corners
of your mind.
Time does not exist here,
no waiter will nudge you to consume more,
and if it takes you a hundred years
to finish your thought or your book,
he will still be there -
he has been already for 106 years -
he will be there to serve you
as soon as you lift your hand
for more coffee or call out
"Herr Ober, zahlen bitte!"

*

Photographed in the late afternoon
of Wednesday, 12 May 2010,
at one of the famous Viennese Ringstrassen Cafés,
Café Prückel *, founded in 1904
Images and Text © by Merisi

* Clicking on the name
will lead you to an article in the
New York Times -
if not for any particular reason but
for an amusing misspelling of the German name
for Vienna, twice: Wein and Weiner, instead of Wien.
Now I am not so sure anymore,
is it Wiener or Weiner Dog
?

+

Nota bene
This is a re-post

The New York Times
has corrected the spelling
since I published this post
on 13 May 2010

17 comments:

  1. I love this place! When we visited Vienna in 2009, we stayed at the Hilton but didn't want to pay their crazy prices for breakfast. Instead we went to Cafe Prueckel and had a marvelous meal each morning of our visit. Thanks for this re-post :-)

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  2. Susan,
    that was very clever of you! I always recommend breakfast in a Viennese cafe, and there are so many cafes that really offer splendid - and also out of the ordinary - breakfasts. Wherever I travel, I never book or eat breakfast in the hotel. Joining the locals gives one an extra hour of enjoying a place, isn't it?
    Cheers,
    Merisi

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  3. I always take my own book to whatever place I'm going. Only rarely do I not have one and have to look at the magazines there.

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  4. Haa! Zinnias are favorites of mine, whatever side they're on. What an entrancing setting.

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  5. Charles,
    so do I! :-)

    Sue,
    it is, indeed!
    Now, if only it would be nonsmoking. :-(

    Marcheline,
    I am still waiting for the day when I can afford to order Absynth (I'll need somebody who takes me home, safely, afterwards!). ;-)

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  6. love the pic with all the papers, makes me want to put my hand in between and rummage..

    luv Alice x

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  7. Your cafes look so inviting. I think I would sit there for hours, reading, drinking some delicious coffee and watching the world go by.
    I love the orchestra of zinnias.

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  8. Alice,
    *smile*

    Sue,
    "orchestra of zinnias" - you paint such a beautiful picture! :-)

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  9. I adore your tours of the different coffee houses.

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  10. That little coffee shoppe is really charming. If you could select just one coffee drink, that each of the shoppes you visit offers, what would be your first choice every time?

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  11. Thank you, Loree! :-)

    Mary,
    I would order a Viennese Melange, the Viennese version of cappuccino, just a bit of hot milk added to the espresso and foam.

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  12. So serene! Do people dare to talk on cell phones in such surroundings? I certainly hope not.

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  13. It's so very civilized, isn't it, to have such marvelous places to relax, sip coffees, eat cakes, read and linger as long as you wish. I do agree though that it could be made perfect if they cleared the air by banning smoking. Great photos!

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  14. Vicki Lane,
    I only remember one instance. Lasted only a few minutes, though, then a gentleman approached the lady, asking her politely, but firmly, to be please continue her loud conversation outside.

    Martha,
    it is a shame that the politicians are too lily-livered to ban smoking in public places. The muddled legislation they managed to hobble together leave the restaurant owners between a rock and a hard place (smokers are very vocal here).

    Thankfully, more and more restaurants and coffeehouses are becoming nonsmoking. Kudos to their owners!

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  15. Sorry, I meant "cobble" together!
    Freudian slip. :-)

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  16. Feeling MUCH tempted indeed !!!
    Marie-Noëlle

    ReplyDelete

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