Grinzing, the vineyard district in Vienna

A short ride on the always charming Viennese tram takes us to one of the neighborhoods with the most personality in the capital of Austria, surrounded by hills covered with forest and vineyards: grinzing. Today it is one more neighborhood of the enormous and elegant ViennaBut years ago it was a picturesque town and that old charm has not yet been lost.

Grinzing's bell tower, with its characteristic bulbous dome, marks the place where you have to get off to enjoy the old streets of the neighborhood and its famous gastronomic offer. In spring the postcard is beautiful: low houses with brightly painted facades, geraniums on the balconies, and above all many and animated Heurigen, the typical Viennese taverns.

The Heurigen They only open in the afternoon, from five or six, and although beer is served, the traditional thing is to have a jug of white wine. It was the Romans who brought this tradition to old Vindobona, on the Danube border that separated the barbarian world from civilization, and the Viennese have not forgotten it. How do you know if a Heurigen has wine? Look at the threshold of the door, adorned with a pine branch.

To accompany the wine, which is served in viertel (quart) we have the solid dishes of the local gastronomy served in buffet: goose, pork shoulder, goulash ... The atmosphere is complete with the typical dresses of the waitresses, live music and, of course, the wine vapors doing his job among clients.

If we talk about wines, here the king is Riesling, although there are also other highly appreciated varieties such as the Traminer or the Muskat. In addition to drinking and eating, in the Heurigen we can also buy bottles of the wine that is made in the Grinzing vineyards before returning to the imperial Vienna, more serious and less given to these demonstrations of joy.

More information - A getaway to Vienna

Images: panoramio.com