Now it is winter here. The average temperature is 4 degrees, it is the coldest period of whole year. The sky is mostly gray. My least favorites months are here November, January and February. December is also cold but everywhere is decoreated for Christmas and the city looks like a fairy tale towns with the lights during Christmas time. Therefore December is a special time of the year and cold is more bearable with hot punches in Christmas markets.
It is almost end of January and after February we will start to have more sunshine. However not every Viennise people are complaining about wintertime like me. Many Viennise think that now it is the best time of the year. Then they can enjoy the mountains and freshness of the air and they mostly complain about the summer when it is really warm here.
Vienna is surrounded by Alps, forests that offers quite a lot of opportunity for nature lovers to connect themselves with the mother nature. Every part of Vienna has its own unique beauty to explore. There is not many cities in the world that has so strong relation with nature like Vienna.
Actually Viennise are famous with their constant grumpy mood. They can complain when is it cold, hot or windy or there is no wind. Every day in every situation! But it is harmless and I actually find it sympathic. Most Viennise are really warm-hearted and more easy going than many European landers. They just look grumpy.
Vienna and winter. Vienna and food in wintertime.
In general, in the supermarkets it is not easy to understand the season in Austria. Because Austria is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and you can find almost every kind of fruits and vegetables from all over the world throughout the year. Grapes from Peru, Kiwi from New Zealand, Mango from Brasilia, Avocado from Mexico and Grapefruit from Turkey. In between these mostly tropical products, there is also some local seasonal products showing their existence in the shelves. Winter is a season for savoy cabbage, red cabbage, potato, garlic, onion, Chinese cabbage, celeriac, carrot, jerusalem artichoke, lamb`s lettuce, parsnip, leek, celery, beetroot, Brussel sprout, Jerusalem artichoke and different types of pumpkin. Unfortunately local fruits do not offer a big choice until Spring. Now it is time to enjoy tasty, juicy apples and pears but there is not any other local fruit. However as I wrote before, it is always possible to find almost all fruits and vegetables from different parts of the world throughout the year in Austria. Even if it is not environmentally friendly, people shall also enjoy other fruits from different countries of of our world.
I like oranges and mandarins in winter time. Every supermarket offers wide variety of oranges, mandarins from Spain, Greece, Turkey etc. I do not have to change my Mediterranean style eating habits here
People generally prefer to eat here healthy and bio. It is very easy to find bio and vegan products in any supermarket in the country. Especially Wien offers variable vegetarian, vegan cafes, restaurants and even burger saloons. If you are a meat lover, here is also paradise for you because bio meats and different wild animal tastes are easy to reach. One of the things I like about here is, mass animal products` production is not allowed here and animals are treated more respectful than many other European countries. Of course, there is still a long way to go in this subject but still Austria is far better than many countries.
My feelings to Vienna are always changing. I love here from the first day I visited. On the other hand after several months of my move to here, the quitness of the city and the tendency of keeping the city quiet had started to give me a feeling of loneliness. Sometimes, especially in wintertime it is like being far away from the charm of living. Here, the local people give great attention to keep their quiet life as quiet. You have to talk quietly, laugh quietly and kids also have to be quiet outside. There is very few tolerance for loud, big emotions and excitement. Also spontonuity is almost impossible here. Every thing has to be good planned beforehand and very well regulated.
Despite this I love Vienna. There are thousands of open-minded people from all over the world, bringing their culture to a city which has also a deep historical background with an internationally recognized cultural heritage.
If you have already been here, I love to read your feelings towards Vienna, too. Prost!