Hi aloha. I bet you are starting to get excited.
molker; Isn't the wooden apples around Weissenkirchen?

Message: alohatoall and operaman

Back , hopefully for awhile- must teach the new dog his manners.

Re restaurants.

I always like Heinzle in Weissenkirchen.
They have good food with a very nice terrace overlooking the Danube.

www.heinzle.at

often very busy weekends as many from Vienna come out for the day.
Usually easy to find a place after 5PM on Sunday.
It is located just upstream from the main corner of the River road and main entrance to Weissenkirchen. You can easily walk here.

The Wooden Apple-- Holzapfel - better known as the Prandauerhof is in Joching, ( good memory Operaman)just a short distance upstream from Weissenkirchen- just take the road along the Danube- restaurant is on the right- ( 5 minutes drive)
They have a very nice garden and also good food. We have noticed prices seem higher than last year. Good wine.
www.holzapfel.at
We prefer Jamek and often dine here - It is also in Joching - just a short distance before Holzapfel- look carefully on the right as trees hide it as you drive along.
Parking in front and along the side.Very nice garden -excelent food and award winning wine.
Closed Saturday and Sunday.
www.weingut-jamek.at

Best of all these are family run places. They are there to oversee service and quality.
In Weissenkirchen, many nice heurigen. ( wine taverns) they vary opening schedules but the tourist office should have a list of who is open.
Often cold dishes - good times and wines.

A place in Vienna- near apartments quoted- Smutny on Elisabethstrasse - a quiet place austrian food with good prices

I can't comment on Vienna rentals, but I recently rented 20 apartments, houses and cottages during a 14 month trip to Europe. We rented in England, Scotland, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Austria.

Having a washing machine was a high priority for me, but dryers are much less common in Europe than what Americans are used to. We did have a couple of the combo machines in England-- though the units were very small. (Remember that many of the buildings are old and not built to accommodate modern appliances.) I believe that dryers are vented different in Europe (not to the outside?), and dryers are very slow.

Every place we rented did have either an outside clothesline or some type of drying rack in the apartment or house. Drying racks can either be portable (you can set in front of a sunny window) or some can be pulled out over the tub. This really works just fine. We found that we probably wash clothes too much at home-- sometimes just to get the wrinkles out. We tried only to wash clothes when they were really dirty! Building a travel wardrobe of quick-dry, wrinkle-free clothing really helps too.

Kathy

Many dryers in Europe aren't vented at all--they have a condenser that collects the water. In Belgium, we used the water for plants or for cleaning the terrace tiles.
Now that we're in the UK, we don't have a dryer at all. We hang our clothes on the line or use a drying rack inside. Sometimes we miss a dryer, sometimes we prefer going without--I like drying our sheets outside in the sun.
Separate washers and dryers will work faster than a combo unit, but some combo units are better (and larger) than others. Brands do make a difference. Our washer is a Miele and it was worth the extra expense. It cleans our clothes much better than the cheaper brands we've used--and it never "unbalances" or tries to dance across the floor during the spin cycle (unlike the old cheapo washer we had in a Paris apartment--we thought it was going to slamdance out the doorway). Ditto for the dryer (ours was also Miele, but we gave it to our German relatives after their 20+ year old Miele dryer finally quit).
The downside with these front loading washers (in addition to the extra time they take to do a load) is, of course, no popping in that last forgotten item after they've started. Once you start up a front loader, that's it. You have to wait til they're done. So doublecheck before you hit that start button. FYI, if you're not used to Celsius temps, we run mixed loads on 40 degrees, delicates on 30 (with a special cycle), and whites on 60 or 75. We can wash on a higher temp, but haven't done so. With some washers, the higher the temp, the longer it takes to do the load, since the machine has to "cook" the water rather than drawing it from a hot water tap.

Just curious-do you really think you'll need to do laundry on a one week trip?(I don't know if this is your only destination.)

molker;
I see that Smutny has a Hund menu.That's fantastic, next time we come we will bring our smallest of the 'boys'. He will like going out to eat with us and having his own menu as well.

hi massagediva,

we're spending just over 3 weeks, starting in Germany > Austria > Italy. so with vienna being pretty much in the middle of our travels i figured it would be a good place to get the laundry done. especially since so many apartments seem to include a washer.

got it-none of my business,but I was curious!

Operaman-
Smutny is not a bad place - the daily menu is usually good at less than 8 euro .
Many come to this place after theater or concert too.

with the exception of the highest standard restaurant, dogs are still welcome and always get at least a bowl of water.
Our new dog learns well and enjoys both white and red wine.We have a garden at the new country place- much space for dogs to run. Our door and wine cellar always open to you.

Thanks, Molker, I've already e-mailed Heinzle and Jamek for reservations. We'll be there at the end of September so it's perhaps a bit early, but we'll see. I think our stay in Weissenkirchen will be a nice break after Wien.

molker; There is no doubt about Smutny being a great place to eat. What I meant is that we really love that it has a menu for the dog; that, to me, makes it an even better place to go. That's one of the things I love about Austria, they love dogs. I know our boys would absolutely love it there, especially Wilhelm...he loves the wine and beer. Khanjar can teach him to be a discerning expert? Thanks again for the offer of your hospitality, we are trying to make it over during Sommer 2007. Ah, just the thought of your excellent wine cellar makes me homesick for schönes Österreich!

Message: alohatoall

September is a good time to visit- most tourists have gone- usually still good weather- perhaps some grapes will be harvested.

You probably will not need reservations then- but it does no harm.
Jamek garden will porbably still be useable. They have nice umbrellas to keep away sun and good views of the Vineyards in the hills.

Their Riesling wine 2005 recently won several prizes in competitions here and elsewhere against strong competition.

Your visit to Weissenkirchen and the Wachau will show you a good contrast between Vienna and the country.
Life moves a little slower here time is given to enjoy good food and wine.
Hope that you enjoy it.

Operaman- hope that you visit soon. I still have a few bottles of 2002 and 2003 white wines that must be consumed.

if you're looking for a place to stay in Weissenkirchen I highly reommend Raffelsberger Hof. We loved it and the town. We had a nice large room and modern bath with tub and separate shower. the breakfast was fabulous.

Tuni01, as I posted above, that's where we're staying, thanks to Molker's rec. Seems like we have the same taste, since we're staying in the same apt. in Vienna and then the same hotel in Weissenkirchen. Molker, Weissenkirchen and the Wachau appeal to me exactly because of the pace of life - I'm certainly used to a slower pace here in the islands. And we'll be in Vienna for a week so even there we're not frantic to cram everything into a few days.

Hi alohatoall,
I can recommend a restaurant in Weisk. called Gasthof Zum Kirchemwirt. It's just a few minute stroll from the inn. We ate one night inside and one night on the terrace. We had great food and yummy wine. It's not a fancy place but we really enjoyed it.
I hope you enjoy the inn. My husband went wild over the breakfast (meats, rolls, cheese, yogurt, coffee cake).

Hello: Tuni01 - thanks a lot for the positive report from the Duschel apts. in Vienna -- my husband and I will be staying in Mrs. Duschel's apt. Opernring I from Sept. 23 - 29, 2006. Aloha - Will you be there at the same time? Thanks for the tips about restaurants, Operaman and Molti. We are starting to plan in more detail and to get excited.
redheads

redheads;
Glad you are getting excited. Is this your first visit to Wien?

Hi, Operaman: I spent one vacation travelling around Austria and in Vienna - but it was many years ago and D.H. has never been to that part of Europe. We will fly into Frankfurt, drive down the Romantic Road, spend some time in the Tirol and Salzkammergut, and about one week in Vienna and another in Prague (we have 4 weeks). We have booked pensions and B&B for some days as well as an apt. in Vienna and one in Prague (thanks to lots of tips on Fodors). Now we are just beginning to do more detailed research of what to see, restaurants, etc. Perhaps I'll need to ask you for some advice when I become a little more knowledgeable. It is so much fun to read others' trip tales!
redheads

Hi Redheads (from a redhead) -- yes, we will overlap in Vienna. We arrive on Sept. 22 and depart the 28th, heading to Weissenkirchen, Cesky Krumlov, and Prague. And hi to you, Operaman - just ordered our tickets for "The Marriage of Figaro"!

alohatoall;
You will love the Volksoper, drink a little Sekt during the intermission.
Make sure to go over to Cafe Diglas on Wolzeille, have some Kaffee outside and watch the world go by.