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18. 11. 11. - 15:00

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18. 11. 11. - 15:00

Tova and the Stadt - Tenth District Delights

The tenth district in Vienna has a bad reputation. Often seen as a Turkish district, many Viennese will avoid it. I am often asked, when first meeting someone here, "where do you live?" When I respond "the tenth!" there is often an uncomfortable silence or a pitying smile. Now, most people I know will defend their district; often because they truly love where they live or, in many cases, it’s the only place they can afford to live. I fall into both categories. We live just around the corner from Favoritenstrasse at the Ubahn station Keplerplatz and after seven and a half years, I do find it a wonderful place to live. Over the weekend, I made a little mental list of what makes the 10th such a great place to live, and well, here it is, in print.

Reason Number 1 the 10th District is awesome: Viktor Adler Markt. Now, I love Naschmarkt. It truly has an amazing selection of food and great restaurants and is definitely a place to be seen, and for this snob, that’s a plus. But on a Saturday, I feel like clawing at people as I make my way through the crowds. Also, the prices sometimes seem exorbitant, but that is probably due to the fact that I try to buy strawberries in January. If you’re looking for a place that offers a great selection of ethnic food, quality meat, and lots and lots of wine for a very good price, head to Viktor Adler Markt in the 10th. Much much smaller than Naschmarkt, it is really a great place to get fresh produce. Although perhaps not a place to "be seen", you will not encounter crowds.

Reason Number 2 the 10th District is awesome: Favoritenstrasse Shopping Street. There’s lots on this pedestrian street! Shops such as C&A, H&M, other stores without initials, Tlapa (an upscale department store), Vögele (careful how you pronounce it, it can sound like a dirty word in German, Deichmann, McDonalds and Burger King, Bipa and so much more. Although it is often busy with shoppers, there’s more space to walk along than on Mariahilferstrasse. Two of my favourite shops are also here, Sewa and Nana Nanu, which offer a great selection of home decorating knick knacks. My husband shudders every time I come home with one of their bags. Another great shopping place found in Favoriten is the Columbus Center. It is a mini mall which houses shops such as Saturn (electronics), Mango, Esprit, S.Oliver, and Merkur. Oh, and not to mention, a fitness club.

Reason Number 3 the 10th District is awesome: The Location. The shopping street mentioned above spans from Südtirolerplatz station to Reumannplatz station on the U1 line. The U1, my favourite subway line, takes you straight to the centre within 10 minutes from where I live. There is also the tram line O and the 14A bus and at Südtirolerplatz there is the SBahn. By 2015, the main train station (formerly the Südbahnhof) will open and I would like to believe that this will positively impact real estate values. And then we will be moderately financially secure, perhaps.

Reason Number 4 the 10th District is awesome: Food. As I mentioned above, we have McDonalds and Burger King nearby, but we also have some great little places to eat. There is Pasha’s for Kebab, Diwan for great freshly baked goods (open on Sundays too), Anker and Aida (found everywhere in Vienna), and my personal favourite, Columbus Bräu which makes great ribs. In the summer a great place for ice cream is Gavaz and in the winter there is a punsch stand right at Keplerplatz in front of the church which serves, in my humble opinion, the best punsch in Vienna. It opens at 9 in the morning during the week. There are people there at that time. That’s a little sad, actually.

So, as you can see, I have a slight crush on my district. Sure, sometimes I can get a little annoyed by the catcalls and yes, I wouldn’t turn down an apartment in the 4th district. But in all honesty, this place isn’t so bad. So come by for a visit and I’ll take you for a punsch; in the afternoon, of course.

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