The banks of the “beautiful Blue Danube” looked like Manet’s famous painting yesterday…a glorious sunny Sunday beckoned residents to sprawl on grassy knolls and in pebbly little coves along the water’s edge. Just one thing was missing from the Impressionist scene….clothes.
We encountered the rather surreal scene as we biked on the Donauinsel, the Danube Island, a spaghetti-thin strip of land sprouting from the middle of the river. The island’s 13 miles feature an extensive network of paved and gravel paths perfect for bikers, walkers and in-line skaters. The gently rolling, grassy hills invite city-weary citizens to stretch out on blankets and folding chairs. A few hardy sorts in wetsuits swim “laps.” But most people (and lots of dogs) go in just far enough to cool off.
Stretches of the Island (and the banks on both sides of the mainland), are loosely designated FKK. Freikörperkulture, or “free body culture,” is an extremely popular “philosophy” in German-speaking lands. Though there were thousands of nude bodies out there yesterday, there was no sense of exhibitionism (with the possible exception of the naked bike-riders tooling along on beach cruisers. Oh, yeah, and the fat guy with dress shoes, dark socks and a black fanny pack.) Little kids mingle with old people, and there’s no real “map” of clothing vs. clothing-free zones. Everyone just seems to go with the flow.
For everyone reading this saying “Oh, yuck,” you’ve got to believe me when I say that the rest of the scene – jewel-blue river, cumulus clouds in blue sky, green grass, quaint Alpine chalet restaurants, the perfume of flowering trees, etc – is so entrancing that you can almost ignore the cast of characters.
Except in the restaurants. We managed to choose a restaurant -- the Dammhütte, on a little hill with a beautiful terrace overlooking the river – that, apparently, is in the FKK zone. (Hey, I’m a food writer. I look at posted menus, not the clientele inside.)
Once we had settled ourselves at our umbrella-shaded table, I noticed that the gent at the next table had nothing under that paper napkin on his lap.
Fortunately the menu chalkboards hanging on the side of the chalet were far more interesting than the sun-worshippers. And the food was terrific. In addition to a pretty standard written menu of sausages and sandwiches, the daily specials included grilled zander (a fish from the nearby Neusiedler Lake); golden wienerschnitzel with potato salad; pork chops; fried chicken salad; and spinach strudel.
Though I didn’t have much appetite in the 90-plus degrees heat, I couldn’t resist the Krautfleckerln, which translates as “cabbage with flecks of pasta.” The mini ribbons of pasta were tossed with pieces of 
cabbage that had been sauteed slowly in plenty of butter and oil until they were caramelized. The dish’s subtle sweetness was a pleasant surprise.
Since our bike rental was for 24 hours – and we picked up the bikes yesterday at 11 am – we went back to the bike rental store this morning, jumped on our trusty steeds and went back to the Island for another lap. In two hours we didn’t pass more than a dozen people. And they were all dressed.
Pedal Power is an efficient rental operation that has a large selection of well-maintained bikes, and English-speaking personnel. They make the process so easy that it’s possible to rent a bike and see the city in this unique, supremely satisfying way even if you only have a couple hours. But, once you’ve cruised the city center, the Danube Canal, the vineyards around Grinzing, the amazing “Tiergarten” (technically a zoo but really an enormous, wooded park), on a bike, I bet you’ll opt for this form of sight-seeing over and over again.
Pedal Power, which also runs guided bike tours in the city, is located across from the Prater, the city’s famed amusement park, and next door to an U-Bahn stop.
I will read time to time that...
Posted by: Willow Ridge Catalog | October 22, 2009 at 11:44 PM