Here are our 21 wonderful things that happened in Vienna (and Austria) this year that we’re thankful for.
1. All those people online and offline educating others about the benefits of getting the vaccination
2. Austrian comedians who make all of this a bit more bearable
Be sure to check out these comedians:
+ Astrid Aschenbrenner aka @wienerkind_
+ Gabriel Schaffler aka @peace_joy_and_pancakes
+ David Stockenreitner
+ Michi Buchinger
+ David Scheid aka @influencer_dave
3. Clubs opened again!!!
We never thought we could miss getting sweaty in a club and walking home in the morning when the birds are chirping sooooo much.
4. We had that wonderful, almost otherworldly experience of what it feels like to go out partying for the very first time again
5. That the Regenbogenparade could happen AGAIN (and pretty safely, we must say!) with 30.000 people attending
6. Austria made it into the news internationally multiple times for absolutely brilliant reasons we can all be proud of (yes, sarcasm is present here)
Like that whole horse dewormer ordeal and our chancellors playing musical chairs, for example.
7. It never got boring when it came to politics.
Plus, some people *cough* Kurz *cough* left politics *cough, cough*
8. We got to watch a film on the big screen at the cinemas again
Never had popcorn tasted so good. Yup, we’d never think that such a simple thing like this would make the list, but here we are…
9. That these people gave us a daily giggle on Tiktok
Big shoutout to @wurstaufschnitt, @brumanrockner, @toxieschpommes and many many more for filling our TikTok ForYou pages with some instant fun and inspiration.
For more creative and inspiring and fun people, check out our list of local TikTokers you should be following! Oh, and do follow the @viennawurstelstand TikTok account.
10. Those working in hospitals and ICUs (and all the many other groups of people without whom we’d be at a total loss during this time) did incredibly admirable work
11. All the Van der Bellen speeches
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His calming personality and dorky nature had us listening to these speeches before going to bed. Ok, maybe not, but they would make for calming bedtime stories.
12. Restaurants got crazy creative with takeout options and blessed us with delicious flavours in desperate times
From home-made Buchteln (yeast dumpling filled with jam) with a vanilla sauce made by the lovely Omas and Opas at Vollpension, to Demel’s Kaiserschmarrn-to-go, and MAKA Ramen DIY Ramen kits – these are just a few examples of what we’ve been able to munch on this year thanks to many restaurants and cafes getting creative.
13. The restaurant and bar scene became richer and more diverse (despite the odds against them with Corona)
What once used to be Vienna’s very first Pony Carousel is now a beautiful café in the 2nd district. The 7th district got an all-vegan pizza place with Pizzi*s and Cream. The Good Coffee Society was one of Vienna’s latest additions to the specialty coffee scene. These are just some examples of the awesome food and drink places that popped up in Vienna this year.
14. Parts of Neubaugasse were turned into a pedestrian street
A big area of Neubaugasse in the 7th district was turned into a “Begegnungszone” in 2021, with plenty of new space for pedestrians and bikes and added benches to relax in this new area. Meanwhile, Otto-Bauer-Gasse also got a face lift and become a pedestrian-friendly street. It’s amazing what a difference this makes to the streets!
15. We got to enjoy a somewhat ‘normal’ lockdown-free summer
This gave us hope for the future and gave everybody the possibility to – more or less – safely charge up the party batteries for the lockdown we all guessed would arrive again in winter.
16. We finally have the Klimaticket in Austria!
This ticket is genius. With this in your possession, you can jump on any form of transport in Austria and flip it on with confidence when a ticket controller comes along. This is one very cool thing that happened this year.
17. The city’ testing capacity increased so you could get tested on literally every street corner or at home
This meant that we had a more convenient way to all keep safe while being freer to live our lives in a semi-Corona-normal way.
18. We were able to get vaccines quite easily without much hassle
Firstly, that the vaccine was rolled out in a big way is already a great win. Yeah, it hasn’t been the end game we all had hoped for, but it’s the beginning of the end, and will no doubt pay off in the near future. Secondly, that it was so easy and accessible to get the vaccine was a great bonus to the whole fun and games.
19. Finally, Stadt Wien started to digitize and you were able to do certain administrative things online
One positive side effect of the whole Corona fun and games is that the city accelerated their digitization transition, meaning you could do a fair few administrative things on your phone. Not having to go to the MA and wait there forever – even though you have an appointment – was a HUGE blessing. There’s still a looooong way to go until the city enters the year 2022 in terms of their tech, but at least they’ve begun. We are living in Vienna, after all.
20. We got to have a few days soaking in the magic that is the Christmas markets
And this was as sweet as the liters of Turbopunsch and Glühwein we drank there.
21. People power prevailed and the Lobau Autobahn project was scrapped
One of the biggest and most controversial building projects inspired all kinds of protests to take to the streets this year in Vienna. The idea was to build a highway that would cut through the city’s nature reserve, the Lobau. Obviously, a lot of people had issues with such plans (which is understandable considering the potential environmental risks it would pose, plus, come on – it’s 2021 and we’re planning to build a big ass highway when we’re trying to reduce traffic on the streets – Ummm, not very forward thinking).
Anyway, near the end of the year, the whole plan was scrapped, which meant a big win for the protesters.
What are you thankful for? Let us know on our Facebook page or send us a DM on Instagram!
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