Miss Euro Blogger - Bursting the Bubble

Building on my experience with the first four cafes at the hotels along the Ringstrasse in Vienna, I continued my research and visited a few more. I gained quite a bit of weight during Part II, but hey, I do it for YOU! :) Ritz Carlton Vienna While the Ritz Carlton at first glance is not a typical Vienna-born hotel and the name suggests more of a 'chain', it does have quite a bit of Viennese charm. It is also housed in one of those grand, spectacular looking buildings that looks like it is over 100 years old - and maybe it is. As soon as we stepped in, we were greeted very friendly. Although we were dressed very casual after walking through the rain and cold and weren't in any way fancy (picture a wool with a pom pom), they gave us the red carpet treatment from beginning to end. The lobby is absolutely beautiful and feels no less grand than the original Vienna hotels. The lounge cafe (Melounge - very clever name combining the Viennese traditional coffee 'melange'...

We are in the midst the fifth season - award season! Starting in mid October, Hollywood and other big players in the global movie sphere start handing out their statues to their favorite movies, actors, writers, directors and others who are involved in the 'biz'. Almost every weekend from October through the end of February one event chases the next: Critics Choice, SAG, Independent Spirit, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and of course, the crown jewel, the grand daddy of all award shows the Academy Awards better known as the Oscars! I LOVE award season. Whenever I watch an award show, I turn my phone on silent, pour myself a glass of wine and tear into a bag of cookies, while lounging on the couch in my sweats. Seeing all these skinny celebrities make me hungry! via GIPHY This year, the Oscars celebrate their 89th anniversary! Oscar is still looking good for his ripe old age and is still as popular as ever. In Tinseltown, rumor has it that the statue's nickname 'Oscar...

No, not the one you wear on your finger but the one that circles around the inner city of Vienna! The wide boulevard-like street is just over five kilometers long and celebrated its 150th birthday in 2015. Along the Ring - or Ringstrasse as it is called in German - you find some of the grandest buildings in Vienna including the parliament, the famous city hall, the University of Vienna, the Burgtheater, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Natural History Museum, and most impressively of all the State Opera that Tom Cruise descended off of in one of the Mission Impossible movies. Sprinkled in between these monuments are some of the grandest hotels of the city. Men in top hats open the door for guests. Royalty and pop stars take up residence in one of the hotels along the boulevard when they come to Vienna. As a local, I would of course never stay at any of these hotels, however, I am fascinated by them and there is one way to soak up their atmosphere: the hotel cafes! It is a common...