A coffee house encounter in a foreign country - it sounds mysterious, intriguing and maybe even slightly risqué?
Perhaps all of the above, but definitely a good way to meet the locals and find out what it is really like to live in a city.
That's why from March onwards, visitors to the Austrian capital Vienna will have the opportunity to get to know the Viennese from a totally different angle. Held once a month, the Vienna Coffeehouse Conversations will bring together locals and tourists for an evening meal and coffee accompanied by stimulating conversation in a traditional Viennese coffeehouse.
'Tischgespraeche' has a special question menu to inspire newly acquainted dinner guests to talk about travel, friendship, family, and their hopes and dreams as they enjoy their three-course dinner together.
The lingua franca at the meetings is English and the meetings will be hosted by two of Vienna's most popular coffeehouses.
- Café Museum (Friedrichstrasse 6, 1010 Vienna, www.cafe-wien.at) on March 9, May 11, July 13 and August 10, 2013 and
- Café Am Heumarkt (Am Heumarkt 15, 1030 Vienna) on April 12 and June 14, 2013.
Tickets to the Vienna Coffeehouse Conversations including a three-course meal cost EUR 50 (traditional Viennese cuisine) and EUR 40 (vegetarian dishes) at Café Museum, and EUR 40/30 at Café Am Heumarkt.
The organisers of the Vienna Coffeehouse Conversations were inspired by Viennese coffeehouse culture, which was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural assets in 2011. A conversational concept developed by Theodore Zeldin (philosopher, historian, author and president of the Oxford Muse Foundation) provides the inspiration for the Vienna Coffeehouse Conversation evenings.
Conversation Meals, which follow a similar format to the upcoming events in Vienna, have popped up at street festivals and art galleries from London to Singapore in recent years, even finding their way into the world economic forum in Davos.
