Something to celebrate
Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 13:12 Good news from Austria.
As you may have read, the country's MPs this week voted to repeal the public smoking ban that was due to come into force in May.
A word to the wise, however. A Facebook friend commented:
I was in Vienna at the weekend and everywhere I went has already implemented the ban. For smokers Vienna has lots of outdoor restaurants but, of course, they're only operational in clement weather and there was no sign of outdoor heaters as in England.
The only time I've visited Vienna was in 2011. I loved it, as I wrote here:
If you've never been to Vienna I strongly recommend it, if only for the legendary coffee houses. This time yesterday I was enjoying breakfast – or should I say frühstück – at Café Landtmann which is said to have been popular with Sigmund Freud, Marlene Dietrich, Burt Lancaster and Paul McCartney.
According to their website, "The Café Landtmann offers a big non-smoking area as well as large facilities for our guests who wish to smoke". We were sitting in what appeared to be the largest indoor area and as far I could tell there was an ashtray at every table allowing customers to eat, drink and smoke at the same time. A more civilised way to start the day I cannot imagine.
The bad news is that Vienna's oldest coffee house didn't wait for the smoking ban. Since my visit it made a unilateral decision to ban all smoking indoors:
Enjoy the atmosphere of a traditional Viennese café without being bothered by smoke! For the Café Landtmann is entirely a non-smoking café.
With respect, if it's entirely non-smoking it's not a traditional Viennese café.
Personally I blame tourists for this volte-face because I imagine the Café Landtmann changed its policy in order to appease foreign visitors, Americans in particular, who have forgotten what it's like to experience a whiff of smoke with their melange and strudel.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how things pan out over the next year or two. My guess is that tourist 'hotspots' will be largely non-smoking and if you want to find a cafe, bar or restaurant where you can smoke indoors you may have to explore beyond the traditional tourist haunts, which is no bad thing.
I'm certain too that the anti-smoking industry won't rest until the 'Ashtray of Europe' is cleansed and sanitised to their satisfaction.
But let's enjoy it while we can. A visit to Austria is certainly on my agenda this year and I hope it's on yours.
Meanwhile, let's sing the country's praises and encourage politicians in other countries to follow suit.
It's a long shot, I know, but momentum for change has to start somewhere. Why not here, and now?
Reader Comments (3)
If it is any help, I was in Vienna in November. There are still numerous pubs and restaurants that allow it indoors. An Irish pub, Flanagan's if I remember rightly, allows it...much to the annoyance of TripAdvisor reviewers! Bratislava, a mere 30 miles down the road is also quite tolerant of smokers.
Thanks, that’s useful to know.
It's all about having a choice. If the Café Landtmann wants to go smokefree then that is up to them. But sure as eggs is eggs there will eventually be another nearby cafe willing to welcome smokers.
It's a commercial decision and how it should be.