Dear Austria,
As you know, I have an issue with the Sunday grocery shopping scene here. Or, more so, the lack thereof. I loathe that 99% of your grocery markets are closed on Sundays (and on Saturdays after 18:00, and holidays, too.) The issue is more than one of my need for grocery freedom; it’s also one of the inconsistency with the whole matter. Does that not drive you batty, as well?
Let me run through a couple of “reasons” I’ve heard for the Sunday Shutdown. First, that Austria is a Catholic country, and Sunday should be reserved for church and family. Fair enough, I suppose. Ireland and Poland are predominantly Catholic, too, but their grocery stores are open on Sunday. Are they heathens for doing so? And what do you do on a Sunday afternoon when the family wants Lemongrass Chicken instead of Oma’s Tafelspitz, and there’s not a stalk of the citrus-y goodness to be found? The local Akakiko only has so many tables available.
Your neighbors to the north in the Czech Republic, also with a fair amount of Catholics open their TESCOs on Sunday (as do the Hungarians and Slovaks), and we see plenty of Austrian license tags in those parking lots on Sundays we are returning from an international outing, with groceries, natürlich. Does that make your fellow Austrians hypocrites, or but the minority voice on the Sunday Shutdown rules?
Second, I know that there are a handful of grocery stores open in Vienna on Sunday, mainly those at select train stations and at the airport, plus a small Spar in the touristy Inner Stadt. These are designed to provide for “The Traveler.” Well, Austria, we had to make a brief stop at one of “The Traveler” grocery stores on a recent Sunday for two dinner ingredients, one of which the average traveler, or even the gourmet traveler would likely not need on a Sunday. Of course the item was available. But that is a detail.
This was the scene. What defines “The Traveler” is left to the imagination. Plenty of non-traveler looking people were going about regular shopping, and most customers offered up their “savings cards” at the register, as well.
Even sillier? “The Traveler” is prohibited from purchasing canine kibble (who in Europe doesn’t travel with their pet?) and laundry powder, among other prohibited items. Obviously “travelers” would not need to wash any soiled clothing, either.
Fresh fish? Charcoal? Totally available for “The Traveler.” Along with large glass bottles of cooking oil. Probably for “The Traveler” to cook their fresh fish with, is my guess, in case their mini grill gets lost with checked baggage.
Austria, I love you. But, if my beloved Paris has found it “socially and culturally” relevant to open grocery markets until 12:00 on Sundays, certainly this is something you could consider? And if you do, I promise not to whine about the shopping malls not being open on Sundays, either.
May 18, 2014 at 16:48
Last time I checked, Austria was still an independent country. What's wrong with Austrians having a different understanding of quality of life? Besides, Norman Rockwell-style “Freedom from Want” on Sundays only takes a bit of planning ahead. As to the children, they are expected to eat grandmother's Tafelspitz or butter themselves some toast. 😉
May 18, 2014 at 17:18
Hi Merisi! I very much appreciate your comments. Austria is independent, to a degree, as it is part of the EU. What is the point of an “open border” if “different” cultural habits are prohibited? Should Austria only embrace the economic and political benefits of EU membership, eschewing the social and cultural? 🙂
May 18, 2014 at 20:31
Hi Victoria, while I'm visiting your blog, I have to answer this entry too. It's not about being catholic or about family life of the workforce, it's all
about benefits and wages. According to the “Kollektivvertrag” in the retail business, employers are bound to pay substancially more for sunday or holiday work. They simply don't see the numbers by opening on such days. Why do you think that BILLA keeps it's shops closed on
december 8th? They've done the math and realised it would be just the same turnaround ( by month ) with much more extra hours to pay.
But there's 24/24 for basic things: Bäckerei Prindl, Gaußplatz in the
20th.
Kind regards, reo
May 19, 2014 at 04:05
reo, thank you for the information. Though, given the large number of people, including Austrians, at TESCO on Sundays in your neighbor countries, I am surprised that the numbers for even a partial Sunday opening don't work.
Does the Kollektivvertrag explain why one is prohibited from buying dog food and cleaning supplies on Sundays?
May 20, 2014 at 06:46
Open till 18 on Saturday afternoons? Ha! Strasbourg shuts down at 13 or 16 depending on the type of shop — escept for the big supermarkets, of which there are scant few! And no shops open in Alsace on Sundays. I love it, personally. I love the slowness. But I totally get the inconsistency you're arguing. Yet I also totally get Merisi.
May 20, 2014 at 12:10
Well, then, you'll love having a grocery or two open around here! 🙂
The slowness of Sundays in Europe does not bother us; we really only miss the spontaneity of the Sunday supper (thank goodness for delivery!) But yes, the inconsistency of what one can and can not purchase at the grocery drives my left-brained self nutty. For all the rules in this country, I would have expected more consistency.
I, too, get where Merisi is coming from. Though, I suffered through enough Sunday czarina (duck blood soup) and kishka (animal parts and grain stuffed into an intestine) as a child to never want our children to endure anything like that, or even buttered toast. Hence my need for lemongrass on a Sunday. 😉
Cheers, VK
May 23, 2014 at 01:10
I never did understand the Sunday shutdown. It did not bother us – once we got used to it – but it is bliss to be in the USA where nothing ever really closes.
May 24, 2014 at 20:23
There is a big cultural divide, in my opinion. I dare say Austrians don't feel the call of the Shopping Gods on Sundays, they rather enjoy a day off the hamster wheel, happy to be with family and friends, visit grandmother, have relaxing Sunday lunches, take a leisurely excursions up to the vineyards. Just breathe.
May 24, 2014 at 20:35
This is how I imagine a perfect Viennese Sunday, taking Tram 38 up to the vineyards, to enjoy lunch and a good glass of wine in the company of family and friends (even angels, as this song implies). 😉
May 25, 2014 at 04:51
I do not feel the call of the shopping gods any day of the week in Vienna. The cost of most non-grocery items here surpasses that of even overpriced D.C., and I loathed shopping there. I do, though, miss the spontaneity of our family's Sunday afternoon supper; now it is planned ahead like any other day of the week.
Given that Austrians have one of the highest number of statutory and public holidays in Europe; that most receive around 5 weeks of paid holiday time after less than a year's employment; and many take a 2 hour “mittagspause” during the work day, I can understand how they would want a day off of that crazy hamster wheel to head into the vineyards. 😉
May 25, 2014 at 11:06
Oh my, aren’t we a lazy bunch! All these holidays, vacations, lunch breaks! (By the way, I would love to work at a place where I can take 2-hour breaks for lunch. Any pointers?) And yet, Vienna keeps getting exceptional ratings for life quality, and the country is doing pretty well economically. Maybe it’s because the time spent at work (and I deliberately don’t use “working”) doesn’t necessarily correlate with productivity.
As for your original post about shopping on Sunday: Would it be convenient to be able to go to the supermarket on Sundays? Sure. Is it necessary? Meh. Austrians overall don't seem to think so, even though there certainly are exceptions, as there always are. As for the rest, I totally agree with Merisi.
The discussion about prices is so fascinating to me. We must live in two different Viennas or in parallel universes 🙂 I have read numerous complaints by expats about how expensive their life is in Vienna. Prices in Vienna have gone up over the past few years, no doubt about that. But compared to D.C.?! No way, at least in my experience. I don't know what accounts for the difference; maybe our lifestyles are profoundly different.
May 25, 2014 at 16:01
Hi Barbara!
Just to clarify, as many Viennese commenters do when I misspell a German word, or perhaps get a date wrong, it was you who indicated that the Austrians (sic) are “a lazy bunch.” I only wrote that a country whose citizens are “at work” but roughly 40 weeks of the year are not, in my opinion, running in a crazy hamster wheel.
Let us agree to disagree on the Sunday grocery shutdown and my disdain for it. (Though I am tempted to ask how often you shopped on Sundays while living in D.C.) Would you, though, do me the favor of offering an explanation for why I can not purchase doggie kibble at Billa on Sunday, but can go to the Merkur Inside at the BP petrol station and purchase said kibble?
As a statistics and data person I give little weight to the “Most Livable City” survey, sorry. Cost of living is not considered in the determinations; so basically, if one can afford to live in Vienna their quality of life is grand. This is hardly a revelation. I say this as one who lived comfortably in one of America's “wealthiest” post codes for twenty years, so honored by Forbes magazine and completely not relevant for most of the country.
Additionally, the livable city survey results are as remarkable to me as the U.S. News and World Report survey of America's “Best Colleges.” In many instances, the survey rankings are used to justify an uptick in costs (case in point being the rise in costs for Vienna).
All of this said, I genuinely love living here. I am fortunate to have the luxury of time and resources to poke about this beautiful city, and the freedom to comment on whatever piques my interest. 🙂
June 20, 2014 at 06:18
Wow, after you commented on my blog I went back to yours to see what you said about Sundays. Looks like you kind of stepped in it 🙂
My view is: you do not have to like everything about a place. It's OK to write 90 posts about things you love, and 10 about things you don't like. A blog that is entirely complimentary is a pretty boring blog! Also, your points about the logical inconsistency of Sunday retail laws here are entirely valid, IMO 🙂