Is Austria the new secret european superpower?

[WeirdLookingFellow]

Went there twice and it's very pretty. The Danube is nicer in Budapest though. Also visited some old boardgame bar that had games even from the 60's, though most were missing pieces.

Also speaking to some locals around, they seemed happier to see European tourists (even Romanians) than the millions of Chinese.

LIDL did not have good enough quality >5 years ago in Romania but now it's on par with everything else and usually cheaper - I buy a lot of stuff from them.

[Teutone]

Nah its not but its 1000times better than Germanistan.

[Faklon]

Interesting, we have experienced the same in Portugal. For many years Lidl was seen as a suspicious grocery chain with dubious products to the average Portuguese consumer and was mostly frequented by foreigners usually from Eastern Europe. Years later I became to know that Lidl on the contrary was seen as a prestigious chain in Eastern Europe, which kinda explains it.

Nowadays its reputation has improved as they now sell many products that are made in Portugal and\or Spain that are familiar to the average consumer. It took time for people to get used to the concept of Lidl, since the way they organize their shelves makes it look more like a cash and carry rather than a traditional Portuguese grocery store\chain such as Pingo Doce, which puts a lot more emphasis in the way they present their products and also has a butcher and a fish market inside (something that Lidl does not).

Carrefour also went bankrupt in Portugal.

Exactly the same situation, 300%.

They still lack a butcher or a fish market but I lived through Lidl as a student (early 2010s, favorite recipe was buying cheap pizzas and adding ingredients myself) and everything was foreign. Now, I have noticed that some relatively unknown local brands have popped out and that they sell fresh groceries (not wrapped in cellophane).

[Blondie]

Went there twice and it's very pretty. The Danube is nicer in Budapest though. Also visited some old boardgame bar that had games even from the 60's, though most were missing pieces.

The landscape is nicer in Budapest, i think the night life also better here, but Wien is more cleaner and safer than Budapest by far.

[WeirdLookingFellow]

The landscape is nicer in Budapest, i think the night life also better here, but Wien is more cleaner and safer than Budapest by far.

I think Wien was "greener", more parks, more trees. Don't know about night life, though I went for a folk metal concert in Budapest and it was great, despite the small area the place was packed.