Christmas in Vienna

Vienna was full of Christmas cheer, starting the minute we walked up the stairs from the metro station onto Stephansplatz to see the big Christmas tree standing nearby the cathedral.  By this time it was past 1am in the morning.  Our flight was supposed to leave from Rotterdam at 8pm, but after an hour of delays it was cancelled and everyone was put on a bus back to Amsterdam where the flight finally left from Schiphol at around 10:30pm.  That's the risk you take though when flying with a budget airline.

Christmas at Stephansplatz

We were lucky enough to be staying in an apartment just a few minutes walk from Stepheansplatz so it was easy to access most of the city by foot.  So after a few hours sleep, it was off to visit some markets. We visited a few, enjoying some local nibblies and looking at the Christmas decorations,  before stopping for a luxurious morning tea at a French tea house called Teesalon Sussi.  I am normally against paying money for tea in a cafe, but here it was an essential part of the experience and it was very relaxing to enjoy some hot tea and delicious pastries while escaping from the chilling wind outside.

Chestnuts roasting at the the markets

Sussi Teesalon

From there, we walked along Operngasse to the Resselpark where there was another large Christmas market set up in front of the beautiful Karlskirche (St Charles' Church).  We browsed the markets and stopped for some food and gluhwein.  By this time it was early afternoon, and the sun was already going down, so we wandered back home for a bit of a rest.

Markets at Karslskirche

Sweet potato noodles with basil, apple and cranberry

Heading out for dinner that night, we found it quite difficult to find a restaurant that could seat our group of 6 without a reservation on a weekend just before Christmas. We booked at a popular schnitzel house for the following night, and eventually found a middle eastern restaurant and although we were a bit dubious at first, it was very delicious and friendly and we had a great night.

Delicious falafel

Kartnerstrasse lit up at night

The next morning we woke to light snowfall- exactly what you want to see just a few days before Christmas.  We had a lot of fun playing around in the snow and taking photos before catching the metro to Schonbrunn Palace, a few stops out from Stephansplatz.  The palace gardens were covered in snow, and the big Christmas tree in front of the luxurious yellow-walled mansion set the scene perfectly.  The inside of the palace was just as luxurious as the outside.  After the tour, we looked through the markets and enjoyed some lunch- bratwurst with fresh bread, mustard and horse radish- and of course, gluhwein.  It was so incredibly cold- the snow had turned to rain, and the chilling wind cut straight through clothing.  Even though it might not have been the coldest temperature I've been in, I think it is the coldest I have ever felt.

Schonbrunn Palace gardens

For dinner we went to the schnitzel house that we had booked the previous night- a wiener schnitzel restaurant called Figlmueller.  It was very busy and slightly touristy but not at all a tourist trap.  I had a very large delicious schnitzel that came with a surprisingly tasty salad.  On the way home, we popped into the Stephansdom, there was a choir singing and it was beautifully lit up with colourful lights.  

Amazing lighting display inside the Stephansdom

On Christmas Eve Monday we took a leisurely walk through the streets of Vienna towards Hofburg.  Along the way, we stopped to look at the christmas tree markets set up in the middle of the main street, Demel (the pastry shop which was was contracted to the royal family) and the Roman ruins which were found beneath the streets near Michaelerplatz.  The whole area near the imperial palace was extravagant- high archways, marble pillars, regal equestrian statues, sculptures of Roman figures tangled in battle.  There were a few museums and galleries nearby but we spent our time browsing the Christmas markets again.

Delicious cakes at Demel

It started to get dark quite early in the afternoon, and we took the scenic route home on the tram.  At one stop spotted some bright Christmas decorations and crowds so we quickly jumped off the tram and found ourselves at the Rathausplatz Christmas markets.  The beautifully lit up city hall and trees full of brightly coloured lights made this one of the prettiest markets we visited.  We had about an hour here before it closed for the night, by which time we had well and truly had our fill of Christmas markets for the year.

Vienna Rathaus

The main event for Christmas day was the Nutcracker performed at the Vienna Opera House.  For each show there are a limited number of last minute standing room only tickets, so were were there at 10:30am very close to the front of the line to ensure our place.  Fortunately the start of the queue was inside so we were able to stay out of the cold and wind.  It was around midday by the time we were finally allowed into the opera house, where we were able to choose our place in the stalls.  It was still an hour or so before the performance started, so we joined the tradition of securing our spot by tying a scarf onto the railing, and then we were able to leave and come back again just before it started.  When we arrived back, there were a few instances of people not respecting the reservations made by others- there was some girls behind us who were trying to take the spot of an American couple who were rightfully quite annoyed.  Voices were raised and it was quite awkward but eventually the girls left.  The performance itself was quite entertaining, and although ballet is not at all my thing and I would probably not do it again, I was glad to have this experience.

Waiting for the Nutcracker to begin at the Vienna Opera House

After the ballet we stopped at a cafe to enjoy a coffee and some delicious chocolate Mozart tort, a delicious chocolate cake with a chocolate ganache and pistachio filling.  We cobbled together as much as we could from the corner store to make our best attempt at a traditional Christmas dinner.

On our last day in Vienna, we spent some time in the Stadtpark, a quiet and serene escape from the surrounding city.  The park has quite a few statues and sculptures, including a memorial to Johann Strauss which Sam was quite excited to see.  We continued the musical theme by visiting the nearby Beethoven memorial.  We had lunch at a little restaurant near our hotel called Kleines Cafe, an atmospheric, smoke filled cafe which served different types of bratwurst and delicious beer, served with fresh bread and mustard.  It was the perfect way to spend our last hour in Vienna before heading to the airport for the next leg of our Christmas holiday- London.

Strauss monument at the Vienna Stadtpark

Beethoven memorial

Lunch at Kleines Cafe