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Published: December 19th 2015
Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.... Where to go at Christmas..... How about the Christmas markets in Vienna, Austria! The last trip of my 2015 New Years resolution, to visit a different place I have never been before every month. What an exciting and adventurous year it has been and certainly what a city to end with!
Every market that we went to had a backdrop of the most beautiful buildings. The Rathaus in Vienna is stunning and what better way to start the trip but to drink gluhwein under the twinkling Christmas tree lights, eat apple strudel and shop! That's exactly what we did. The Christkindlmarkt in front off the City hall is amazing! I did wonder if the stalls would be full of tat but they were not, there are a few, but not many. Mostly they are filled with handmade decorations, wooden children's toys, hundreds of baul balls and scented candles! We throughly enjoyed looking at all the stalls and buying a few lovely Christmas decorations. We took a walk around a small garden just in front of the market where the trees are decorated with bright lights and giant decorations. I especially liked the giant advent candles.
The markets are busy but not so busy that you can't move around or see everything that you want.
The trams and underground trains are easy to use we brought travel cards which can be used in all public transport. They are a reasonable price, If the machine doesn't take your money and not give you a ticket! I recommend that you buy from an actual person!
We took the underground to Schönbrunn Palace and here we found another Christmas market. Before we had a look around here we brought tickets to see the inside of the palace. There are several tours to pick from and we chose the short imperial tour. Armed with our audio guide we had a look around the beautiful rooms of the Austrian Royal Family. The audio guide was very good and didn't go on and on like some do, it pointed out important artefacts in the room and told a short brief history of each room and the royal family. It spoke about how Mozart played here as a child for Empress Maria Theresa. In one room there were many paintings of the marriage between Joseph, heir to
the throne to Isabella of Parma, a princess of the royal French Bourbon dynasty, in 1760. These paintings were commissioned by Maria Theresa and took so long to paint that Mozart got painted into the ceremony painting, although he hadn't even been born yet for the actual wedding.
The market at the palace was filled with handicrafts and original gifts, slightly different from the stalls at the Rathaus. It was smaller but still the palace made this location for Christmas shopping wonderful!
We took a short tram ride to St Stephens Square here we visited St Stephens cathedral. Taking pictures form the outside we could not quite see the top of the spire due to the low misty clouds. However it just made it more atmospheric! It is very pretty inside, although on our visit most of the church was closed due to services happening all day which was a shame, so didn't stay here for to long. The streets surrounding the cathedral are a shoppers heaven. The streets are wonderfully decorated and lit up with great twinkly lights!
Wondering around the streets of Vienna we came across many stunning buildings
and attractive areas to eat and drink. One area we enjoyed was walking around the City Library, the building is massive and so nice to look at! We took a short stroll and admired the parliament building with a massive Christmas tree in the entrance. Lastly we walked to the Maria Theresa square where another market was located. This one was a lot busier but still enough room to look at all the stalls. This is where we found out that not only has my mum got a large head but the hats made in Vienna do not fit her giant head unless they are stretchy! The lady in the stall was very surprised by the enormity of her head!!! Mum brought a lovely stretchy hat in the end!
The hotel we stayed in was not far from Belvedere Palace, on the last evening we walked here to look at this market. After having a lovely dinner we decided that apple strudel would be a great finish, unfortunately they didn't sell that here so had to drink gluhwein instead! The market was small but the palace was stunning. It was beautifully lit against the dark sky and
across the pond was lit up stars, it was the perfect place to have our last night of Christmas market shopping.
The last day we had a few hours to spare, I decided to take a tram to Schwarzenbergplatz where I had read was a beautiful fountain, Hochstrahlbrunnen. This fountain had been erected to celebrate the first water pipes from the Styrain Alps to Vienna in 1873. However the fountain was not on and was completely bone dry! Typical! However, on the side was a water pump which still works! We walked back up to Belvedere Palace and had a look through the very symmetrical gardens and again at the stunning palace.
The trip here really finished off my year knowing I have successfully completed something that I wanted to do for myself. I have had the most amazing time going to all these different places, it has not been the most easiest of years and there was a time I nearly gave up. I'm glad I didn't as I have learnt so much and have some amazing experiences and memories to take away with me.
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Mrs Virginia Baldock
non-member comment
2015
Well done Gillian, you followed your dream and have seen and heard so much, how very brave and intrepid you have been. Your choices of places to visit were all interesting. XXX