Christmas in Vienna

It's been said (mostly by me)- that nobody does Christmas as well as Europe. This past weekend, I met up with my dear friend Anna for a quick visit to Vienna. Anna is living in Bratislava, an hour train ride from Vienna, so we made plans to stay at her friend's apartment and wander around the city on my way back from Uganda. (I know, try to keep up! The flight pattern was: Uganda-Amsterdam-Vienna-Amsterdam-DC)

Anna & I had a little less than 48 hours, so thankfully Anna had been to Vienna several times before - plus I had some great recommendations from Ian (thanks!). I have such internationally savvy friends! We started hitting a micro-brewery called Salm Bräu - let's just say Vienna is the place to go for meat & beer lovers... it was delicious! I ate this potato-ham-pasta thing, and Anna & I tried various beers of course. Then we wandered through Karntnerstrasse and Karlsplatz, hit up the Kuntschalle cafe - it was time to re-caffeinate and de-thaw. No, everything in Vienna does not begin with the letter 'K,' but you would be surprised at how fun it is to make up fake German words and pretend like you're a local! We wandered through Naschmarkt - the largest 'Kriskindlemarkt' in the whole world. Vienna is famous for these outdoor markets at Christmastime - many many stalls ('stallen') with lots of trinkets and potential Christmas presents.

Saturday evening, Anna & I attended a concert by the Vienna Residence Orchestra - hosted inside a palace, and complete with dancers, opera singers, and full period costumes. If you ever go to Vienna, this is my highest recommendation. The music by Mozart and Strauss, in the city where they composed and performed these masterpieces - music that kings & queens danced to, it speaks to the soul. After 300 years, the music is still genuine. The first violinist played on an instrument from Mozart's time period - can you imagine a 300 year old violin making such beautiful sounds? For a taste - see here, although filming this was against the rules..... no respect, people. and the dancers were annoying & detracted from the music. just my opinion.

Sunday morning, Anna and I traipsed over to the Hotel Sacher for a taste of brunch and the world-famous Sacher Torte. Needless to say - delicious, and worth every single calorie. Next we visited the Art History Museum - inside yet another palace. We wandered amongst the ancient art from Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Europe, and then sat and talked about life. By dusk we wandered around the beautiful buildings, all lit up for Christmas surrounded in lovely snow... only in Europe. It felt like magic. We walked over to Ratthouse, the new-ish municipal building. The Ratthouse is turned into a giant advent calendar at Christmastime, with one of the windows opened up for each day in advent. Ate some bratwurst, drank punzch, and got ourselves lost in the city.





Anna was sweet to wake up with me at 3 a.m. and make sure I got to the airport on time. It was a wonderful time to get into the Christmas mood and have a European rendezvous with Anna. Thanks to her friends Nasstassia & Tina for letting us stay at their place, and Merry Christmas everybody!