It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Or at least I would hope so, as tomorrow is Christmas (Merry Christmas to all!!). I’m home, albeit briefly, but since you’re probably more interested in all things Austria as you’re reading from my Austrian postings, I’ll finish up the post I started last week about Christmas (or Wiehnachten) in Vienna. My apologies; I got a bit distracted with packing and last minute shopping and saying goodbye to friends and such, then finished this post in Albuquerque but lacked internet access to post it.

Never one for doing a so-so job of things, Vienna has gone all out on their Christmas spirit. Every open space has at least one little wooden Christmas stall selling seasonal wares.  Those aside, there are officially 13 Christkindlmarkts around the city. Each one is bustling with holiday cheer, packed with folks drinking their glühwein (mulled wine) and lingering in front of the stalls.  The lights are outstanding, and not just in the Christmas markets, not even only in the first district (though those are pretty dang spectacular), but glowing from the most obscure side streets all around the city. 

Alright, that's not an obscure side street, but please compare the size of the red balls to the cars

The whole city seems to be filled with the perfume of roasting chestnuts, spiced drinks, and gingerbread. The only bit of ambiance lacking was a whimsical white dusting over everything. Well, at least until the day I left, when it started snowing as I drove to the airport.

By far the best things about Vienna in December are the Christkindlmarkts. Unfortunately I never did make it out the the one in the Schönbrunn courtyard which is supposed to be worth seeing, but I did get around to quite a few of them. Although I had wandered through various ones since they began opening in late November, I made a more thorough exploration with Christian on the Sunday before Christmas. We met up at the Karlskirche market and caught up over a mug of glühwein (I hadn't seen him in almost a month) before taking in all of the sights.

This particular market was more geared towards handcrafted items - even if not necessarily Christmas themed - than the other ones I had been to, and it was really neat to see the handiworks displayed.

We then walked over to the market at Spittelberg, packed into narrow streets with a lot of history behind the Museums Quartier. I think this may have been my favorite market, and a lot of the shops that were behind the stalls were also open. Even sans market, I'd like to go back and poke around through some of those shops. Plus Christian pointed out a good bräu, sort of like a  heurigen except they brew their own beers rather than making their own wine.

Christian and I also popped into a chocolate shop where he insisted I purchase some Zotter, a Viennese specialty chocolate I’ve seen around quite a bit. Walking out, I unwrapped the bar and broke off a piece to offer him, causing him to laugh. He said the next time we saw each other he would show me how this particular chocolate is meant to be eaten: sliced in thin strips and let melt a moment on the tongue before chewing. I thought chocolate was chocolate, but hey, I’m willing to give it a shot if it makes that much of a difference!

We continued perusing the stalls, stopping here and there to take a closer look at some of the fun things they had on display, not all of which were strictly Christmas-y.

He also stopped at a stand to introduce me to another Viennese (or Christmasmarket – I’m not sure which) specialty that I would have totally bypassed: Feuerflecken. It’s sort of a mix between a large tortilla and a crepe heated up with yogurt (either with garlic or garlic flavor) spread across it and a dash of salt and pepper, folded up and eaten in crepe fashion. Sounds odd and relatively simple, but perhaps because of the crisp evening or perhaps just because it’s good, I really liked it.

After a while we ducked into a café for some hot chocolate to stave off the cold, then Christian had to go. But I was in a Christmas market mood, so I drove over to the Belvedere. The Christmas market there was a little smaller than I was expecting, but perfectly charming and spirited. Although I didn’t linger for more than half an hour, I’m glad I stopped by. It’s amazing how many different things they can offer at all of the different markets!

I then made my way back to the city center to see it lit by night. I had seen the Christmas lights there before, I just wanted to walk through one more time before going home. I started by going up Kärtnerstrasse and the lights just continued to get better. It wasn’t just streets, either; stores were also decorated lavishly.

Kärtnerstrasse and Kohlmarkt, respectively

Graben (not taken that night, obviously)

Although it was getting relatively late, I was surprised to see that people were trickling into Stephansdom. Curious both about that and the illumination I could see through the stained glass, I decided to pop in. It must have been mass or something along those lines, and a particularly elaborate one being an advent day, but they had a really neat light display.

I was going to swing through the Rathaus market on my way home, but it seemed to be mostly closing down, so I just made my way back to Bisamberg. However, this is what it looked like one night I went with Joe.

Having finally made it to that handful of markets, plus my few wanderings over the past month, I really wish I had gone through them more than I did. I also really want my friends and family at home to get a chance to come to Vienna during this time of year. If you have any control over when you get a chance to come, I highly recommend coming sometime between mid-November and December 24^th for the Christmasmarkets alone. Also, for a little more detailed information on the main markets, here’s a brief overview.

Bis bald!