Viennese Waltz

Downtown Vienna

My trip to Austria, like my weekend in Krakow, was organized through my study abroad program and included a tour guide. Both of these trips have been nice because I have not had to worry about any planning. We got to Vienna in the afternoon, checked into the hostel, and had a little bit of downtime before going on a city tour. The first thing I noticed about Vienna was how large and regal all of the buildings are! There is such great architecture in Vienna; while Prague also has a fantastic array of architecture, I liked how spread apart the buildings in Vienna were so you could really appreciate each building for its size.

Wiener Christkindlmarkt at Rathausplatz

This weekend was the coldest weekend I have experienced in Europe so far, and was made all the worse because there was always a light mist in the air. The entire downtown area of Vienna was so pretty because Christmas lights were strung up between the buildings in the main pedestrian area. After the walking tour we went for snacks at Café Central, and then headed to Wiener Christkindlmarkt at Rathausplatz, the main Christmas market. Overall, the food at the Christmas markets was so delicious. The food consisted of kartoffelpuffer, a garlic hash brown; käsekrainer, a sausage filled with cheese; and a great jelly donut, all washed done with some "punsch." At the Weihnachtsdorf Maria Theresien-Platz market we split some erdäpfelschmarrn, a mashed potato volcano, complete with with chili on top (not what you would think as typically “Christmas” food, but quite possibly the best thing I had all weekend long). The atmosphere at all these Christmas markets was very similar, but each had its own unique vibe. The Vienna markets are usually ranked in the top 10 Christmas markets around the world, and I definitely understand why!

Upper Belvedere; photo credit Nikki Johl

On Saturday we had the second half of our bus tour around the city. We stopped at the Hundertwasser Village, which had a bunch of funky little buildings and architecture, built from the concepts of Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. After this we went to the Belvedere, which is a famous art museum housed inside a gorgeous building. The Belvedere has many famous works of art, but the most famous being Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. My personal favorite collection in the museum was the Character Heads statues sculpted by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt. Overall, the Belvedere is one of the best art museums I have ever been in because it had a great assortment of art and just the building alone was so beautiful.

We had the Annatorte at Demel Bakery

Later on in the afternoon we wandered around the Naschmarkt, which is a combination food and flea market. Even though it was a little rainy, all the vendors were out selling their goods. After the market we decided to head to Sacher Hotel to try the famous Sachertorte, which is a traditional Austrian chocolate cake. However, when we got there, the line to enter was long, and since it was so cold, we decided instead to go to Demel Bakery. We got a table in the bakery, ordered café mélange (Austrian drink very similar to cappuccino), and split some cakes between four of us. We got a mini-Sacher cake, a chocolate-chocolate mousse cake, and a layered walnut cake.

Sunday morning we toured the Schönbrunn Palace. We had some downtime to walk around the grounds before doing the official tour inside. The gardens were absolutely huge! There was also a Christmas market right in front of the palace. Finally it was time for the tour. The palace is enormous; there are over a thousand rooms, and it is commonly referred to as little Versailles. The Palace was decorated in a Rococo style, which is a lavish and rather dainty style of architecture and decoration. My favorite room we walked through on the tour was in the enormous ballroom. Vienna is the most regal city I have visited, and I hope to someday have the chance to go back and visit when the weather is warmer so I can appreciate all the gardens.

Hundertwasser Village; photo credit Alexa Berry