Vienna

Our first stop in Vienna was the Schönbrunn Palace since we were passing by it on the way in. This is, of course, a museum and served as a summer palace for the Austrian monarchs. A small Christmas market was set up in front of the main building, which we walked through after having learned all about Sisi and her hair.

A previous empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Maria Theresa, had a favourite colour that was this shade of ochre (yellow-brown) you can see on most of the buildings at Schönbrunn. She made the colour so popular that even today there are many buildings, not just governmental, painted with it. Some Schönbrunn scenes: Quite grandiose, but it doesn't stop there. In front of it all are still more statues in a big square. Here Julia is being a she-lioness like the statue behind her, part woman, part lioness; all woman.
(look at the statue's paws).

The gate to the gardens,
which is probably incredibly beautiful in the non-winter times of the year.
What's any German-speaking place without pretzel girls in a pretzel booth filled with pretzels? A sausage fest, that's what.

After that we found our hotel, and a funny night concierge who tried to outwit Julia. When Julia gave her name and informed him (in German) that we had reservations, he said:

- that's too bad you've already paid the deposit.
- No I mean we reserved rooms.
- Yes, well the reservation is for the 30th.
- Really? gasped a cool but concerned Julia.

For a moment we thought all was lost. Had we gotten the dates wrong? Where could we find another hotel that could accommodate 5 people that very night while the Christmas markets where in full swing? But, after a moment of thought, Julia said in a calm voice:

- Today is the 30th.
- ...
- ...
- Touché. Here are the keys please enjoy your stay.

This dialog may have been embellished but what do I know, I was in the car getting the luggage. What's important is that he tried and lost, although it was a close one. Julia 1, Concierge 0. (Julia was quite impressed with herself, that someone actually thought her German was good enough to joke with her, though it might just be that Austrian sense of humour again.)

Although obviously not Julia's intellectual equal, he did tell us where to go to see the best Christmas markets. Which brings us to our first Viennese X-mas market.


This one situated right downtown in front of the City hall (or Rathaus, seen above and below with Bill, Joy and Julia)
Pretty. About half way up the Rathaus was a floor on which you could see that all the windows facing the front square where the X-mas market was were numbered like an advent calender with the 24th centered on the clock tower. Everything was nicely decorated and the market was huge.
The front side shot of this pastry may not show it but these are log rolls the size of my arm. And not my forearm. My upper arm, the part from my elbow to my shoulder where the large humerus bone resides. The pastry shell itself is rather thin and, of course, chocolate coated. The true beauty of it lies inside. Does that look like whipped cream filling? Guess again! Marshmallow fluff.
One of many long alleys lined with booths...

Posing with Mozart and his famous balls.

The next day we went sightseeing. First stop the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral)



Gothic and big. With a very interesting tile pattern on the roof.

Also interesting is how they cover the outside parts that are being renovated with printed drapes of the affected area (above left side and in the picture above that right side).

The inside is also very nice with all its gothic craziness and carvings such as:

this carving of the carver


and these very important people at the time (I'm sure) that look a bit like caricatures of themselves.

There was also a crypt and catacombs. We had a guided tour but we were not allowed to take pictures. It was also the final resting place of some of the Habsburgs. In the hallway leading to their place of entombment are shelves lined with copper pots that were sealed shut. These are used to keep the organs of the mummified Royalty. During the wars, the crypt also served as a bomb shelter. Since it was very popular (and lucrative) to be buried near the church (closer to church, closer to god), space in the crypt became an issue. To be able to accommodate the much deserving (wealthy) nobility at the time space was made by constructing Bone Houses. The old and forgotten dead removed from their mass graves, cleaned (the bones that is) by prisoners and stacked like firewood (again, the remaining bones not bodies). This made lots of room for the new dead and everyone was happy.

Unfortunately, because of all the old stairs and rough terrain, Baba stayed behind and enjoyed the architecture inside the cathedral. The tour exited outside the Cathedral and me and Julia had to get back in line to get in and get Baba. When we finally got through a service was about to start and people were being turned away unless they were there for the service. We explained that we were just going to get Julia's 88 year-old grandmother whom we had earlier left to fend for herself. When we left again with Baba and her walker in tow the guy asked "Did you find your Oma(German for grandmother)?" Funny Austrians. They really are.

Next we went to see the Anker Clock. At noon, a bunch of mechanical figures parade by. These figures represent many important historical Austrians. Each of these figures has a number above there heads, representing the hour, and they slide across throughout the hour pointing at the minute above.
The street on the way from the Stephansdom to the Anker Clock was overhung with giant red spheres. Hanging there so massive and imposing, they remind us how freely Mozart went around peddling his balls.

After that we went to Griechenbeisl or the Greeks' Tavern situated adjacent to the Greek orthodox church which we also visited. This establishment has been around since 1447 and still looks pretty good. We had a beer, a soup and a rest there before continuing on to...
The Hofburg.


This is the palace in the center of town. It's big and now houses a ridiculous number of museums. We didn't go to any of them. But we did see most of the outside. Here are some crazy statues from all around the complex.







Look Chris (Marshall)! Guys clubbing stuff.
In front of one of the entrances to the palace was archaeological dig showing old roads and structures dating from Roman times through to the 19th century. Julia, Baba and I are standing in front of this archaeological hole in the ground.

What time is it now? Viennese coffee break time. So from the dig site we went looking for Vienna's poshest Cafe, Café Central. On the way there we found and took a pic outside the renowned Demel pastry shop (and a quick tour inside).

The snowflakes-on-a-string behind us are made of meringue and the stars are decoratively iced cookies. Above you can also see the sugar "snow" at the bottom of the display.

When we got to the beautifully and quietly ornate Café Central the place was packed. So we wandered around looking for another Viennese Café. We finally found Café Griensteidl.


Also very nice and also packed but with a shorter line. Guess where it was located? That's right, across from the dig site. But it wasn't that long of a walk and we were there to see stuff anyways.


Here we are having cakes and coffee at Café Griensteidl.

After that we went to yet another Xmas market on Spittelbergerstraße. Good smoked cheese and beautifully decorated gingerbread cookies. Also got some finger puppets there and a spinny candle ornament for Grammy.


This is a friend Joy made at this market. I'm not sure what she was trying to buy but she ended up getting 2 or 3 shots of schnapps (liquor) on the house.


Then came supper time. We found a relaxed little Italian place close to our hotel and had some delicious wood oven baked pizzas.