The End With Belvedere and a Kiss

So, this is going to be quick because I need to finish packing...then get up at 3:30 am so I can catch the train to the airport.  

The majority of my day was spent at the Belvedere, formerly a palace and now an art museum.   I got there early and had to waste some time so that I could get some nice night shots, so I went into the Upper Belvedere (there is an upper and lower) and did the art thing.  

You know what this is and I told you it was square.

This is also a Klimt, and one of my favorites.

Famous portrait of Napoleon.

Late painting of Van Gogh's that makes me sad.

Belvidere from the gardens.

Lower Belvedere from the gardens.

Christmas Market...

Christmas train, there was a carousel too...

Market and the palace...

More of the same...

More...

Pretty at night walking away (that tree is made of sledges.  Cool idea, but kind of ugly). 

And from far, far away.

I'll try to tell you more later...but you know how bad I am at that.  Happy Holidays!!

2 Markets at Opposite Poles

So, at this point, I had three markets I still wanted to visit, two of them were west of where I am staying, the other is a bit east.  I decided to go to the big market at Schonbrunn Palace and the market on the University of Vienna campus.    They were all far enough away that I got myself a 48 hour transit pass.  I like that they do it by hour here so that the ticket I got will cover my subway train to the main station where I have to get my high speed train to the airport on Thursday.  

Last time I was here, they were working on the station at Schonbrunn.  Happily, it's open now, so I could get the subway directly to the palace.   This was a favorite summer residence of the Hapsburgs and is still a big tourist attraction.  The front courtyard transformed into a Christmas market.

This is the second biggest tourist market (after the one at Town Hall).  

Since I got there earlier in the day, it was busy, but not insane. No big lines or crowds, but enough people to be bustling. 

The enormous tree in front of the palace, makes a nice centerpiece. I wanted gluwein, but hadn't eaten in awhile, so off to a new culinary experience. 

Knopfle are also known as Spatzele (which I am very familiar with).  These are a little dumpling or noodle.  Lots of cheese and fried onions.   Again, too much for me to eat.  

I got my gluwein, which was in a boring mug.  I ended up splurging an extra euro for the special Holiday mug. 

Unrelated to the market...last time I was here, I skipped the hike to the Gloriette.   It's a long hike up a hill overlooking the palace...and all of Vienna.   I told myself, "when I come here the next time, I'll do it."  Well, it was the next time...and here is the view down to the palace.

And that is the Gloriette from the back of the palace.  In between is the Neptune fountain.  I also wandered around the gardens for a little bit, visiting my memories.   If you want to see the gardens, see my post from back in 2012.

It was getting dark as I was leaving, so I went across the street and took a photo of the whole palace.  

From a royal palace, I headed out to a Christmas Market that was more like a neighborhood celebration.  The Christmas Market at Vienna University is located on the campus in a courtyard in the middle of the college buildings. 

I saw very few tourists here and lots of families.  There were a few areas set up that looked almost like beer gardens and only a few booths.

This one selling woolen hats, scarves, etc... was sitting directly beneath the giant tree. 

This is the first time I saw an actual nativity at a market.  Maybe I'd missed them?  This one was really hard to miss.

The sales booths were less busy than the beer gardens and kiddie rides

Like the carousel

and a Christmas train.   There was also a small skating rink and a curling....what do you call it when you have a patch of ice to do curling?   Well, one of those.

Like I said, this one felt very warm and "neighborhood" where most people knew each other.  I think I only heard one person speaking English the whole time I was there.

Anyhoot, made my way back on the subway, did some laundry, and am getting organized to go home.  One more market to go~

Three (and a Half) New Markets...Including the Big One

Ok, so sorry, I'm doing it again.  Posting the photos the night before and updating with the rest of it the next day.  In my defense, I was dead tired and a bit drunk.  Overdid the gluwein, but I'm trying to collect all of the mugs.  You haven't lived until you've wandered the streets of Vienna, drunk on gluwein, in 30 degree weather...just sayin'

Anyway, thought I'd knock out a bunch of markets today...starting with am Hof.   Another picturesque little square with a lovely little market.   

I actually quite liked this market.  Lots of food stalls and the vendors were actually crafters.   I couple of the pottery stalls were very cool, but it was all too large and too fragile to transport in my luggage.

It was quite nice to be there so early in the day as it wasn't too crowded.   Most of the crafts were at one end and most of the food was at another, which made it easier to shop.

There was a lot of food!  This one seemed more neighborhood and less tourist.   I decided to have lunch.

This is a bread bowl filled with cream of pumpkin soup.  It was super yummy.  Look at how crusty that bread is!   The best part was scooping the mushy, soup soaked bread out and eating it in hot mushy spoonfulls.  LOL!!

To walk off that lunch, I decided to find another market.   This one is the Altwiener (Old Vienna) market, which was very festive and charming. 

It's kind of summarized by the sign, very old fashioned.

This one is in a very cool and old area of town.   The booths were not much special, but there was live music and a festive atmosphere.

However, in the middle was a whole mini-shop of ornaments.   It was lovely and shiny.  I did not go in with my awkward backpack. 

There was a little stage where musical acts performed.   These guys were pretty good and I stuck around for a couple of songs. 

However, I needed to get some gluwein, but had to use the WC (toilet).  This market did not have a toilet, so I headed back to Kartner Strasse to find a Starbucks or McDonalds.  I came across a public toilet and decided that I had no choice at that moment. 

The public toilets in Vienna are underground with sets of steps that appear to go down to the subway.  They're clearly marked with a "WC" and have separate men and women's next to each other.   I was apprehensive, having experienced public toilets in other cities.  I don't think I'd been to one the last time I was here.  

I took a chance and descended..and was pleasantly surprised.  You are met by a porter who takes your 50 cents and escorts you to a private wood paneled bathroom with brass fixtures.   It's spotlessly clean and does not at all smell like a public toilet.  Well worth the 50 cents.

Afterwards, I retraced my steps.  It was now dark and the markets all lit up and festive. 

It seems that every market has at one tall, brightly lit tree. 

This little market was across the street from am Hof.   Just a few booths of organic stuff (it's the organic farm Christmas market).  I did walk through, but nothing I needed...

Headed back up to the Old Vienna market to find it even more festive.   I headed directly to a gluwein stall...

and enjoyed my second gluwein of the day!  I was actually able to find a little bench in a corner and commenced with the people watching. 

I finished up and was ready to head off to my next destination....the Big One... Vienna Christmas Dream.

It certainly did not disappoint.   It is HUGE and was wall to wall people.

It covers the entire Rathausplatz (park in front of City Hall). 

There is a carousel.

A Christmas train.

A ferris wheel.

and an ice skating rink.

My favorite tree was covered in twinkling lights and bows.  Lots of selfies being taken here.

Another tree with Town Hall in the back.   Another market, another gluwein.

a rather toasted looking Donna.  Apparently, three is my limit.  I had to find another WC and entered a public toilet unafraid.  This one was not as fancy (white tile instead of wood paneling and brass) but just as clean. 

I went back for a bit and wandered around.  Only thing I ended up buying were some pastries.  

A bit buzzed, I did find my way back to my apartment in 30 degree weather.  That was fun.   Cup of hot tea and one of the pastries accompanied me whilst photo editing. 

The other pastry and a cup of coffee 6 hours later and I'm finally writing this...