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~
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