The Charm of Vienna During the Holidays

The town hall of Vienna becomes a giant Advent calendar during December.  Each day they lift a panel on one of the windows, which are also specially lit, as shown in this photo.

Belvedere Palace is located in Vienna and has a holiday market in front of it.  It has an impressive art collection inside, including masterpieces by Gustav Klimt.

The streets of Vienna at holiday time are accented with Christmas markets selling crafts, food and drink.  Vienna would be charming at any time of the year, but is especially enchanting at Christmas.

A carriage ride through the streets of Vienna would be delightful.  Part of the royal palace complex is in the background.

We met friends from Phoenix who joined us for Christmas dinner in Vienna.  This is the table setting at Nikki's Restaurant.

The Magic of Vienna

We had a delightful Christmas Eve several years ago in Vienna.  It began with a concert in this church, next door to the Piaristenkeller Restaurant.  The Restaurant arranged for chamber music and carolers to perform in the church before dinner.

This is a view of the interior of the baroque church.

The Piaristenkeller restaurant features a huge wine cellar that occupies the tunnels under the monastery that used to be connected to the church next door.  They had wine barrels for tastings that were large enough to sit inside.  It was Christmas in Vienna, so of course I had my winter coat.

The wine vaults deep underground are elaborately paneled in fine wood, with brass hardware.  Many of the areas for wine storage are set up like a safety deposit box, requiring two keys for someone to open and remove the wine.  It must be very expensive wine.

The Piaristenkeller Restaurant also has a museum that is a collection of hats from the Imperial Hat Collection, as the ancestors of the owners of the restaurant were friends of the Austrian royal family and ended up with many of the royal hats.  The restaurant includes an area where guests can help themselves to a hat to wear for the evening, if they want to play dress up with their dinner.  We didn't.

Delightful Vienna

What could be better than a carriage ride through the streets of Vienna?  We did a carriage ride in Salzburg, so we figured that was extravagant enough and did not take advantage of one in Vienna.

We were in Vienna for Christmas a few years back.  We love the charm of Christmas decorations in Europe, even if it has rained.  The aftermath of the rain adds a nice reflective touch for photos.

How convenient, and inspirational, that so many churches in Europe seem to double as art museums.

This is mass at the high altar in St. Stephen's Cathedral.  There are 7 other altars in the cathedral.  The cathedral was built in the 1300's, but the altar was lair refurbished and the current high altar dates to the 1640's.

David sent out to get some food and he found a grocery store near the cathedral.  It had a main floor and a lower level.  That presented the question of how does one take a grocery cart upstairs?  The answer is an escalator made just for shopping carts.

Winter Holidays in Vienna

Last week's photos of Christmas in Vienna just scratched the surface of the holiday ambiance, so we are showing some more. This statue of Johann Strauss in Stadtpark, the large city park, is a favorite, and of course Vienna is synonymous with classical music. We could see this statue from the window of our room at the Marriott Hotel on the Ringstrasse.
A church in downtown Vienna near the Imperial Palace.
The side of St. Stephen's cathedral shows its elaborately decorated pattern of roof tiles. My husband took this photo on an early morning weekend walk to get some breakfast pastries, which explains why there were no people on the street. I do not do early morning walks. I sleep in and await Dave's return and his report on the weather and what he has seen. And of course I do not hesitate to comment upon whether I approve of his selections for breakfast.
The Kunthistorisches Museum is the main museum of Vienna and has a diverse collection of art and decorative arts, and antiquities from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. It was built from 1971-1891 at the direction of Emperor Franz Joseph I.
Christmas decorations on one of the shopping streets in downtown Vienna add to the festive holiday mood.
Church interiors in Vienna explode in baroque decorations. This is above the altar in St. Stephen's Cathedral.
This is an alcove in Nikki's Restaurant in Vienna, one of our favorites. There is a staircase down to a barrel vaulted, brick wine cellar with delightful areas to sit for a drink.
OK, you know what this is. But take a look at the marble statue on the left. When you flush, the figure gives an assist from his perch on the ledge (according to my husband, who took this photo and told me about it). This is also in Nikki's restaurant.

The Beauty of Vienna at Christmas

Austria, Germany and Switzerland are magical during the Christmas holiday season. This is a photo of a portion of the Imperial Palace in Vienna that we took after enjoying a Christmas Eve concert in the palace
This is the Christmas tree in front of the Belvedere Palace in Vienna. The palace is now an art museum, featuring an excellent collection of Klimt paintings.
The Vienna town hall is turned into a giant advent calendar each Christmas season, with a Chriskindle Market in the square in front of the town hall. Each day a new window is uncovered on the town hall to reveal the decoration behind it. We took this photo on Christmas Eve, so all of the windows, including the large one at the top, were uncovered.
The Chriskindle Markets are popular in town squares in Austria and Germany. They feature food, crafts, gifts, and beverages, particularly gluwein, which is a heated wine drink that is enjoyed like hot apple cider. It is served in a small mug a little larger than a tea cup. The mugs make nice souvenirs, as they are decorated with a holiday motif and the name or a scene of the particular Chriskindle market.
Street musicians add to the festive atmosphere of Christmas in Vienna. These musicians are Russian, with their balalaikas.
We don't think that there are any artificial Christmas decorations in all of Austria or Germany. Here is real mistletoe for sale in one of the booths in a Chriskindle Market.
A holiday street scene in downtown Vienna. By complete coincidence, two of our very good friends from Scottsdale, Rita and Tim, also decided to go to Vienna for Christmas, and we met them there. It doubled our fun for the holiday. Tim is a talented architect and artist. His work can be seen on Leafdog Art Gallery.
The altar of St. Stephen's Cathedral in the old town district of Vienna.