Here and There Blog

When you're really rich, you too can have a a palace like this with hundreds of rooms.  You can even build a breakfast room like this one.  It must have been good to be the Habsburgs, at least up until their reign ended after WWI.  The gardens couldn't just be gardens, fake Roman ruins had to be built.  All fake. The rage at the time wasn't enough to have a beautiful Roman fountain but also your very own ruins.

The Christmas lights were all going up on our last night in Vienna. As the air chilled down to 31F and the sky darkened with clouds that were bringing the first snowfall, we wandered around and looked up.  The streets were decked out with lights.  And bows on the major shopping promenade!  The row of trees. This looked better in person than it photographs.  And baskets of light with stars.

From the base of St. Stephen's, it looks bleak, gray, and uninspiring. But it was cold outside and we had a mission to exercise so in we went.  The sun peaked out for a moment to light up the stained glass.  Then after climbing 444+ stairs or so on the south tower, I could look out the window and see that the mosaic was full of color which appeared washed out at street level.  And the view was pretty good.  You wouldn't think that I has just climbed the tower. Time to go back down!

Looking towards the main walking promenade in the city center. This area is fun to stroll but so expensive the guards have to buzz people in and out of some the shops. No city wall here.  Wait, sometimes you have to look down to centuries past to find the city wall...  Here it is!  Home, Mr. & Mrs. OB happy to have discovered the city wall.  Time to move on to the next stop.

The Christmas Market was an unexpected treat. We were wandering around the hotel area to find the train station, the underground, and get our general bearings. The hotel desk clerk had recommended a place for beer and we found it but it was still too early to go in so we wandered through a park and saw a giant Christmas tree.  Lured by the lights we had to go in and found the Christmas Market.  Lots of craft stalls (we're going back), food (have to try the creme puffs tonight!) and drinks. The band played all the usual Christmas songs and even here in Austria, Feliz Navidad was played. It was funny to hear the band explain the Spanish words so the audience could sign along. Aside from the band, Keith & I were probably the only two other people who knew the song.  That tree really is huge. Look at how small the band looks next to it. Not quite Glogg, this was straight hot wine out of a steaming pot. Several add-in options exist  but on the first night out, I wa...

Favorite find - we're here for the Christmas Market! Think of Christmas on the Prado in San Diego but only one country. What was the best find? The hot wine of course!  After a couple mugs of hot wine it is time for some cold, dark, beer. Local style!  What could be a fountain at night, if there was water and if it was a fountain.  Keith at the entrance to the market/palace  Cordon Bleu at Weinerwald. Couldn't finish it and the lefovers are in the fridge.

We're staying the the Marriott Courtyard Schonbrunn. Have the rooms at the back so we are free of street noise. The view is of apartments. Stark and clean compared to Cairo.  It's 3:30 pm so time to go out and start exploring!  Looka like a little garden area near the rooftop of this building.