As usual, my travel day was a little challenging. I walked the 3 blocks over cobblestones to one of the main streets in hope of catching a taxi. But in spite of spotting several empty cabs, only one stopped for me and he wouldn’t accept the fare. I think he thought I wanted him to drive me all the way to Vienna instead of taking me to the train station only 5 minutes away. So, I ended up calling for an Uber. Even though it took about 25 minutes to get a ride, I still made the 9:15am train. It didn’t matter that much as I could have taken any train (they leave every hour) but it was nice not to have to wait in the station.
The one-hour ride was uneventful except for having to listen to “Old MacDonald had a Farm” for the entire trip. It wouldn’t have been too bad except it was in Slovak. But as soon as it stopped playing the baby started to cry so I guess the song was better than the alternative.
I arrived at the Hotel Domizil without difficulty, dropped off my luggage, picked up my map and headed out to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which is only about a block away. The hotel is in a perfect location as it’s in the center of the Old Town.
The church was crowded except most of the tourists chose not to pay the 7 euro fee to gain access to the main part of the church so they stayed behind gates in the Nave. As a result, it was pretty easy to see the church and get photos without a zillion people in the way.
The story behind the next statue is that a Countess accused her maid of stealing a piece of jewelry. After the house was searched and the real thief found, the Countess felt so bad about the false accusation she commissioned this statue for the church.
Like much of the church, the organ was destroyed by fire in the final days of WWII. While it had been rebuilt, it only started functioning again in 2020.
The choir organ was used for many years while they were rebuilding the main organ. Also notice that most of the window has clear glass rather than stained glass. That was the case in all the windows. The windows were also destroyed during the war and have never been redone.
After spending about an hour in the church, I headed back to the hotel to ask for lunch recommendations. She sent me to a lovely restaurant just a few blocks away.
I only ate about half the food but the server gave me the rest in a to-go box. That is very unusual in Europe but he said I was very friendly so he wanted to do something nice for me. There’s a microwave in the hotel so I may have it for lunch tomorrow.
My room was ready when I got back to the hotel and it’s adorable.
It’s supposed to rain over the next 2 days so I decided to check out the main Christmas Market in the Town Hall Square which is about a 25-minute walk from the hotel. On the way I passed 2 much smaller, markets.
At the 2nd market I had a bit of a snack. These are Sicilian Arancini, a rice ball filled with stuff and fried. While I’m trying to stick to local food, I haven’t had an arancini since I was in Sicily in 2019 and couldn’t resist.
A few minutes later I arrived at the Town Hall and the main Christmas Market. It was incredible!! Now I know why Vienna is always on the top 10 list of best Christmas markets in Europe.
While the markets in Budapest and Bratislava were 75% food/drink booths and 25% goods, this was just the opposite which is what I expected at the markets. I saw a ton of ornaments, candles, woolens, wood, metal and even Harry Potter wands. I’m not sure how the wands got in there but it was fun to see them.
In addition to the booths, the park area around the square was also beautifully lit.
There were lots of different nativity scenes, some traditional…
And some not so traditional…
The temperature was fairly mild but my feet were tired so after about 90 minutes I headed home. I had been looking forward to seeing this market and it did not disappoint.
Tomorrow’s itinerary will depend on weather as I’m not really interested in walking around in the rain. I’m here until Sunday morning so I have plenty of time to see what I want. Tomorrow night is the Mozart/Strauss concert at the park just a few blocks away. I’m really looking forward to that.
I want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. Enjoy!!
I’ve been blessed to visit Wein in every season, but have never seen the Christmas markets! So enjoy seeing the pictures — of the hand carved items, the food, and the inside of my beloved Stephensdom! Hope the weather cooperates a bit over the next couple of days — so many wonderful things to see there! Not sure of your itinerary, but if your schedule permits, a trip to Schoenbrunn Palace would be fun! I believe the Ubahn has a stop not too far away! Beautiful decorated for the season — the palace and the grounds are absolutely spectacular!
THANKS for sharing! Enjoy the Mozart concert tomorrow evening! Am sure it will be amazing!
Happy Thanksgiving, dear friend!
The Schoenbrunn is definitely on my itinerary. The U1 is “broken” so I just have to walk in a different direction to catch the U4, then it’s only about 5 or 6 stops. They also have a Christmas market. I may go tomorrow (Friday) in the late afternoon so I can see the Palace and the market at the same time instead of going back once it gets dark.
I can’t believe you’ve never been here for Christmas markets! I know how much you love Vienna so I would have thought you’d visited them. While I enjoyed the markets in Budapest and Bratislava I was surprised that the majority of the booths were food/drink. This is more of what I expected. I may go back to the Town Hall market again on Saturday; it really was beautiful.
Happy Thanksgiving to you. Have a wonderful day! Talk soon.
Love the market pics and those glass ornaments!
I would love one of the glass ornaments but I’m afraid about trying to get it home. I’m packed in a carry on so things are a bit tight. I’m not sure I could get one packed without it getting crushed unless they come in a box. I may have to ask the next time I see them. Maybe a smaller one would be easier; I’ll see what I can find.
Your pics actually do justice to these beautiful markets. We’re now jonesing for a Christmas market cruise!
Hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving.
Didn’t you do that last year? I saw a lot of river boats in both Budapest and Bratislava. I wouldn’t mind doing one but I don’t think I’d need to do markets again unless I went into Germany.
Happy Thanksgiving to you both!!
We did do a Christmas market river cruise last December. Apparently we’d like to go every year. Just waiting to win the lotto to make that a realistic option!
I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing the markets again but I’d do them in Germany next time. And, good luck with the lotto. Remember your friends when you win!