Frohe Weihnachten!

 Merry Christmas from Vienna, Austria!

I left my heart, and my stomach, in Vienna, Austria.  We made a special trip to see the Christmas Markets, or Christkindlmarkts - a three day, breathtaking tour of a stunning city decked out in all of the Christmas finery you can imagine.  The Christmas Markets start with the Advent - this year on November 12th.  They are open all day and into the night, and feature everything from ornaments to clothing to candy and bratwurst.  The Walkers joined us and only pictures can do it justice...so here we go:

Before we indulge in massive gluttony, a little culture.  The Mozart Memorial:

Enough culture.  Time for the gluttony.  First stop?  The Weihnachtsdorf Maria Theresien Platz.  The market is in between two of the main museums in Austria. 

And features candy:

Ornaments:

Meat (yes, I said Meat):

And this (anyone?):

And of course, lots of food.  Every other stand sells hot beverages (it is a little chilly there, as you can see).  For the kids?  Hot Chocolate or Kinderpunsch.

How's your hot chocolate, Georgia?  Georgia?

For the adults?  A drink called Punsch - which comes in all different flavors - our favorite being Bieren Punsch (which we originally through had something to do with beer, but it's actually berry). It's a hot schnapps based drink (we think - its some kind of liquor, what more do you need to know?)

Next stop?  Wiener Christkindlmarket at Rathausplatz.  This gorgeous building is City Hall:

More bratwurst (the cheese filled kind are really the best).  More Punsch.  More ornaments.  For a short break, we went to a restaurant that was an old Monk's cellar - and we ate.....

Oh yes.  We did.  And we were serenaded by this:

By this time, I am officially in love with Austria.  But the next day - there's more!  A horse drawn carriage ride through the streets:

And more markets.  Next stop?  the Weihnachtsmarket am Spittleberg which was our favorite, because it was small and featured local artists.  Also, the Punsch was homemade and had been distilling for weeks, so it was suuuuper yummy! But we didn't forget to feed the kids:

Then on to the Altweiner Christkindlemarkt where you could watch them assemble beautiful garlands:

But we are not done yet!  That night, on to the Schonbrunn Castle - a fantastic setting and a gorgeous market.  We ate ourselves sick on handmade potato chips, chocolate covered marshmallows, and what else?  Punsch.  Oh, and maybe some Gluewein (hot spiced wine). 

So, with full stomachs, we bid farewell to Austria.  A good time was had by all!