Austria - Traditional Christmas in Vienna
Yuletide Markets.St. Stephen's Cathedral, Xmas shopping
Jul 3, 2007
When people talk of "the inner city" in places like London and New York it means something very different than what it means in Vienna. No slums or tenement buildings here. Vienna's inner city is the grand imperial city of the Habsburg emperors, neatly kept in place by the Ringstrasse - a belt of grandiose buildings built by Emperor Franz Josef I in the latter half of the 19th century. It was an ego trip, a showcase for the monarch and perhaps a nostalgic yearning for the glorious past
Christmas in Vienna - Shopping
Buy Christmas gifts on elegant Karntner Strasse, a wide traffic-free boulevard lined with outdoor cafes and expensive shops and the centre of Vienna's social life. Street musicians here are high class. String quartets play Mozart and Haydn; a harpist plays the Harry Lime Theme, which should sound kitschy but somehow doesn't, and even the twangy guitar brigade sound okay. Kaffeehaus and Konditorei welcome visitors with an endless variety of coffee and cakes.
Christmas in Vienna - Markets
A stroll around the Ringstrasse, the wide boulevard which encircles Vienna's ancient inner city, is a good introduction to the city's elaborate palaces and public buildings, one of which is the Town Hall, unattractively named Rathaus. It looks like like a Renaissance cathedral and has a pretty park in front of it which is home to the ristkindlmarkt - the traditional Vienna Christmas market. There are about 140 seasonally decorated stalls from which are sold an extensive range of Christmas goodies. Trees are dressed to evoke different themes like the 'angel tree' with its chubby-cheeked cherubs, the 'star tree' and the 'Japanese lantern tree'. There's a Viennese carousel, an old steam organ, and hot apple cider to keep you warm.
Christmas in Vienna - Food
Viennese cuisine can be a bit robust for some tastes: dumplings, goulash, stuffed cabbage and the popular felspitz - boiled beef garnished with horseradish and apple sauce and served with piles of roast potatoes are not for calorie counters but they really do the trick on a chilly winter's day. Then there's all that hot chocolate with lashings of whipped cream and cakes dripping with icing. If it's La Dolce Vita you're looking for - here it is!
Christmas in Vienna - The Old Centre
The old centre of Vienna is a good place to just wander and explore. Use the spire of St. Stephen's Cathedral as your landmark to guide you back to the core. Explore small quiet streets that are often home to little specialist shops dealing in goods you won't find so easily on the grand boulevards.
Christmas in Vienna - Horse-Drawn Carriages
The most romantic way of seeing Vienna would be to take a fiacre - a horse-drawn carriage. Wrapped in warm rugs, stopping to pick up a hot drink or a baked potato at a wayside stall - not a bad way to bring in the New Year.
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