The One Where I go to Vienna

Tobi gave me an early birthday present - a weekend to Vienna! I went to meet my friend Natalie there for the weekend. Natalie recently moved from Charleston, South Carolina to Hungary. She and her family will only be here through February so she is trying to fit in as much travel as she can, much like me. She lives less than two hours from Vienna, so she has been a couple of times. When I found out we were definitely moving to Zurich, the guidebook for Vienna was the first guidebook I bought. I've always wanted to visit and I always thought it would be most magical at Christmas, so it was pure luck that it worked out to go around Christmastime.

Natalie and her husband and adorable kids picked me up on Saturday morning at the Vienna airport. The flight from Zurich to Vienna is about an hour, so it's a very easy trip. Her husband dropped us off at our hotel, the Kaiserin Elisabeth, in the heart of the historic district. We stowed our bags at the hotel and set off for the sights. It turns out Natalie and I are travel soulmates who both geek out over European cathedrals. We decided to tour St. Stephen's Cathedral first because it was literally around the corner from our hotel. There were masses of tourists trying to get into the church, but once inside it wasn't too crowded. We decided to do the audio tour (a bargain at €4.50) and that was amazing because you learn so much more by doing the guided tours. I wish all European churches offered it.

The entrance to St. Stephen's Cathedral

View of the church from the altar; notice the pipe organ at the end

St. Stephen's is a very dark, very gothic looking church. There isn't too much that is cheerful about the place, but it is held in very high honor in Austria, as the Archdiocese of Vienna. The first structure was built in the 1100s, but construction continued up through the 1500s. Repair and reconstruction happen even today. There was scaffolding around much of the exterior and it looks like the church is getting a good scrubbing, as you can see by the picture below.

You can see scaffolding on the left; notice the difference in color at the top.

The beautiful altar

The details and symbolic carvings on the pulpit are amazing.

The audio tour gave vague information about what happened to the church in 1945, referring to World War II as "the castastrophe of 1945" a few times. After reading online, it turns out the retreating Nazis ordered for the church to be destroyed as they left Vienna, but those orders were disregarded. However, as the Russian troops entered the city, fires set to nearby buildings carried over to St. Stephen's, and the roof collapsed. Much of the valuable artwork and sculptures were protected by brick shells, and the church reopened in 1952 after reconstruction of the roof.

Judenplatz

After our tour of St. Stephen's, we went on a walk through Judenplatz, the site of the Jewish ghetto from the middle ages. There is a Jewish museum there and a memorial to the Austrian Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during World War II. The memorial is moving and somber, a sort of library turned inside out. The memorial is supposed to resemble a library with the books turned with the spines in, symbolizing the untold stories of the victims. Along the bottom are inscribed the names of the camps where Austrian Jews were killed. There is a symbolic, inaccessible, entrance. During the excavation process of building the memorial, remains of a medieval synagogue were found.

Names of the camps are inscribed below the inward-turning books of the memorial.

The inscription: "In commemoration of more than 65,000 Austrian Jews who were

killed by the Nazis between 1938 and 1945."

Around the corner from Judenplatz was a lovely little Christmas market and we began our hunt for Christmas gifts, decorations and interesting Christmas market food. I had never been to a Christmas market in my whole life until about a month ago. Now I've been to a few in Switzerland and several in Vienna. There were several small ones around the city and the major market at the Rathaus. We stopped for a late lunch of baked potatoes. They were enormous and you could get them with various toppings like ham, bacon, cheese, onions, and sour cream sauces with herbs or garlic. Natalie and I both thought it was very cool that they serve the potatoes on real dishes. You pay €2 for the bowl and you get your money back when you return the plate. No paper plate waste! We also had mugs of glühwein and instead of returning the mugs for our money, we decided to keep them as souvenirs.

Small market . . .

. . . giant baked potatoes

We stopped at the famous Viennese coffee house and food emporium, Julius Meinl. If you're from the Chicago area, you've no doubt stopped in at the coffee shops on the north side. I have no idea how a Viennese coffee house decided to expand and open coffee shops in Chicago, Illinois, but I'm so glad they did. It's one of my favorite places in Chicago, so I wasn't going to miss seeing the original in Vienna. Natalie and I toured the 3 floors of amazing food halls that is Meinl in Vienna. Everything from meats and cheeses, to pastas, sushi, international packaged foods, teas, coffees, pastries, etc. You name it, they sell it. Just seeing the logo made me feel a little less homesick.

(Almost) just like being in Chicago

Christmas lights were hung on many streets . . . so beautiful.

Natalie and I liked the chandelier street the best.

In front of the Hofburg Palace, which serves as the President of Austria's house today.

Later in the evening, we walked through the city to the Rathaus Christkindlmarkt. The spectacle that was that market cannot be overstated. The Christmas light displays were nearly blinding and the sheer number of people fighting for space was mindblowing. We had glühwein,Langos (basically an amazing fried bread with ham & cheese in it), and chocolate-covered strawberries. After fighting the crowds and being dazzled by the sights, we walked back to the hotel for rest.

Unbelievable light displays at the Rathaus Christkindlmarkt

On Sunday after breakfast, we decided to tour the Mozarthaus. Mozart and his family lived in an apartment in the building for three years, from 1784 to 1787. The guided audio tour was interesting and tells of his time as an in-demand composer and performer in 18th century Vienna. There are copies of his original sheet music and some period furnishings of his time. Looking at the sheet music with his markings and notes, I had a similar feeling as I did when I saw Michaelangelo's David in Florence. A feeling that something otherworldly was at work there. A special talent that seems almost impossible to understand.

Where Mozart lived when he wrote The Marriage of Figaro

From the Mozarthaus, we walked to the State Opera house and stopped at the Cafe Sacher, world-renowned for its famous Sacher Torte. Apparently we weren't the only tourists wanting cake that day because we had to wait in a line that led out onto the sidewalk. However, our wait was short and we were able to taste the amazingness of the torte for ourselves. After that, we walked around the opera house and back up through the city before we got a taxi from the hotel to the airport.

The famous Sacher Torte

The massive State Opera House

My visit to Vienna was short but very, very sweet. Vienna is a beautiful city and I'm so glad I got to see it in all its glory at Christmas. I'm also thankful I had such a fun touring partner in Natalie. Traveling is amazing. Traveling with friends makes it unforgettable.

Cheers!

Tiffany