Vienna was the first stop on my “Tripmas” adventure through Austria, Germany and Switzerland (well, it you don’t count a brief delay in the London Heathrow Airport…). It is a very walkable downtown, as were most of the places we went, so it was quite easy to adventure and explore the historic sites.

I started off our exploring with a stroll through the Museum Quartier and the Vienna Kunsthistorisches (art history) Museum. The museum’s primary collections are those of the Habsburgs, but also include artifacts from Rome, Greece and Ancient Egypt. We continued walking into the Heldenplatz (Heroes’ Square) which is a public space in front of the Hofburg Palace. The President of Austria resides in the adjoining Hofburg wing, while the Federal Chancellery is on adjacent Ballhausplatz. Many important actions and events took place here, most notably Adolf Hitler’s ceremonial announcement of the Austrian annex to Nazi  Germany in 1938.

From there I continued to walk and wander through the downtown/old town area. I didn’t have time to actually do a training or a lesson, but we did walk by the The Spanish Riding School– is a traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses, which perform in the Winter Riding School in the Hofburg. It reminds me of the Queen’s horses and processions in London.

The downtown area of Vienna is beautiful, especially during the Christmas season – everything is decorated with lights, wreaths and bows. The main shopping street, Graben Street is one most famous streets in Vienna and considered the city center. On this street, I passed the beautiful  St. Peter’s Church with its green domes, the iconic St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the Plague Column. The plague column (Pestsäule) was built to help ward off the epidemic. This Pestsäule drew its inspiration from the tradition of Marian or Holy Trinity columns. These are columns topped by the Virgin Mary or a representation of the Holy Trinity, erected typically as a declaration of faith or out of gratitude for surviving some dramatic event, like a war.

There are iconic sites throughout the city, including the statue of Mozart in Burggarten, but perhaps the most recognizable is the Wiener Staatsoper, or State Opera. Built in 1869, it is one of the leading opera houses in the world. Each season, the schedule features 350 performances of more than 60 different operas and ballets. Every night, world-class artists perform alongside the permanent ensemble members, including the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Throughout the city there are Christkindlmarkts (Christmas Markets) scattered about. I popped into these in nearly every city I visited. The main market, Wien Christkindlmarkt was incredible. It was set up in front of the Rathaus (Town Hall) and its roots go back to the late 18th century: it only moved to its present location in 1975. Authorities estimate it attracts up to 3 million visitors a year, during its 8 week duration. The market has everything from a skating rink, to hundred of vendor stalls, to traditional food and mulled wine at every turn. It was definitely one of my favorite experiences of the trip!

I only had a short time in Vienna to explore – you could easily spend much more time – but squeezed in everything I could, including a traditional bite of Sacher Torte, a specific type of chocolate cake, or torte, invented by Austrian Franz Sacher in 1832 for Prince Wenzel von Metternich.

On to the next stop – Salzburg!

-MAL

Hotel:

• Roomz Vienna Prater – recently renovated and quite modern. There are no frills, but the staff is helpful and it is about a 5-10 minute cab away from the city center!

Restaurants:

• Christmas Market Food

Sites:

• Christmas Market
• Vienna Opera House
• City Center/Shopping Area
• St. Peters Church
• St. Stephens Cathedral
• Museum Quartier – Art History Museum, Royal Library, etc
• Parliament Building
• Plague Monument/Column
• Mozart Statue
• Hotel Sachertorte
• Townhall (Rathausplatz)