This year, our 35th wedding anniversary (November 25) fell on a day when Dave was away on a business trip, so we planned a special weekend trip to Vienna, Austria to celebrate. We had heard about their Christkindlmarkts in the German tradition of outdoor Christmas markets with festive food, music, crafts and gift booths. We flew to Vienna early Saturday morning, took the fast train into the city and were wandering through the markets by mid-afternoon. By 4:30 PM it was getting dark, and the crowds grew as lights twinkled everywhere. The extraordinary architecture of the palaces, churches, and opera house was highlighted by the illumination.
We stayed at Le Méridien Hotel in the city center which allowed us to walk everywhere. We were amazed by how many people of all ages were out enjoying the city on a cold, windy winter weekend. We warmed ourselves up by taking the "hop on-hop off" bus tour around the inner ring of the city and by climbing up the tower of St Stephen's Church for a bird's eye view. Sunday afternoon, we rode the metro to Schönbronn Palace to visit the market there. We had fun shopping for small Christmas ornaments for our still bare Italian Christmas tree. Our romantic weekend abruptly ended when we had to get up at the crack of dawn Monday morning to catch a 6:30 AM flight back to Italy.
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| Rathausplatz |
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| Market at the Old Hospital |
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| Spittelberg Market |
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| Schönbrunn Palace Market |
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