Wednesday Wanderings

Rathausplatz, Vienna, Austria

Merry Christmas

Fun travels!

The Tastes of Vienna

To me, one of the best things about travelling is the food! Being able to try new food items made famous in that region along your journey is on the top of my list, picky eaters need not travel with me.

Before landing in Vienna I did a bit a research, gastronomically speaking, and let my rumbling tummy make the rest of the decisions.

Since our trip focus was Christmas markets obviously Gluhwein was first on the list. I changed things up this year and opted for white Gluhwein rather than the traditional red. 

We did spend most of time eating and drinking at the markets, with so many delicious options how could we not? Vienna sausage, fried potatoes, sugared almonds were just some of the things we enjoyed.

potato wedges, plain potatoes, roasted chestnuts

The sausages were served in a hollowed baguette with the condiments poured down the centre, nothing poured out the bottom or sides (great to store in your handbag).

We smelled the sugared almonds being made before we saw this beautiful, tasty woman, maker of the sweet treats.  The smell drew us in and we stood and stared at her longer than should have been acceptable. We couldn't resist.

I don't know what this was exactly or what it was called. I'm not even entirely sure was all the ingredients were, but from what I gathered it involved; potatoes with poppy seeds and herbs, applesauce, jam, and topped with confectionery sugar. I must admit, I was a little tempted to test these waters and maybe would have if I had more of 'the Gang' around to try it.

marzipan fruit

Cafe Neko

I was told that a cat cafe existed in Vienna. E and I were determined to find it and stroke a kitty or two. Located very centrally near Stephansplatz we stopped in for a tea, a warm up and to use the free wifi.

There were many climbing posts and much of the duct work had been made cat friendly. You could see that people visiting here were excited to see the cats but also aware not to overwhelm them with attention. I think these guys have it pretty good.

Cafe Central

As we walked around the city, E kept going on about having to try this famous Viennese cake called Sachertorte. It is credited to Franz Sacher who first made it for Prince Wenzel von Metternich in 1832. Later his son, Eduard, carried on his father's culinary legacy, perfecting the torte into it's current form. It is a chocolate sponge with a think layer of apricot jam between the layers and with a dark chocolate icing. 

Many places serve the famous Viennese cake and Cafe Central seemed like a good a place as any to finally order a slice. It was good. Damn good.

although we had blinders on to our order, there were many delicious looking cakes to tempt us

Nachtrestaurant Mozartstube 

Our first night in Vienna we arrived pretty late in the evening and on empty stomachs. Luckily for us there was a Night Restaurant located just steps from our hostel door. We entered into the emptiness and I was hesitant, but E pushed me threw and we proceeded to have an excellent experience at the Mozartstube.

The waiter told us that most of the clientele only start arriving after 11pm and that no matter what you will receive the same fresh food and good service at 9pm as you will at 5:30am. The atmosphere was warm and very manly with carved wood and animal heads hung on every available space on the walls. There was a wood burning fire in the centre and the one and only waiter in the place, when not chatting us up and quickly clearing things from our table, diligently polished every single wine glass that could possibly have existed in the restaurant.

Upon our waiters recommendation we ordered a house specialty of sausage dumpling served on sauerkraut.  When the dumpling came out I was surprised by it's size and glad I opted for 1 and not 2.

Taking a chance on this empty restaurant it was likely to go one of two ways, be very poor food that we talked about with everyone or being so good that we couldn't stop talking about it with everyone. We lucked out with the latter on this occasion. 
Isn't that part of the fun with food while traveling? It's a gamble.






Fun travels!

A Christmas Marketing We Will Go

After Bratisalava, we took the 1 hour and 6 minute train ride into Vienna's Wien Hauptbahnhof then jumping on the U-Bahn and legging it across town to the Wien Westbahnhof station near where our hostel was located.  If you ever get a chance to stay at the Hostel Ruthensteiner I would recommend it. It was clean, open 24 hours, friendly staff and a cheap breakfast. E and I shared a private room and it completely met our needs, nothing fancy but above "it'll have to do".
We were located close enough to the city centre that we could walk in each day (we are walkers) in about 20-25 minutes. You see so much more of a new place when you are able to tackle it by foot. We left the hostel at 10:30 that morning and walked all day, only returning at 11pm that night. 
When the Gluhwein Gang first booked this trip we thought there were about 6 Christmas Markets throughout the city, however, when we arrived we discovered there were actually upwards of 12 Christmas Markets within the city! E and I were determined to see as many as we could while still enjoying our time. Commence images of us rushing around from market to market on a sugar high, screaming carols at the top of our lungs, and foaming Gluhwein at the mouth. 
We managed to visit and enjoy:
Spittelberg between Stiftgasse and Breite Gasse
Mariahilfer Church on Mariahilfer Strasse
Maria Theresien-Platz at the Museum Quarter
Karlplatz in front of Karlskirche 
Belvedere Palace
Stephansplatz located next to Stephansdom 
Freyung 
Am Hof
Rathausplatz (city hall)
Mahlerstrasse between the Opera house and the city shopping complex Ringstrassengalerien
Riesenrandplatz beside the Riesenrad (a giant ferris wheel) at the entrance to the Prater amusement park

Although each market was very similar, every one had their own allure; some where geared for children and families, others off the beaten track for the locals and some centrally located for tourists. Some markets had more food stalls or artisan crafts for sale, while others still were all about the grand setting it was in or small pedestrian street. 

Riesenrandplatz

Stephansdom

Sweet treats

ginger bread house

Ornaments galore 

Vienna cured meats

Gluhwein, oh the gluhwein.

Love these potpourri decorations

Sugar cookies and ginger bread

Gluhwein stall at Spittelberg

the teeniest tiniest of chocolates

ornaments

Ornaments

Giant candle 

snow squirrel 

Stephansplatz

More ornaments!

horse drawn carriages 

Freyung 

Freyung was probably my most favourite market of them all. It had the best Gluhwein (consensus of 'the Gang'), good mix of crafts and ornaments for sale, and had a live choir in the evenings.

Spittelberg was second favourite for it's sense of never ending size, incorporating the popup market stalls with the local cafes and business's. I wish we had a chance to visit this one at night as I can just imagine the Christmas magic with the lights and the huts.

Third favourite--this is where things get difficult to choose--would have to be the Maria Theresien-Platz at the Museum Quarter for is setting between the two enormous domed museum buildings surrounding an impressive statue. The sausage smelled so good and the sugared almonds were hard to resist.

Market stalls at Freyung

ORNAMENTS!!!

Rathausplatz

Pretty lights at Rathausplatz

The Rathaus

Giant tree at Rathausplatz

live music

Despite there being many markets, we were able to meander and take our time at each one, having a Gluhwein here, Vienna sausage there, buying a trinket at that stall and sampling treats at another. The weather couldn't have been better for our time here...that's a lie, it could have snow, but then I just might have pee'd my pants with excitement. On second thought, maybe it's best it didn't snow.

That's the last of my Christmas Markets posts. I hope I didn't bore anyone too much. 

Have you visited any Christmas markets this year? Tell me about it!

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