Day 1 in Vienna didn’t disappoint. We arrived at our LOVELY apartment and soon set out on our first adventure. Which included some struggles with ATMs and a pretty humiliating few moments at a Viennese grocery store. I mean, who knew that you had to weigh produce before you checked out?! And that once you got to the checkout a dozen locals would be giving you the evil eye as you added 10 minutes to their shopping experience?! In the end, though, we had to laugh and eventually made the teller laugh too. In a show of sheer pity, she handed us a chocolate Santa for our troubles and we left one chocolate heavier and lots of produce lighter. On our list for today – bananas and apples at a completely different grocery store!

A brief walk through the frigid Vienna weather – of which we were fully prepared for! – we found a cute little Viennese bistro where we had traditional Viennese fare. The traditional Viennese fare looked strangely like fish fry and fried hotdog – but whatever! It still tasted wonderful with a local beer to wash it down.

After again bundling up for a long cold walk through the city center, we set out. Walking through Vienna at Christmastime is magical! The streets are lit up like Christmas trees, people are everwhere and the storefronts boast Christmas chocolates and pastries. We looked like innocent children seeing Santa for the first time – big silly grins on our faces for miles! We crossed one corner and our eyes lit up to see the entire street covered in big, red, lighted balls! It was such a sight!

We were on our way to one of the famous Christmas markets – termed Christkindlmarkte – that sits right in front of the Vienna City Hall – Wiener Christkindlmarkte am Rathausplatz. For a moment we thought we were lost only to round a corner and see the most spectacular display of Christmas lights outside City Hall. Tons and tons of white lights, a huge stunning Christmas tree and different kinds of lights in each of the trees – one had lighted red hearts, another lighted guitars, another lighted snowmen. It was incredible! The first stand to stop at the Christmas market is the mulled wine stand – called glühwein. You can get red or white and it is mulled with spices and served hot. Which we desperately needed because it was so cold. I have to say, the first sip of glühwein was pretty disgusting. It’s definitely an acquired taste – which I was able to acquire pretty darn quickly.

The Christmas markets sell everything from traditional Viennese food to artwork to Christmas ornaments. Some of the Viennese hand painted ornaments are lovely and will definitely be coming home with me.

We wandered the market for a while and when we got too cold decided it was time for food and wine! We found a very close restaurant and tried Viennese goulash for the first time. It was so yummy. As my mom would say, “It’ll warm your innards”. And they needed warming. Candace tried an Austrian red that was so smooth.

I pride myself on being very good with directions but got us so lost on the way home from the market. Fortunately, there’s always an Irish pub to pop into. And we had a fantastic time! Drank cheap wine and spoke with 2 local guys who taught us how to order beer in German and gave us some recommendations of places to go in the city. P.S. If you need to order two beers in German, it’s zwei beir bitte.

A short cab ride was in order to get us out of the cold and avoid us walking another few miles. On our way back we stopped in a neighborhood café for another glass of Viennese wine. Apparently gross means big – we didn’t mind!

Stay tuned for day 2 – snowshoeing in the Austrian Alps!