...and I've returned a changed person.
I've always been a whole-hearted believer in having a white and snowy Christmas. Now I have a different opinion - a beautiful snowy Christmas is perfect when you're inside by the fire, drinking cocoa or baking in the kitchen. A mild Christmas of about 10 degrees and sunshine is perfect for meandering the festive streets of Vienna and enjoying the Christmas markets - taking in the scents, sounds, sights, feelings, and tastes.
Like any travelling I do, there is always some transportation hiccup. As always it works out. The morning of our departure, December 23, Heather, Cathy and I were frantically trying to come up with plans B, C, and D, to get to Warsaw to catch our train to Vienna. You see, a piece of train track was stolen between the Radom and Warsaw station. Heather called a local bus company to reserve seats on the bus to Warsaw. They kept hanging up on her because her Polish was too broken for them. So at 7am we were calling/waking up our Polish friends for them to call and reserve us seats. Then I called another friend of ours, to see if she could drive us, but the roads weren't looking so great. ANYWAYS, we pulled ourselves together and were able to catch a bus (not the one we called for), and make it to Warsaw in enough time to eat lunch, and find Cathy a new winter coat. MAN we're good.
As usual, we were our perky, excitable selves, laughing lots on the train. Without fail, we met a new friend/contact in Warsaw for our future weekend visits. Yey! The final half hour or so, as we trained through Austria, was spent singing Christmas carols in the corridor of the train. A woman came out of her compartment to commend us...haha. She was Canadian, of course.
We stayed at hostel Ruthensteiner, the same place I stayed last summer. It was so filled with holiday cheer. We were especially lucky to have the room we did - everyone was so awesome and silly and upbeat. The first night all 8 of us were going to sleep around the same time, and we started telling jokes and talking about having a "Twas the Night Before Christmas" reading.
Christmas eve day, Cathy, Heather and I walked around the city - stopping into various churches and going INSANE with food intake at the Christkindl markets. SO YUMMY! We had hot chocolate with Baileys in market mugs, which we were able to keep. The chocolate came from a chocolate fountain. Sausage and candy apples and nuts and baking....ahh. Heaven. We went to mass at a big church on the main street. There was a small market out front, so I had amaretto punch before the service started. It was cool to be part of it in a different language. We sang Silent Night in English though. On our way back to the hostel we grabbed schnitzel for dinner!
Christmas eve we spent at the hostel in the common area, which is very large, equipped with a bar (and a cutie bartender!), and was filled with people. Heather and I may have ruined the evening for many, with our BELTING out of carols all evening long. There was a woman playing the piano, so we were picking out many tunes. SO GOOD! In the morning we woke to some chocolates left out for each of us in the room...SANTA CAME! It was too funny as the first thing out of Heather's mouth that morning was, "where are we going to eat?"
Christmas morning was relaxing, spent having a leisurely breakfast over light-hearted (HA!) conversation - the Holocaust and relations in the Middle East were among the topics. We grabbed a slice of pizza for lunch, then met up at the movies (Where the Wild Things Are) with some roomies from our hostel. Then we ventured to the Vienna State Opera house to take our chances for standing room seats to see the Nutcracker that evening. WE GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!
I SAW THE NUTCRACKER IN VIENNA ON CHRISTMAS DAY AT THE OPERA HOUSE!
It was a dream come true. When we got in I felt like we were a bunch of kids, running around the stairs and hallways of the massive building. So stunning. And the performance was wonderful as well (save a couple modern takes on the toys). AHHH! I feel so lucky to have experienced that.
Christmas dinner? We definitely ate from a kebab stand. Hahah We spent the evening in the company of each other and the other hostel residents, once again.
Boxing day we went to part of the Hofburg Palace, seeing the Sisi museum, silver collection, and imperial apartments (not without having an apple strudel and hot chocolate breakfast to start the day)! Heather and I decided that we would like to register at the palace, as we found our perfect china patterns. Either that or we'll start coming up with a plan to break in and steal our favourites. Shhh...don't tell anyone! The international food market was closed, so we ended up eating Vietnemese for a late lunch/early dinner. Then we had an early night in, writing and reading and being cozy.
The morning of the 27th we set out for Bratislava...!
As much as I missed home, I was truly blessed to be in the good company I was for Christmas this year. I feel so loved! Cathy, Heather and I took time to tell each other some warm and fuzzy thoughts, so that was a treat. The city was alive with Christmas spirit; the lights were beautiful. A true delight.
I've always been a whole-hearted believer in having a white and snowy Christmas. Now I have a different opinion - a beautiful snowy Christmas is perfect when you're inside by the fire, drinking cocoa or baking in the kitchen. A mild Christmas of about 10 degrees and sunshine is perfect for meandering the festive streets of Vienna and enjoying the Christmas markets - taking in the scents, sounds, sights, feelings, and tastes.
Like any travelling I do, there is always some transportation hiccup. As always it works out. The morning of our departure, December 23, Heather, Cathy and I were frantically trying to come up with plans B, C, and D, to get to Warsaw to catch our train to Vienna. You see, a piece of train track was stolen between the Radom and Warsaw station. Heather called a local bus company to reserve seats on the bus to Warsaw. They kept hanging up on her because her Polish was too broken for them. So at 7am we were calling/waking up our Polish friends for them to call and reserve us seats. Then I called another friend of ours, to see if she could drive us, but the roads weren't looking so great. ANYWAYS, we pulled ourselves together and were able to catch a bus (not the one we called for), and make it to Warsaw in enough time to eat lunch, and find Cathy a new winter coat. MAN we're good.
As usual, we were our perky, excitable selves, laughing lots on the train. Without fail, we met a new friend/contact in Warsaw for our future weekend visits. Yey! The final half hour or so, as we trained through Austria, was spent singing Christmas carols in the corridor of the train. A woman came out of her compartment to commend us...haha. She was Canadian, of course.
We stayed at hostel Ruthensteiner, the same place I stayed last summer. It was so filled with holiday cheer. We were especially lucky to have the room we did - everyone was so awesome and silly and upbeat. The first night all 8 of us were going to sleep around the same time, and we started telling jokes and talking about having a "Twas the Night Before Christmas" reading.
Christmas eve day, Cathy, Heather and I walked around the city - stopping into various churches and going INSANE with food intake at the Christkindl markets. SO YUMMY! We had hot chocolate with Baileys in market mugs, which we were able to keep. The chocolate came from a chocolate fountain. Sausage and candy apples and nuts and baking....ahh. Heaven. We went to mass at a big church on the main street. There was a small market out front, so I had amaretto punch before the service started. It was cool to be part of it in a different language. We sang Silent Night in English though. On our way back to the hostel we grabbed schnitzel for dinner!
Christmas eve we spent at the hostel in the common area, which is very large, equipped with a bar (and a cutie bartender!), and was filled with people. Heather and I may have ruined the evening for many, with our BELTING out of carols all evening long. There was a woman playing the piano, so we were picking out many tunes. SO GOOD! In the morning we woke to some chocolates left out for each of us in the room...SANTA CAME! It was too funny as the first thing out of Heather's mouth that morning was, "where are we going to eat?"
Christmas morning was relaxing, spent having a leisurely breakfast over light-hearted (HA!) conversation - the Holocaust and relations in the Middle East were among the topics. We grabbed a slice of pizza for lunch, then met up at the movies (Where the Wild Things Are) with some roomies from our hostel. Then we ventured to the Vienna State Opera house to take our chances for standing room seats to see the Nutcracker that evening. WE GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!
I SAW THE NUTCRACKER IN VIENNA ON CHRISTMAS DAY AT THE OPERA HOUSE!
It was a dream come true. When we got in I felt like we were a bunch of kids, running around the stairs and hallways of the massive building. So stunning. And the performance was wonderful as well (save a couple modern takes on the toys). AHHH! I feel so lucky to have experienced that.
Christmas dinner? We definitely ate from a kebab stand. Hahah We spent the evening in the company of each other and the other hostel residents, once again.
Boxing day we went to part of the Hofburg Palace, seeing the Sisi museum, silver collection, and imperial apartments (not without having an apple strudel and hot chocolate breakfast to start the day)! Heather and I decided that we would like to register at the palace, as we found our perfect china patterns. Either that or we'll start coming up with a plan to break in and steal our favourites. Shhh...don't tell anyone! The international food market was closed, so we ended up eating Vietnemese for a late lunch/early dinner. Then we had an early night in, writing and reading and being cozy.
The morning of the 27th we set out for Bratislava...!
As much as I missed home, I was truly blessed to be in the good company I was for Christmas this year. I feel so loved! Cathy, Heather and I took time to tell each other some warm and fuzzy thoughts, so that was a treat. The city was alive with Christmas spirit; the lights were beautiful. A true delight.
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