Schönbrunn's Christmas Market

It's always a pleasure to visit Schönbrunn, the Hapsburg's summer palace, and this time of year the front plaza is the site of one of Vienna's many Christmas markets. First, a peak at the grand Gloriette pavilion which crowns the hill in the palace's backyard.

Part of the ornate front gate:

A newly renovated wing of the palace near the front entrance:

The word is out about the great Christmas city that Vienna has become. The entire city is full of tourists now and Schönbrunn's market is a popular destination for tour groups. Today, there were probably a dozen tour buses parked in front of the palace, meaning the huts were doing good business.

Among the many items for sale, these snowglobes have been manufactured in Vienna since 1900:

The market features an assortment of hand painted glass ornaments:

Handmade papers and books:

Liqueurs:

Glassware etched with hearts and flowers:

Traditional Austrian metal ornaments:

Pop-up paper doll sets:

Paper ornaments:

Ceramic butterflies and flowers:

Beeswax candles:

And all kinds of food and drinks:

I had a baked potato laden with garlic cream sauce. Delicious!

The angle of this shot makes this pretzel vendor look like he has a huge bow on his head:

A few tartan ornaments:

A fancy carriage ornament:

The U-Bahn tracks to take us home:

The New Lights on Wollzeille

As I've said before, Vienna really knows how to decorate for Christmas. If you use the Google search box to the right and enter "Christmas" you'll see links to lots of Vienna at Christmas photos I took in years past. I hope now to show you different photos rather than repeat prior scenes, so please check last year's posts; I wouldn't want you to miss seeing some of Vienna's beautiful decorations. It seems every year there are more decorations and this year Wollzeille, one of the streets that leads from the Ringstrasse toward Stephansplatz, has a zillion new lights.

Curves and Diamonds

The unusual architecture of Vienna's Austria Center provides some unusual curves and diamond shapes.

Snow in Stadtpark

Today was a good day to take a walk through Stadtpark, Vienna's primary city park. The Wien Fluss, the Vienna River, serves as a flood channel:

Pink winter berries:

Not far from this lovely spot I broke up a fight. Two German Shepherds were barking aggressively by two men as I approached. My thought was, "These two men need to watch The Dog Whisperer," and I decided to change my route rather than continue walking toward them. When I looked back, I was stunned to see the men were fighting—an actual fist fight. For a split second I considered taking their photo for this blog but instead, for whatever reason, without thinking, I yelled at them, "Hey! Stop!" Then, also without thinking, I made the peace sign. And you know what? They stopped fighting. The dogs kept barking for a few seconds but then all was quiet. It seems the dogs were reacting to the hostile energy of the owners, just like Cesar Millan says. By the way, if you live with a dog or ever plan to—or if you just want to learn something fascinating— I highly recommend the philosophy and techniques of The Dog Whisperer.

The Kursalon was where Johann Strauss, "The Waltz King," performed. His music is still played here in nightly concerts:

A festive archway in place for Christmas:

Trees for Sale

Christmas trees have suddenly appeared all around Vienna. These are for sale on the Graben, in the center of town. They are brightened by new LED bulbs that now bring greater luminosity and energy efficiency to Vienna's grand Christmas chandeliers.

And these cuties were near the Nashmarkt:

A Walk from Palais Ferstal to the Rathaus

Vienna's Palais Ferstal, with its ornate ceilings, gets even more spiffed up for the holidays with garlands at Palais Interiors...

...just like the garlands of sausages at one of the seasonal market huts:

We had a nice blanket of snow Saturday. Here's the view of the Rathaus (City Hall) from Cafe Landtmann:

Vienna's beautiful Rathaus with a dripping-light archway leading to a children's play area:

Switzerland and Austria in Blue

These photos were taken on the same flight as those in yesterday's post yet they look quite different in terms of color. It's amazing the difference when there's a momentary break in the clouds above the plane. I think this is Romanshorn, Switzerland on Lake Constance (also known as Bodensee).

I can't remember ever seeing such a pastel landscape before:

This landscape has some great lines:

I'd like to say this is the Danube but it's more likely a valley: