To Austria for Christmas and beyond. The first day. Vein. Trade fairs. Acquaintance
My cognitive dissonance, which arose against the background of what was expected in dreams and received in reality from my first pre-Christmas trip, I already described, and more importantly, experienced. So now quite sane and balanced (at least it seems to me) I can tell you about the trip as a whole. Moreover, after some time, the negative, as usual, fades, and the positive and new emotions prevail in the memory. And as spring approaches, the theme of Christmas is becoming more and more irrelevant. : )
As I have already said, in some ways this trip was spontaneous, and in some ways it was long-awaited and anticipated. And since it was not very long - full 4 days plus the day of arrival and departure, we were based in Vienna, from which we made several one-day trips. Accordingly, the hotel was chosen based on the proximity to Vienna Central Station Wien Hauptbahnhof. Although at first our choice fell on the hostel Brigittenau Youth Palace, based on its reasonable price and positive reviews. But after some common thinking, we decided to see something closer to the station and stopped at Hotel Kolbeck, the price of which was slightly higher, but the whole way from our room to the entrance to the station took 5-6 minutes at a leisurely pace.
In the future, I will try not to focus too much on Christmas markets, because. I have already expressed my impressions about them, but it’s also impossible to completely exclude any mention of them, because although the weather did not really contribute to this, in pre-Christmas Europe in any case "Christmas is around us" (with ). So let's go.
Day one. Vienna. Trade fairs. Acquaintance.
Or rather, they flew. And for me the plane is stress! Therefore, although Wizz Air flew, it didn’t work out at all cheaply, because tickets were taken not when the price was low, but when the thought came to mind. In addition, they bought one piece of luggage and paid for the choice of seats so that there was a guaranteed opportunity to stay nearby.
Zhulyany Airport (or, as it is correct to say, Kyiv Sikorsky Airport) touched with its intimacy and lack of crowds of people. For the first time in our lives, before departure, we also sat in a cafe, where, in fact, we raised our glasses to the beginning of the journey (exclusively as a preventive measure in the fight against aerophobia). Then the flight, which took place on exactly the specified dates, and now we are already descending over cloudy and snowless Vienna. We go through passport control somehow at lightning speed, although I nervously clutch a file with a printed hotel reservation, return tickets and insurance in my hands. But the guys at the border control were somehow not at all interested in what it brought us to Austria. From the word "absolutely". : ) Despite such efficiency, our suitcase is already spinning at the baggage claim counter, where we are one of the first to approach, and now we are leaving the arrivals hall.
Here it is necessary to express one more respect to Booking. At that time, he had some kind of promotion in which booking a hotel in Vienna that cost more than 60 euros made it possible to get a free taxi ride from the airport to the hotel. I, as a person of our temper, did not believe in such an attraction of unprecedented generosity until the last minute, and when I met a taxi driver at the exit with a sign on which my name was indicated, I still asked if this trip was free. To which the boy became thoughtful and said: "25 euros. " And when thoughts like “I knew it” already flashed through my head, his colleague standing next to him added: “But Booking pays. ” : ) In general, having spent 25 minutes and saved 25 euros, we were already unloading the suitcase near the hotel.
Checking in, unpacking things and other technical details took some time, so we only got out towards the fairs at 4 o'clock, when it was slowly starting to get dark. And our starting point was Belvedere Fair as the closest one to us. The number of people increases as they approach the palace, although it does not yet reach a critical mass. And here it is - our first Christmas market!
Before reaching it, tourists crowd in front of the pool and try in every way to capture the beauty, so to speak, in general.
As we get closer, we understand that, besides us, the idea to visit the Belvedere came to a rather large mass of people! ; ))) This is especially felt at the entrance, where, according to the traditions of the Viennese fairs, there are stalls with food and mulled wine.
But we decide to get into the Christmas mood first, and then think about our daily bread. : )))
In principle, everything is pretty - starting from the creative sleigh Christmas tree, which constantly changes the backlight. . .
. . . to all kinds of New Year's toys, crafts and other holiday paraphernalia.
Having looked around, we proceed to the second stage - mulled wine in special mugs. I once thought that they would be the same at all fairs, but as it turned out later, each fair boasts of its design or even several. And by the way, the deposit for cups at all fairs is also different - in the Belvedere it was one of the most expensive (4 euros).
For mulled wine we take local hot dogs with different types of sausages. After such a voluminous "snack" you can safely not have dinner. : ) And now, in fact, somewhere at this stage the thought comes to me: “Is that all?! ”. Somehow I don’t understand what to do next - cultural objects, based on the time, are already closed, shops, taking into account Saturday evening, are even more closed, they are not even allowed into Belvedere Park.
Of course, if you first visit Belvedere, admire its park and interiors. . .
. . . works of art collected here. . .
. . . and then go to the fair, then the impression of the general visit, of course, will be different. More intense! But it turned out the way it happened for us, and we have only one thing left... Go to the next fair! ; )))))))))))))))
The closest one to us is on Karlsplatz in front of the famous Karlskirche. . .
. . . built by Emperor Charles VI after the deliverance of Vienna from a terrible plague epidemic and consecrated in honor of his heavenly patron St. Charles Borromeo.
The church has a fairly eclectic exterior design. . .
. . . and its interior is distinguished by the fact that an observation deck under the dome is equipped inside the cathedral. . .
. . . which can be accessed by lift. . .
. . . and take a closer look at the ceiling paintings, most of which are dedicated to the deeds of the same Charles Borromeo.
Although not only to them, it is possible to consider the plots presented on the murals for quite a long time.
Also, the site offers quite interesting views of the church, which is literally under your feet. . .
. . . and also along a small ladder you can get to the very top, to the image of the Holy Spirit.
Karlskirche often hosts classical music concerts, and during the Advent period there are Christmas carols.
But this time we did not go inside the church, but immediately went for a walk around the fair, which is called "Art Advent". It presents objects of art and crafts. There are even more people here than in the Belvedere. And the fair itself is many times larger.
Almost at the entrance we meet such Christmas characters:
Next, we admire the crafts - some are really very original.
The bowl of the fountain in front of the Karlskirche is given over to non-standard children's fun - riding... sledges bicycle rail. . .
. . . rolling in…snow hay. . .
. . . acquaintance with… deer goats.
In general, a non-standard approach is evident. : ) True, this does not apply to the design of mugs - as for me, here it is very simple. Maybe the deposit is lower because of this (3 euros).
However, a certain fatigue of today's long day is already beginning to affect. And one more thing - after mulled wine you really want to drink! We didn’t think of taking ordinary water with us, and the fountain with drinking water located in the Karlskirche area, which I remember from past trips, is probably closed in winter. At least we don't find it. Therefore, the working supermarket InterSpar at Wien Hauptbahnhof, , which we reach as a result of a 30-minute walk, serves as a kind of oasis in the desert for me. And then - to the hotel and sleep!
