Prosit Neujahr!

Last night we observed a very different Vienna. The normally reserved Viennese started celebrating the arrival of the new year pretty much as soon as the first shadows of evening appeared, sometime around 16:30, and the steady snap, crackle, and pop swelled until almost 1:00, at least around our house. 

Earlier in the evening we celebrated with friends, and returned home in time to ring in 2013 from the vineyards with the children.  Surrounded in almost 360° style with individual displays we could not discern the "official" display in the Volksgarten ushering in the new year, and wondered why the city bothers at all to put on a display when its citizens were preoccupied with their own poppers, sparklers, and Roman candles.

This morning all is quiet, tattered paper and the scent of gunpowder the only reminders of the festivities.

Viel Glücksbringer

As Maria said to Mother Superior, "The sky was so blue, and the hills were beckoning, I just had to be a part of it." Or something like that. Today the sky was indeed blue, the kind of winter blue that compels you to be outside, to be a part of it.

So outside we went. But first, inside, to tour the catacombs beneath Stephansdom (no photos permitted!)  A very interesting tour, and highly recommendable. I'd be happy to tour again should you come to Vienna.

Coming above ground, we were drawn to the excitement of a city preparing for the new year. From what we have been told, Vienna is the place to be for New Year's, and we are looking forward to celebrating with our new friends.  Austrians also have a fair number of traditions, many involving the pig, long considered to bring good luck in the new year.  Our stroll along two of the city's most tourist-heavy streets provided ample opportunities to secure a lucky charm.

But the good luck charms do not end with the pig. Ladybird beetles, chimney sweeps, frogs, and four-leaf clover are also considered to bring good fortune in the new year.

As are symbols of the Zodiac.

And for the fashionable, a dress from Louis Vuitton may be all the charm a girl needs. 

A stuffed pink pig in hand, and their pockets full of lucky charms, two friends make their way home...

Maybe Cletus Was On To Something

His incessant whining began early. We are morning people, but still, the sad look and the pacing in the hallway began much earlier than usual, and especially for holiday break.  It was almost as if Clayton Theodore knew I would be awed with our walk.  Now, if only he had somehow indicated that I grab my real camera...

Our street was dark and quiet, with morning only starting to peek out from above the buildings.

Along the Donau, just outside of Vienna.  Perhaps we assign him too much emotion, but we think Clayton Theodore loves to watch the barges and the birds. He stands motionless for minutes, maybe composing canine sonnets in his little dog head.  More likely, though, he is contemplating how to catch one of the gulls.

Otto Wagner's magnificent lions atop the sluice and weir that control the flow of water into the Donau Canal.

Otto Wagner's Floodgate House.

Beautiful colors across the Donau.

Eventually the sun rose and we headed up into the vineyards, of course. No morning walk would be considered complete without a hike though the vines.

(Sore) Tails from the Vienna Woods

Our first Christmas in Austria was just delightful. The peals of the church bells from Nußdorf and Heiligenstadt Pfarrkirchen woke us at midnight; and then, about five hours later, our children woke us (after the coffee had brewed, most definitely) to inspect the Czech handhewn bows and arrows that Santa brought them.  The morning passed leisurely into evening, and we brought the holiday to a close with our traditional dinner of borscht, pierogis, and kielbasa.

The holiday hustle and bustle over, today dawned with the promise of an empty agenda. By late morning the breakfast plates were cleared, the snow apparel located in one of the handful of remaining unpacked boxes, and off we headed to Styria for an afternoon of fun in the snow. 

A four-run toboggan ticket kept the children occupied.

While Tony and I were occupied with lunch in the lodge. (I can dress for snow, but that does not mean I desire to be out in it.) 

The Knoblauchcremesuppe (garlic cream soup) with black bread toasts was perfect.

A few hours, and a couple of cold and sore bottoms later, we were settled in with dinner in front of the fire and a movie on the flat screen at home. I love the holidays.

One Last Christmasmarkt

We enjoyed one final Christmasmarkt last evening at Schloss Schönbrunn before today's all-hands for the traditional holiday activities of cookie baking, pierogi making, and present wrapping.

Schloss Schönbrunn needs no additional adornment...

...except for perhaps a happy couple.

There are a few common elements to the markets, like hand painted Christmas ornaments and decorative candles and soaps; but each market we've visited has many unique stalls, as well, like this stall of Italian cheeses and sausages. Nearby to the stall the air was filled with the pungent aroma of a very strong cheese, and so we were drawn here (who wouldn't be?). However, the heavenly aroma was not from the Italian cheesmonger, but from a raclette stall just across the way, so we indulged in Käseraclettebrot mit Speck und Grammeln (dark bread spread with hot cheese, bacon, and, basically, tiny rendered fried pork cracklings, sprinkled with cut herbs).  And mugs of warm Orange Aperol Punsch. I tried my first Aperol Spritz (Bitter orange and rhubarb aperitif with cold sparkling wine) this summer and was hooked; the warm Aperol and orange Punsch makes a cold winter evening that much warmer.

Beautiful handpainted glass ornaments tempted us, as they always do. 

One could spend a lifetime sampling the various jams, fruits spreads, and chutneys offered at this stall.

I have a paper weakness, I confess. I have hand-stenciled paper from Rome, water-colored stationary from Japan, and original note cards painted by the crossing guard in our American neighborhood. Each to me is a beautiful piece of art, and I part with almost none of it.  So, no, I could not just walk past these beautiful displays.

No need to collect any of the Boleslawiec Pottery (Polish pottery, here it's called Bunzlauer); I have plenty in the dining room cabinet. Plus, I get "the look" from my darling husband every time I purchase another piece that can not go into the dishwasher.

Puppets from the Czech Republic. 

There is no shortage of foods to eat, and beverages to enjoy, at the markets. 

Some, though, leave us curious. "Damen und Herren" Punsch?

Pumpkin seed liquor?

All said, though, we "Like" the Christmas markets very much.