Visiting the Vienna Christmas Market
I am what most people would call “a Christmas nut”. I watch Miracle on 34th Street every Thanksgiving, and from that time on, I drive my friends crazy playing Christmas music, decorating, and spreading holiday cheer.
I came by it naturally, inheriting the gene from my father, who couldn’t wait to drag out the life-size plastic carolers, the blinking “Merry Xmas” lantern, and his personal set of sleigh bells with which he greeted all visitors. My dad and I put up the tree, hung the mistletoe, and made sugar cookies in the shapes of bells, stars and reindeer.
When I was a child, he took me into the city to see the animated Christmas windows at the big department stores, chaperoned a carload of giggling girls to see the latest holiday movie, and rose at 5 a.m. every Christmas morning to turn on the tree lights before I woke up.
When I walked into the wooded park of the Vienna Christmas Market (Wiener Christkindlmarkt), I felt like that 5 year- old again walking into a darkened living room early Christmas morning, awestruck with the twinkling tree lights, the overflowing stockings full of surprises, and the flow of beribboned packages spreading out under the tree branches.
The huge oak trees at the Wiener Rasthausplatz were lit with snowmen and snowflakes, stars and animals, while snow-blowers shaped like gargoyles filled the crisp winter night with dancing crystals. The music of carols mingled with the clip-clop of pony hooves at the riding corral, and throngs of adults and children wandered among over 140 stalls to buy fanciful, iced gingerbread cookies and hand-blown holiday ornaments. There were cottages with animated scenes in each room, reminiscent of those department store windows, and the local children were as awestruck as I once was.
The young gathered around stalls full of toys, both old-fashioned and modern, and the smell of cotton candy wafted over the Christmas carnival. Our more mature noses followed the smell of cinnamon to a crowded stall where the grownups were lined up ten-deep for a mug of hot, mulled Gluhwein. After purchasing our own souvenir mug of steaming Christmas cheer, we followed fellow revelers to the front of the Rasthaus to listen to a local group of madrigals, and watch the annual lighting of the unique architectural advent calendar. Twenty-four windows of the imposing city building are covered with blue paper, hiding hand-painted scenes of the season. Each evening of the market, the day’s surprise artwork is revealed, until , on the final day of the market (Dec. 24rd), the uppermost window is unveiled.
Over 3 million visitors, a half million of those from abroad, visit the Austrian self-titled “Christmas Town” each holiday season. While the beginnings of the Viennese Christmas Market date back to more than seven centuries ago, it was not until the early 1800’s that the market specialized in holiday foods and merchandise. In 1975, the market moved to its present location, and became one of the most popular annual attractions in the city. It is open from November 12th (9a.m. to 9p.m.) to December 24rd when it closes at 5 p.m. after the last advent window on the Rasthaus is revealed.
If you love a traditional Christmas, return to the magic of your childhood with a visit to the Vienna Christmas Market.
IF YOU GO:
From November 1st to December 15th, Austrian Airlines (www.austrianair-vacations.com) offers several deals from its hubs at Washington and New York such as the 3 night + air City Deals Package for $499 plus taxes and fees, or the luxury version at the 5-star InterContinental Hotel Vienna at $699 per person. Additional nights are $139 per person. Go-today.com also offers several air-inclusive packages for the same time period, beginning at $559 for air and 6 nights hotel plus taxes and fees. No extra charge for NYC departures, and a surcharge of $80 for D.C. departures. Additional gateways are listed on the websites.
For more information, see www.christkindlmarkt.at and
www.wien.info
