What does Vienna look like at Christmas?
Vienna is the capital of Austria, on the Danube. A wide ring of lights circles the old center, and along it the palaces shine in white and gold. In the middle rises St. Stephen’s Cathedral, with a single tall stone spire and a steep roof of colored tiles laid in zigzags of green, gold and black.
Vienna’s Christmas markets
Every Advent, the old town fills with Christmas markets. The biggest spreads across the square in front of the Town Hall: its lit towers rise above the stalls and the trees in the park sparkle with fairy lights. In the narrow lanes of Spittelberg, little stalls sell handmade gifts, and on the Freyung, an old square, one market keeps old traditions and Advent carols alive. The markets usually run from mid-November until just after Christmas.
What do you find at the market?
- Glass baubles painted by hand.
- Wooden toys and wax candles.
- Roasted chestnuts and warm punch for children.
- Vanilla crescents, warm and dusted with sugar.
What can you do at the market?
- Look for “Steffl”: the south tower of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, 136 meters tall. Its roof has about 230,000 glazed tiles.
- Ride the Giant Wheel in the Prater, opened in 1897. Its red cabins still turn slowly above the park.
- Walk through Spittelberg, between old houses and little stalls of gifts made by local makers.
- Visit the market at Schönbrunn, in front of the emperors’ yellow summer palace.
Two Austrian Christmas customs
Saint Barbara’s branches
On 4 December, families cut cherry branches and put them in water. If they blossom by Christmas, they say it brings luck.
The snow globe
Around 1900, a Viennese mechanic, Erwin Perzy, put “snow” inside a glass globe. His family still makes snow globes by hand today. Their advice: don’t shake it, turn it over.
A taste of Vienna: Vanillekipferl
Vanillekipferl are tender vanilla and almond crescents, white with powdered sugar. Almost every Austrian grandmother has her own recipe, and the best ones are shaped slowly, one by one. Their recipe and one for a family Kinderpunsch, a warm fruit punch with no alcohol, to make together with an adult, are in the book.
How do you say “Merry Christmas!” in German?
Frohe Weihnachten!
Try saying it at dinner on Christmas Eve.
What word did Mira discover here?
In each of the eleven cities of the second journey, Mira finds a special word. The word from Vienna is written in her Christmas passport, at the end of chapter 9.
