Christmas is over (although my Christmas decorations are still on display), but I will share my story anyway.

Christmas in Europe can be very exciting. There are a lot of tours offered to various European capitals around the most wonderful time of the year. I have been in Vienna before, but I was ready to go back and explore more. Also, who doesn’t like Christmas markets.

Our tour included Budapest and Vienna. We spent two days in the latter and boy, were they amazing?

The hotel we stayed in was located somewhere in the outskirts of the city and we saw some interesting business buildings on our way to the center. Our first stop was the Hundertwasserhaus. Honestly, this is probably the weirdest building you will find in the Austrian capital. Not only, the creator obviously hated straight lines, but there are actual trees on the roof of the building, which include 19 gardens. In addition, people actually live there since there are 50 apartments in the building, each coloured differently on the façade.

Next stop was Belvedere Palace, which I really liked. It has two Palaces (both charming with their Baroque architecture), Palace stables and an Orangery. Around the front pond we found some vary strangely looking sculptures. There was a small Christmas market in front of the main building. The gardens in the “backyard” were skillfully maintained and the second building could be seen at their far end.

Later, we went to the center of the city where the long pedestrian street was festively decorated. Guarded by famous stores on both sides, it led us to the St. Stephen Cathedral. We entered the premises and were amazed by the beauty of the cathedral. After that we stopped for some Austrian beer and Käsekrainer. You will be amazed how many different types of sausages they have in Austria.

The Schonbrunn Palace was our last stop for a very busy day of sightseeing. The Palace itself is absolutely breathtaking and there was, of course, a Christmas market with a big Christmas tree in front of it. We walked around the outsides of the palace trying to memorize every little detail. After, that we bought hand-crafted Christmas ornaments and went for dinner.

Our tour guide led us to a place somewhere high enough, so we could see the city from above. Pity, that my camera doesn’t make good night pictures. We dined in a small village, that looked like one from a fairytale, just outside of Vienna. The dinner consisted of traditional Austrian salads, wine and the famous Wiener Schnitzel.