Guten Tag!

After waking up at 2am yesterday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself waking up at 7am today. Which is actually sleeping in for me.

Jimmy and I took our time getting up and around in the morning, with only two main events in our plan today: visiting Schönbrunn Palace (the summer residence of the Hapsburgs), and going to one of the most popular Christmas markets in Europe (Christkindlemarkt on the Rathausplatz).

We started out the morning seeking out breakfast. A lot of restaurants are closed on Mondays, so it took a bit to find a place that could take us. Modern and trendy places were full at 10am, so we headed to a traditional cafe near where we needed to catch the subway for the palace.

Our waiter was super kind even with me trying out my German. In general, German waiters are polite, cold, and efficient. Our waiter presented that way though the meal, but after we paid his demeanor became much more friendly and he asked where we were from. When we told him the US, he chuckled and asked about our election, and said a friend told him if Trump won he should buy Bitcoin. Honestly, our country is where it is with politics, but I hope the bitcoin situation works out for him.

There was also a good mix of locals and tourists in the restaurant, but my favorite was a British couple with a prime window seat who ordered cake for breakfast. Couples goals for sure.

When we got to Schönbrunn palace, we found that the next open entry time for the palace was in nearly two hours (definitely buy tickets ahead), but there was a Christmas market going on in front of the palace, and both that and the palace grounds are open to the public.

Jimmy found some eggnog, which honestly was awfully boozy for 11am, but eggnog is Jimmy’s favorite.

Each market has its own unique mug. The mug shaped like a stocking from our first market is still my favorite, but this one has a picture of the palace.

After enjoying wandering the market, we decided to head behind the palace and enjoy the grounds. You can tell the gardens must be spectacular in summer, but it was a brisk sunny day so it was nice to walk around even though there were no flowers.

Just a heads up, to get those lovely views of the palace from above, you’re walking up a giant hill. In his section on the palace grounds, Rick Steves made it sound like a gradual stroll, but it was more of a short hike. Probably should have not worn my loafers for this one, but they actually held up better than expected. There is a cafe at the top with great views if you need a break before heading back down.

The grounds are also full of statues. This one was our favorite

Our entry time finally arrived, so we went inside to tour the palace. We did the grand tour of all of the open rooms, which came with an audio guide that was short but interesting. I had read up ahead of time about the main monarchs who lived here, but Jimmy hadn’t and he said he found the audio guide a bit confusing because it jumped around a lot in timelines.

Rick Steves said this is the only palace in Europe that rivals Versailles. I felt like Versailles was more in your face spectacular, but Schönbrunn was beautiful.

It is very popular, so even with a timed ticket it felt crowded. Definitely worth a visit, especially if you come in summer to see the gardens, which again, are free to the public.

By this point we were getting pretty hungry, and decided it was time to go to a traditional Austrian restaurant. We had heard good things about the schnitzel at Greichenbeisl, so we took the metro over to check it out.

It’s a very popular restaurant and usually very busy, but we rolled in at 3pm and had no trouble getting a table. It’s in this really interesting older part of town along the river, with tiny little winding lanes.

My first true Austrian schnitzel was very yummy, although it came with a side of some kind light, balsamic potato salad which was so good it kind of stole the show. And I don’t even usually like potato salad.

After lunch, it was time to head back to our room for some rest. We made a quick stop at one of my favorite past times: visiting fancy European grocery stores and trying to figure out what you’re buying. I love trying new snacks, and this one had my all time favorite grocery store contraption: a fresh orange juice maker. American stores need to get on this.

After a bit of a rest, we made our way to Rathausplatz for one of the largest Christmas markets in Austria. This Christmas market is truly in a stunning location, with the neo gothic city hall building as the backdrop. It’s even more beautiful in person than I could capture in the pics. Do be aware that this market is extremely popular, which should also read as crowded.

The booths were mainly the standard market booths, with the same trinkets they’ve had at all the markets, but we enjoyed some good food.

And we tried the traditional orange punsch.

What really made this market fun was the over the top Christmas lights, and the ice skating.

The ice skating rink was really cool because the had big rinks you could circle skate in, and they also had ice paths you could skate through.

Jimmy was a pro right away

Me, not so much. It turns out only skating once a decade doesn’t create a very confident skater. I got better as I got my legs under me though.

After skating it was time to head to bed. Some our friends are arriving tomorrow and were very excited to see them!

Goodnight