Last week Mum and I went back to one of my favourite places Vienna! Back in the Autumn Dad suggested that Mum and I might like to go to a Christmas market this year and there was no other choice. When we went to Vienna for the first time back in 2019 (you can read about it here) we were overwhelmed by it's beauty and lovely Christmas Markets and I was so pleased to be going back.
When it came to booking our hotel we immediately booked Hotel Graf Stadion where we stayed before. Last time we found it really comfortable and the staff really friendly and this time was no different. Last time our room was on the ground floor but this time we were up on the second floor which meant we got to use the world's tiniest but prettiest lift 😂
It was an early start to drive up to Gatwick (thank you to Dad for the lift to and from the airport).
 |
| Corney wrapped up and ready to go |
When it came to getting on the plane my little Autistic self was overjoyed that we needed to walk from the tarmac onto the plane which meant I got to stand and watch other aircraft moving around.  |
| Living up to my sunflower lanyard ..... |
 |
| All set |
When we arrived in Vienna we got the City Airport Train into the city centre, it makes life so much easier and only takes about 20 minutes.  |
| The train |
After a slight palaver getting to the hotel (the stretch of the underground that stops by our hotel was closed for repairs) we got booked in and decided to go for our first Melange of the holiday at Cafe Rathaus which was the site of our first ever Melanges 4 years ago.
 |
| It's very pretty and Art Deco |
 |
| Melange |
 |
| Mum with her Melange |
 |
| Inspecting my mystery pudding that turned out to be very nice |
Later that evening we headed to our 'local' market at Rathausplatz (basically just behind our hotel) which is the biggest of the markets.  |
| The town hall in all it's glory |
 |
| Some of the pretty decorations for sale |
And of course a market meant punch! We had Orange punch. Like last time you pay a 'deposit' on the mugs (5 Euros) which gives you the option of either keeping them or returning them and getting your deposit back. We didn't keep these particular mugs but we still came back with a good collection.After the mugs were returned we headed off to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and the obligatory Hurricanes.
 |
| Corney enjoying his throne. |
We woke up to rain showers for our first full day in the city so we decided to have a wander around between showers and go to a couple of museums. Like last time we got ourselves a pair of Vienna Passes which cover transport on the tram/tube/bus and various attractions like the museums, palaces, zoo etc. They save you a lot of money on individual tickets so I'd definitely recommend getting one (you can have them for a variety of time periods - 24, 48, 72 hours etc).  |
| One of the imperial buildings housing part of the university |
Whilst the rain was holding off we walked down past the palaces for one of the most important parts of our visit, the historic toilets! Mum has now been able to add the rating of historic toilets to her repertoire and scored them a respectable 4/5.
 |
| There were so many cute horses giving carriage rides |
We ended up at the Stephensplatz Market which meant Apple Punch and a visit to the snowglobe stall. It's a little known fact that snow globes were originally invented in Vienna and I was really pleased to bring one home with a model of Stephansdom inside it.  |
| Apple punch |
 |
| The stunning Stephansdom and it's market |
A little piece of Vienna of my own -
After some delicious bacon & potato soup at Wienerwald restaurant we headed back up to the Hofberg Complex.  |
| Yum! |
One of the museums that we didn't have time for on our last visit was the Sisi Museum which is dedicated to Empress Elisabeth aka 'Sisi' which showcased some of her clothing and also the apartments that she lived in.
After visiting with Sisi I was keen to re-visit the Art History Museum as it was one of my highlights from our 2019 trip.
 |
| One of the amazing ceilings |
 |
| A cabinet of Eos, sorry Anubis, statues in the Egyptian section |
Posing on the balcony -
 |
| From the balcony you can look down onto the cafe |
And from this vantage point we noticed a couple of spare tables so we thought it would have been rude not to take them up on their offer .....
I was finally able to revisit my favourite Viennese cuisine Sacher Torte!
 |
| Accessorised by a Melange obviously |
 |
| Moments before the Sacher Torte was demolished |
 |
| Mum with her drink |
The museum is also conveniently situated on Maria-Theresienplatz square and of course it's market .... Unfortunately the rain had set in so we had a soggy Amaretto punch and headed back to the hotel.
 |
| Just like airshow weather 😂 |
On Wednesday we awoke to a dusting of snow much to my excitement! We also had our most important trip of the holiday .... to the zoo!
The overnight snowfall made the walk from the tram to the zoo absolutely beautiful.
 |
| I love snow! |
Once we were in the zoo we of course headed to the most important residents ....THE PANDAS 🐼! They looked extra adorable in the snow and we even saw a 'Panda roll' in real life!
 |
| Panda roll! |
Some other adorable residents of the zoo -
 |
| "Paddington Bear gave Mr Brown one of his special hard stares" |
 |
| It was smiling in it's sleep |
 |
| Blowing kisses |
My other favourite residents of the zoo were of course the Capybaras. I've always like Capybaras but after the genius of the Capybaras in Encanto my love for them grew even more.
 |
| Clearly the best photo of the holiday |
 |
| Corney made a friend |
The snow continued to fall whilst we were at the zoo -
The zoo is in the grounds of the spectacular Schonbrunn Palace and we decided to get the tram around to re-visit it.
 |
| A brief Apfelstrudel stop |
We didn't visit the inside of the palace this time but did of course go around the market and sample it's (gin) punch.
 |
| The market's mug had Eos and the buns on them! |
We headed back to the hotel via 'our' Rathausplatz market -
 |
| I like how the colours came out in this photo |
I also sampled the rum hot chocolate .... it would have been rude not to!
We spent our final day visiting a couple of the markets that we missed last time and also to one of our old favourites. There are a couple of little markets Am Hof and Freyung that are across the road from each other.
After more bacon and potato soup at Wienerwald we went to another of Vienna's prettiest locations the Belvedere. We re-visited Gustav Klimt's 'The Kiss' and the lovely grounds.
 |
| There were still some Autumn colours to be seen |
 |
| The decor inside is amazing |
Then it was time for cake -
Suitably refreshed we went to look around the market. This was one of my favourite markets last time and it was just as good this year. There were a lot of handmade items including these bauble earrings that we both bought.
 |
| I got this lovely bauble too |
 |
| Such a lovely setting |
We came back via the Karlsplatz Market I think Karlskirche is one of the prettiest churches in the city. It also gets extra points for having the most Jen Christmas punch mugs, black until you get close up and there being Christmas details on it.
 |
| Berry punch in the Jen cup |
 |
| Final punch of the holiday |
On Friday it was time to head home so I gave into the cake option at breakfast time.
We had quite a lot of time to kill at the airport so we settled ourselves into an Aida cafe (they have a really interesting history so have a look at the link) and I finally managed to try Goulash which was absolutely delicious.
 |
| Final piece of Sacher Torte |
Our gate at the airport had a good view of the runway and I got a video of our plane arriving. It also gave Mum at least 40 minutes of peace whilst my nose was pressed to the window so everyone was a winner 😂
 |
| Corney ready for departure |
On the flight home I managed to reach peak Autism by watching Top Gun:Maverick whilst ON A PLANE. Although once again it gave Mum a couple of hours peace so once again everyone was a winner 😂😂
I had such a wonderful time again. Vienna was every bit as lovely as I remembered and I'm really glad we got to see some bits that we missed last on our last trip.
Until next time ....
Love Jen
XxxX
