Busy day, if a late start. Still a bit worn out from the long travel day and jet lag.

We decided to head out late afternoon, but it was already getting dark. By 5:30pm it was dark.

The Christkindlemarkt am Hof across the street from our hotel was our first stop and first Christmas market. In the summer, the square is a biergarten, but come November, it’s a Christmas market with many small stands selling sausages, bacon, etc.; other shops sold hand made ornaments , candles, food. A number of stands sold gluhwein (warm mulled wine) and you can buy little decorative cups.

It’s 35 degrees out and clear, and cold, though there’s no snow on the ground.

We walked on towards der Graben (graben literally means “trench”), a pedestrian area with many high end shops.

Prior to St Stephens, we stopped at a favorite place Trzesniewski , for some scrumptious little sandwiches and a beer. You may not be able to pronounce the name, but the finger sandwiches are really good. We come here every time we visit Vienna.

We left Trzesniewski for a short walk to St Stephen’s cathedral ( Stephansdome – video), which is surrounded by the stalls of a much larger Christmas market.

The area at the base of the cathedral occupied by the Christmas market is much larger than the first, but essentially much more of the same types of small stands and extends from the front of the cathedral and around to the right side. This was taken at 5:30pm , so it’s quite dark.

We decided to step into a shop selling lebkuchen and other Christmas decorations as much to look at the wares as to warm up for a few minutes. Along the street on the opposite side of the cathedral, a line of horse drawn carriages awaits.

From here, we walked towards the Hotel Sacher , famous for its chocolate Sacher torte.

After finishing our Sacher torte, we walked back down Kätnerstrasse. More high end shops, which by 8pm are closing.

Still a lot of people out at restaurants and this pair of street musicians had a novel way of attracting attention.

Time for a gluhwein stop!

Though the shops are closed, we can still window shop.

Apple store on Kartnerstrasse is closing though 🤨

Tomorrow, more Christmas markets in Vienna!