'twas the day before christmas.
we thought to take it easy as the shops will close early, but how can you take it easy in one of the most beautiful cities in the world?
when you would just take off from a tram and be greeted by this? (no, not the in-your-face coca-cola banner)
this is the votive church.
the architectural style is similar to the stephansdom, and i even mistook as the st stephan's cathedral at first.
it's pretty in its own right.
outside the church was a christmas tree market.oh how i would love to pick one of those and take it home! the smell of the trees made me so happy.
it was then a very comfortable stroll to the city centre.there were a lot of quirky shop displays like this one.it fooled me actually.i thought there were real old ladies in traditional costumes looking out the windows.
there were so many beautiful sights.i was tearing up just looking at them and admiring these beautiful images.
we passed by a famous coffeehouse in vienna - the cafe central.i did not know at that time that it was that famous.we actually stopped by to look at their christmas menu.
i mean, i should have known! look at that building! look at that horse carriage!
save for the tourist taking a snapshot and the cars behind the carriage (and the road sign, and the scaffoldings), we could have been very well right in the middle of the 19th century.
key regulars of the place included sigmund freud, adolf hitler, vladimir lenin and leon trotsky.
here's a story for you history buffs out there - "when victor adler objected to count berchtold, foreign minister of austria-hungary, that war would provoke revolution in russia, even if not in the habsburg monarchy, he replied: "and who will lead this revolution? Perhaps mr. bronstein (leon trotsky) sitting over there at the cafe central?" - wikipedia
that's history right in your face, baby.
i was ready to cry a bucketful of tears when i saw this.
the imperial palace.
it was the residence of the habsburg emperors until 1918.
the imperial palace houses the spanish riding school, the chapel where the vienna boys choir performs, the office of the president and museums.
view of the palace from the graben street.
graben was beautifully decorated with lights.i think it was one of the prettiest streets i've ever walked on.
you can see a partial view of the plague column which was built as a mercy column during the 17th century.
right in front of it was another christmas tree market.sigh.
we then went shopping for our christmas eve dinner.our spirits were soaring high.
how was baby coping? beautifully, if i may so.
next...the night before christmas!
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