Merry Christmas Manchester!

It's the most wonderful time of the year again!!! 😃🎄🎄🎄

Before I pick up last year's interrupted thread of Austrian and German Christmas Markets (never got around to the ones in Deutschland), I'm going to launch the Christmas blogging season with my recent visit to the Manchester Christmas Markets! 

Enjoying "The Magic of Advent in Vienna" at the Christkindlmarkt in the Rathausplatz

The last "Christmassy" post from Vienna is dedicated to the city's main Christmas market: the Christkindlmarkt in the Rathausplatz (in front of City Hall), celebrating its 30th anniversary.

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I had been told this stop was a "must" during Advent, and had been looking forward to it all day! But waited on purpose until dusk as the Christmas markets are at their best when the sky darkens and you can appreciate the lights all the more. Plus evening means dinner so perfect excuse to have a bratwürst and glühwein! :p

So, all aboard the Christkindl Express and let's dive in! ;o)

A Christmas glimpse of Vienna's gorgeous Saint Stephen's Cathedral

There were two place I absolutely wanted to visit on my day in Vienna: the Hofburg and St Stephen's Cathedral. The Hofburg will have to wait 'till after the Christmas markets series of posts, but as I enjoyed a mug of glühwein in the market by St Stephen's it totally fits in this series! ;o)

Vienna's 12th century Romanesque-Gothic cathedral is simply stunning in my opinion! I loved the tiling on the roof, and I'm always in awe of the stonework in these old churches. At one point the cathedral's 136m tall south tower was the highest point in Vienna, serving as a watch-tower at times. It's hard to appreciate it in the photos with the buildings around it...

Discovering Maria-Theresien Platz in Vienna and its delightful Christmas Village

As I mentioned when I started these posts, I only had one proper day in Vienna (plus the previous evening). Definitely NOT enough to do any serious visiting! I'm not a fan of running around ticking sights off some list to say I've seen "everything", but I also want to make the most of what short time I have when I travel for work! So what to do? Well in this case there were only two "must visit" sights for me: the Hofburg and the Viennese Christmas markets! That and wander the streets to get a feel for the city... A little googling led me to a walking tour map of the city centre, with a route that happened to go by several Christmas markets, perfect!!! I'll post about the Hofburg and other places visited along the route another time, but I didn't have enough time to finish the route: got too side-tracked in the Christmas markets! :p

Starting with the delightful Christmas Village at Maria-Theresien Platz!

Christmas ambiance in Vienna

For starters I have to say that one day + one evening is NOT enough time in Vienna! Even less if you consider all the Christmassy distractions... ;o) Still, better than nothing. Plus it was enough to give me a feel for the city, see a couple of places I wanted to, and decide that I need to plan a nice long weekend (4-5 days) to visit the city properly in the not too distant future.

The city was gorgeously decorated for the season, with Christmas trees everywhere: