We arrived in Vienna late that night, at our hotel, Aparthotel Adagio Vienna City , which we had booked early that morning via hotels.com. It had been a rough drive for me which in turn made it rough for Brad. For whatever reason, my body was incredibly exhausted. I felt feverish & for the life of me could not stay awake in the car. I think my body was burnt out from the weather, the constant wandering, and probably my bazaar sleep schedule.

Once we checked in, we headed up to our room, and pretty much immediately I climbed into bed, and passed out which meant that the next morning, like clock work, I was up before the sun. While Brad tried to continue sleeping, I worked on preparing for our next drive & picked our hotel for Prague.

Eventually Brad was up, and we were ready to discover what Vienna had to offer. We were on the hunt for food, and one of the first places to pop up was, sadly, Starbucks. We would have liked something more authentic, but I was okay with familiar and easy instead. Starbucks was wrapped up in a busy shopping area. Locals were going to work, and tourists were passing through. We were content drinking and dining while we enjoyed relaxing and talking, but we knew the time was drawing near to begin our quest for Austrian culture. The square was calling our name. It was such a great walk that allowed us the opportunity to see so many sites that day including the Austrian Parliament building.

From there we continued on to Rathausplatz where the Christmas market is held annually. We walked up and down each row of market booths, and were able to see all of the beautiful colorful things that were available to the passerby. Tasty candies, pretzels, bratwurst, hot wines, and trinkets... trinkets everywhere! We decided to embrace the culture & try the bratwurst stuffed with cheese, that was shoved into a hollowed out piece of bread & the condiments of your choice... It was fairly tasty, but a lot for me to handle, since I'm normally not a cased meat type of person. However, I can say I tried it... Next, we tried some of the German candy that reminded me of the licorice ropes because of the size. They were labeled as sour, but they had nothing on Sour Belts (an American treasure). Finally, Brad made the decision to try the hot wine in Vienna. It was clear that he liked it more than the one he had in Munich, but I don't know that he would label it as one of his favorite things For the small fee we did keep the souvenir mug, and I can't wait to bust it out this holiday season!

We took some time to sit on a nearby bench to rest while we watched others wander through. The area was beautifully decorated, and it was adorable to watch the children ride on the small horses nearby. Eventually, we began to wander aimlessly through random Austrian roads that led us all over the city. At one point we ended up in a large barren park where we watched a man play fetch with his two Jack Russel Terriers.

We wandered on and through a beautiful architecturally designed tunnel into another random cobble stone square full of horse drawn carriages where we were stopped by men in costume inviting us to a classical concert that included ballet & opera. We went back and forth on whether or not it would be a good idea or if it's something we even wanted to do, but Brad made the executive decision that we should go. With our evening plans finalized, we continued onward in search of the next great thing. It turned out to be Starbucks, again. Brad needed to use the restroom & I need a pick me up.... A bagel & hot chocolate.

We enjoyed our refreshments as we headed back to the square because we knew that we would need to be at the concert hall with time to spare. We decided to sit on the steps of a building directly across from Rathausplatz and watch the people go back and forth. You could tell as the day went on, the social nature of the area was on the rise.

With our hot drinks and bagel finished, we made the slow journey back to our hotel to find some decent outfits for our concert, and to drop off my bag and any unnecessary extras. On our way, we took a different route that led us past St. Stephen's Cathedral & and through Stephansplatz which was full of shops and small eateries. We stopped in St. Stephen's for a quick peak. The outside was so beautiful that we were curious about the inside, which I can say was equally as decadent.

Once we had what we needed and left what we didn’t, we were back out and about. We had plenty of time before the concert so we stopped by the Christmas market once again for some quicky snacks (aka pretzels). We ate what we could, and then held onto the rest & headed for the concert location. Sadly, I don't recall where the concert was held & we were not allowed to take photos inside, so it is hard for me to say. However, I can say that the tickets were sold through Music of Vienna, and the performance we saw was by the Vienna Residence Orchestra. The performances were outstanding! Brad & I were both surprised by how much we enjoyed it, which says a lot for the quality of the show.

When the concert was over we decided to take the long way back which led us back through Stephansplatz once again. It was a charming night out. All the walkways through the park had amazing Christmas light displays, and there was a massive tree in the center to match. It made our holiday trip so much more enjoyable.

We got back to our room relatively early which allowed us time to somewhat repacked before bed. We were headed to Prague the next morning, and wanted an early start... and that's just what we got.

ISSUE 11: Vienna, Austria 2015