New Year's Eve in Vienna Pt. 2
We passed under the Christmas-light chandeliers along the Graben, following the "New Year's Trail" of activities and markets that led through the city. So maybe we were walking the trail backwards. That's how we roll. We came to the Hofburg Palace and the market sprawled out before it, the old Roman ruins surrounded by the stalls and the shoppers. The palace is beautiful and impressive, with a tall white façade decorated with pillars and powerful statues. We stood and marveled at the architecture for a bit. I truly think I could spend weeks in this city doing nothing but standing before these buildings, picking only one or two on each day, looking over every tiny detail in the architecture and designs. Well, doing nothing but that and stopping at a café or three in between!
Up along Herrengasse we saw the famous Café Centrale. Along with Sacher, this is the café people come to Vienna to visit. We just peeked in through the windows. Sure, it was beautiful... but the line was out the door and flooded into the intersection. Easily over an hour wait, we decided to find another café. But where? There was a café in that "Long Weekends" episode in Vienna, and we could tell it wasn't any of the ones we've seen so far. We did a quick Google search and went to his blog, and found he was at Café Landtmann. Lucky us it was actually not very far from where we were standing!
On the way to the café we passed by an open doorway, but it had a glass panel almost like a museum display covering it over. Inside was this beautiful little shrine. The sign by it states that this was a private chapel that was forgotten for some time, just laying behind a doorway waiting to be rediscovered. The text asks "What other wonders are hidden behind closed doors in Vienna?" I've often wondered this myself... A few minutes after finding this rediscovered chapel, we stopped at another building with an open doorway and a sculpture-filled courtyard. Art is everywhere in this city. Everywhere!
Café Landtmann was a pretty spot up by the Rathaus that didn’t have a wait like many of the other famous cafés. We thanked Rick Stein for being so detailed on his blog as we were led to our seat at a plush booth in the middle aisle. We decided to break from our café mélange binge and settled on the Salon Einspänner – a double shot of espresso topped with freshly whipped cream. Along with the coffee we chose an impressive looking dessert. They have a chestnut mousse that is much bigger than it looks in the menu pictures, arranged sorta like a pie that looked like it was topped with soba noodles, though they were actually a type of chestnut paste or icing. It was very rich, very good, and even split between us it was a bit too much. As usual it’s too bad we didn’t have someone extra to help us out. As we were enjoying our coffee and dessert, we noticed the family sitting across from us. They were from somewhere in Asia and were here on travel as well. The time was nearing the hour, and they were setting up their iPad to facetime people back home. As Asia reached their midnight, these travelers visiting Vienna got to celebrate the New Year with their family halfway across the planet. Cool stuff!
We loved Landtmann. Another café to add to the list of great places here in Vienna. I could stay there all day, and maybe would have if we lived here... but our time here is short so on we must go. We decided to head back to the hotel for a bit to have a quick dinner using up the remnants from our supermarket trip, and to unwind in the gigantic bathtub in our hotel. Seriously, I'm not sure what point you stop calling it a bathtub and start calling it an indoor swimming pool, but this was pushing that line! From bathtubs to desserts, Vienna seems to always leave room for one more to join in. That's our type of city!!
We unwound with a bit of bathtub private time, a short but much needed nap, and a quick dinner where we finished off our herring in mustard on Wasa. We're starting to really have a thing for this canned herring (brought to you by "words I never thought I'd say"). We dressed in fresh clothes and headed back out into the city for the New Year's countdown! We took the subway from Taubstummengasse to Stephansplatz, and just like that we were back in the heart of the city.
The crowds had really started to gather along the Graben, as the market stalls churned out Gluhwien and the hanging chandeliers lit the night overhead. Beth got some of the hot wine while I tried the Orangepunsch. The mugs this time were epic! Pigs are a popular New Year good luck symbol in Germanic culture, and there are pig images everywhere throughout Vienna. Our mugs were little good luck pigs and they were awesome! These are definitely coming home with us...
At the corner of Graben and Kärtner, right under the shadow of Stephansdom, there was a stage set up with opera singers and orchestra players, and amazing music was flowing out into the night. Classic Vienna. People were dancing in the streets as we hung out by the stage to enjoy the music. The crowd was continuing to grow. We headed back down the Graben again towards Hofburg palace. We refilled our pigs with Apfelpunsch and got a Käsekrainer cheese sausage to share as we wandered past the palace and back to the Neue Burg. I've professed my love of this building, and I stood before it once again, taking in its splendor for the last time on this trip as the lights made the façade pop out from the dark sky behind it.
We wandered back to Stephansplatz to find that the musicians had finished up. There were a lot of New Year events at the various theaters around the city, so likely they needed to head out for another performance. Instead the area was packed in with crowds eagerly awaiting the countdown. It was a cold night, definitely the coldest point so far on this trip, but that wasn't seeming to chase anyone away. The city was buzzing. We checked our time and saw it was seconds to midnight. Fireworks went off in the sky to celebrate the arrival of 2017 as the music started to play from the speakers. Ringing in the new year with a waltz on the platz is the tradition here in Vienna, and we joined in and danced our way through the square below the Stephansdom steeple.
From the platz to the slow stroll back to the hotel, people all around the city were celebrating with fireworks and music. Stages with more modern EDM drew crowds, sausage stands still had lines for late night snacks, and even well after midnight the city still buzzed with excitement. Back near the hotel, we looked out over the Resselpark, a cool fog enveloping the sky and diffusing the lights with a soft atmospheric glow. The music and crowds of the city felt so far behind us as we turned in to the calm quiet of the hotel. Our last night in Vienna went out with a bang!
Happy New Year!!
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