it's CHRISTMAS TIME in Vienna!

After a successful and memorable weekend in Italy, our overnight train from Venice arrived back in Vienna around 830am. My first objective upon return: take a shower! I was also able to organize my room for a little bit, before heading out to Cafe Museum with Erin and Sarah for the majority of the afternoon. I spent most of my time at the Cafe writing my research paper (which is due on Thursday). Afterwards, Sarah and I went to the Clock Museum near Stephansplatz. As nerdy as this museum sounds, it was rather interesting, housing clocks from the 16th century through the 1900's, including some contemporary watches as well. After an hour or so of weaving through the museum, we headed back to the hotel, where we met up with some other fellow "Wieners" for dinner at Cafe Wortner, the restaurant Dr. McVey took us to on one of the first nights we had in Vienna! For dinner, I ordered Wiener Schnitzel. This is only the second time I have ordered this authentic Viennese dish. It wasn't all that bad, especially once I added some lemon zest to the meat! After a pleasant dinner, we headed straight to the Rathaus to revel in our first Christmas Market experience! Christmas time in Vienna has finally arrived! Strolling among the elaborately decorated Christmas trees, locals and tourists alike from across the world can't help but possess the Christmas spirit. Booths lined in golden lights selling ornaments, cookies, hot tea, jewelry, candles, etc. occupy the majority of the plaza. I honestly can't accurately describe how beautiful/magical/exciting the Christmas market is! I enjoyed my first cup of "Kinder-punsch," which I am convinced is Vienna's version of hot kool-aid. So delicious. After a joy-filled evening of Christmas frivolity, we returned to the hotel where I spent the remainder of my Sunday evening catching up on my blog and finishing some homework.