Marketing in Vienna

Late Saturday morning the four of us (Daniel, Dave, Iago and I) set off for a mini-break in Vienna, Austria. The drive from Máriapócs took us about five and a half hours, so we arrived in Vienna just after dark – the perfect time to check out the city’s famous Christmas markets. En route to the largest market outside the Rathaus, we encountered many other smaller markets surrounding the university near our hotel, as well as along several side streets. There were lots of people out and about, and in spite of the cold weather and rain, the atmosphere was definitely festive.

We explored the markets for several hours, stopping only to chow down on yummy food and hot glue wine from some of the stalls. Even Iago got to taste some of the local fare, with many passers by stopping to feed him tidbits and give him pats. Eventually it started raining so we all made our way back to the hotel. It took a while as the bright lights and twisty turny streets were rather disorientating.

On Sunday morning we set off to explore more of the city. At Stephansplatz we visited Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), Vienna's largest church and one of its most recognisable symbols. While Dave and Iago waited outside, Daniel and I checked out the cathedral's interior. Even though there was a Sunday morning service in progress, there were still throngs of tourists wandering about, taking photos and buying items from the giftshop. In my opinion it was a little disrespectful. But that opinion didn't stop me from taking my own photos of a familiar work of art that Daniel spotted inside the church. It was the original Black Madonna icon from Máriapócs! As previously mentioned, the famous weeping icon was taken to Austria in 1696 and I guess it's been hanging in Stephansdom ever since. Until a few days ago I assumed that it was removed from Máriapócs just because the Austrian Emperor coveted it for himself, but I have since learned that it was actually transferred so that it would be safe from the Muslim armies that still controlled much of Hungary at the time. I guess this means that I should remove Emperor Leopold I from my 'Dead people who I'd like to kill again' hitlist.

Anyway, after Stephansplatz, we walked around many of Vienna's most picturesque streets, marvelling at the wonderful architecture and checking out various museums, statues and yet more Christmas markets. After a few hours of this, our feet were starting to get tired, so we navigated our way back to the hotel and recharged our batteries before heading out into the city again for dinner. It was a rather enlightening meal as we discovered Dave's penchant for young animals, as well as his obsession with a particular type of beer glass (for Deb's sanity I'm going to add here that Dave did NOT learn about the beer glass by drinking out of one). Daniel and I were also devastated to discover that the waiter at the restaurant thought we were Dave's parents. Nooooooooooooooooooooooo.

 

The next morning - Monday - we all set off for Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The day started out strangely when we had some difficulty ordering breakfast at a roadside diner. Our Austrian waitress, who spoke both German and English, seemed amazed that we were unable to read the menu (which was printed in German only) and was very insistent that the languages were similar enough that we ought to have no difficulty at all. In spite of this, however, she then had great difficulty comprehending Dave's order and he wound up receiving only a small dish of jam as his breakfast! It was particularly funny as Daniel and I had both managed to order individual frypans full of ham and eggs, as well as bread rolls, freshly squeezed orange juice and tea and coffee. 

Once in Bratislava we made a beeline for the city's castle. After a harrowing drive up a series of tight, steep and windy streets we eventually found it...and discovered that it was closed on Mondays (along with basically every other building or museum of interest in Bratislava!) In spite of this setback, we were determined to keep exploring so we changed our plans and headed off towards the city's Old Town. This involved a lovely walk along a path running next to the castle. Since Bratislava Castle is located at the top of a steep cliff, the walk provided some great views of  the city.

In the Old Town we discovered many old buildings (what a surprise!) as well as - you guessed it - another Christmas market! This one seemed to be predominantly a food market so we took the opportunity to sample some fine Slovakian dishes. I was particularly impressed with something called Zemiakove Sulance which is basically potato dumplings covered in ground poppyseeds. Very sweet and really delicious (although Iago and I seemed to be the only ones who thought so). From the Old Town, we made our way back to the castle and drove around for a while trying to find a mysterious attraction signposted only as Slavín. Then we travelled back to Austria, stopping along the way to check out a massive factory outlet shopping centre where Dave impressed us all with his shopping stamina. Even Daniel was inspired to finally replace his disintegrating, holey runners.

Yesterday was the last day of our mini-break. While we were all a little sad to say goodbye to Vienna, I think Iago was actually pretty devastated. During the trip he had somehow decided that being away from home meant that usual sleeping arrangements did not apply and so he spent the last two nights sleeping with Daniel and I on our hotel bed. And not even the prospect of going jogging with Dave or for an early morning walk with me was enough to entice him off the bed yesterday morning. 

On the way home from Vienna we detoured to visit the town of Sopron. I've been looking forward to visiting Sopron since even before we arrived in Hungary (because my dad was born there) so it was fantastic to finally have the chance to check it out. The central part of the city was really pretty and seemed to be in much better condition than many other Hungarian towns of a similar size. I attribute this to its close proximity to the Austrian border and to the steady flow of tourists and Euros which this attracts. Wiki also tells me that Sopron attracts tourists from other parts of the world due to its excellent low-cost dental services. In fact, the city is known as 'The Dental Capital of the World'. Awesome.

Sopron is also home to the Goat Church. As you can see from the picture, it looks like an ordinary church, but it got its unusual nickname because the funds to build it were allegedly unearthed by a treasure-seeking goat. Alternatively, a more plausible explanation for the name is that the family who commissioned the church had a goat on their coat of arms and this symbol was then incorporated into the design of the new church's tower (which features wreaths and a goat). Either way, I think it's a cool name for a church.

One of Sopron's other major attractions - the Firewatch Tower - is currently being restored. It's due to be completed in June 2012, so perhaps Daniel and I will need to squeeze in another visit to the town before we leave Hungary. I'd certainly be interested in having a longer look around.

After Sopron, we set the GPS for home and arrived back in Máriapócs just after 10pm last night.

- Amanda