It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The best thing about Vienna during the early winter is the Christkindlmarkts (Christmas markets).  Scattered around the city are a dozen different markets open from mid-November through Christmas.  These markets are extremely popular here and provide some holiday-themed (albeit overpriced) gift shopping.  But most people don't go to the markets for the gifts, they come for the food and drinks.  

The Rathaus looking magical with the snow and the lit tree

Friends staying warm with some glühwein

Since it is quite cold (regularly around or below freezing) and snowy here now, it's not such a great idea to stand outside drinking cold beer.  Instead, the drinks offered at the Christmas markets feature the wonderful combination of warm and alcoholic.  Typically, there are two choices: glühwein and punsch.  Glühwein is mulled wine.  The punsch is fruit-flavored with a strong dash of vodka or rum added.  Different markets have stalls that specialize in a variety of flavors of Punsch, including cherry, orange, and apple-ginger (my favorite).

The apple-ginger punsch at the Museumsquartier Christmas market.  It comes with a sugar stick set aflame.

The glühwein at the Museumsquartier comes with an orange slice and a sugar cube set aflame.

The food at the Christmas markets is also wonderful.  Stands selling giant soft pretzels are across from long stalls containing dozens of different kinds of sweets, both sugary and chocolaty.  One stand I found at the Rathaus Christmas market sold baked potatoes with a long list of delectable toppings.  I opted for ham, cheese, and an incredible creamy garlic sauce.  It looked good and tasted even better!

Cured meat stand

Candy stand

Baked potato stand.  Look at all of the options!

My baked potato with cheese, ham, and a creamy garlic sauce.  Yum! 

With Christmas only a week away, the markets will close soon and I hope to get in a few last trips, enjoying the festive gatherings and the tasty glühwein.

Bratislava, part 3: Castle Crazy

Continued from Bratislava, part 2: Castle on the Hill



Having seen my first European castle, it would seem that I immediately contracted castle fever.  Before heading back into the old city of Bratislava, I had to check out another castle.  This one is even older than the Bratislava Castle and is located 11km (7mi) outside of the city. 

My guide book helpfully instructed me with which bus I could take to reach this remote castle.  I made my way down the hill and found the closest bus terminal.  I was looking at the schedule for the #29 bus that I needed, trying to figure out when the next bus would come.  Unfortunately (and unknown to me at the time), the #29 bus doesn't run on the weekends.  As my trip took place on a Saturday, it looked like I was going to have to find another cure for my castle fever. 

But just then it seemed my luck had changed.  A young woman approached me at the bus stop and asked if I was trying to get to the castle (I suppose the giant camera around my neck gave me away as a tourist).  She brought me up to speed with the bus not running on weekends and showed me another bus that would get me pretty close to the castle. 

Now that's the bus I want

The #28 bus took me west along the Danube, leaving the city in our wake.  Thirty minutes later I disembarked the bus and found myself in a quaint little hamlet.  Between the roofs of the houses I could see the remains of the Devin Castle. 

I'm not sure if I'm wearing the proper hat for crossing the street.

The Devin Castle (with hotel below)

The Devin Castle is in much worse shape than the renovated Bratislava Castle.  Rather than a fully formed building, the Devin Castle is a jumble of ruins.  Stone walls and the foundations of outbuildings are most of what remains. 

The main gate

Despite the cold, I wandered around the grounds of the castle, finding the foundations of every previous building that had been unearthed.  There was the gatehouse, an early Christian chapel, an ammunition store, and the Great Moravian church. 

The gatehouse

An early Christian chapel

A view of the Danube from a back gate

The ammunition store

The Great Moravian Church

Path back up to the main castle

Once I climbed to the top of the castle itself, I was able to appreciate the location.  Not only is the Devin Castle situated high on a hill with sheer sides (as all castles should be), but this particular hill is situated at the convergence of two great rivers: the Danube and the Moravia. 

The peons in the town below

The fields beyond are across the Moravia river, looking into eastern Austria.  Note the guy who climbed over to the window at the bottom of the tower.

The Moravia river

The Moravia river flows from the North where it forms the border between Slovakia and both Austria and the Czech Republic. 

The Danube

Me with the Danube and Austria behind

The Danube, with the Moravia river terminating to the right

The oldest parts of the castle date back to the first century A.D. and expansions were added through the centuries.  Now, all that remains are a few stone walls maintained as a museum to the might of the former inhabitants: the Celts, the Slavs, and the Moravians. 

Bratislava, part 2: Castle on the Hill

Continued from Bratislava, part 1: Getting There

With the castle visible before me, my Slovakian adventure was taking shape.  

As with many castles, The Bratislava Castle (Hrad Bratislava in Slovakian) is situated on top of a large hill. This gives the castle an extra layer of defense along with its high walls. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't immediately apparent on my map what road would actually take me up the hill and bring me to a gate through the castle walls. I found a likely road on the other side of the old city and after a few turns on those windy non-Cartesian cobblestone streets, I was a bit lost. 

Thankfully the old city is very small so I just kept walking south (or as southwardly as possible) until I emerged and was able to find my planned route up the hill.

Go this-a-way.

Climbing the hill to Sigismund Gate.

After a steep climb, I passed through the Sigismund Gate (at the top left corner of the schematic in the next photo) and entered the castle grounds.  The Bratislava Castle was built in the late stone age and was the seat of the Hungarian emperor for a time. 

The castle map, before (left) and after (right) restoration.

Leftover construction materials.

The exterior of the castle looks immaculate after a recent restoration. Unfortunately the inside of the castle is still being restored, so public access to the magnificent rooms and the museum within was restricted. 

Aside from seeing the castle itself, the best thing about having climbed this hill was the views of the city of Bratislava and the Danube river.

Later that day I hiked to the castle again and took some awesome night photographs of the castle and the river.