Viennese tickets

When we went to Schönbrunn Schloß (don't you love how easy it is to get non-English
alphabet characters now?) we had a beautiful ticket for the four of us.

At the Kunsthistorisches Museum kids under 19 years
were free so we received only two tickets.

The kids were free at the technology museum, too, but they gave us four tickets.

I wish we had had more people with us at the Museum of Applied Arts
so we could have seen all the different tickets!

Pedestrian crossing compliance

My Viennese friend quoted a study, although I couldn't find it even though I had fun looking, that mentioned that there is greater compliance when two figures are shown on the pedestrian crossing signal.  Here are the samples we saw.

Christmas Markets

I would not normally be attracted to Christmas markets (shopping outside in the cold?!). The night before we left for Vienna we were watching the news in Spanish for practice and hearing about the crash in Berlin did not make them seem more attractive.  Despite both those facts we ended up at Christmas markets several times, mostly because they were right by major buildings and also because they felt so festive.  My friend pointed out that Vienna is really just a small town that no one would bother with.  We noticed a light police presence at the city hall market, but that was it.

Market by the rathausplatz/city hall.

Market at Schönbrunn Palace.

Market between Kunsthistorisches and Naturhistorisches Museum with
Maria Theresa overseeing it.  Maybe you would enjoy a little video here.

It turns out there are a couple attractions at the markets.  One is sugar and 

the other is alcohol.

Highlights

We gave R. a few days to recover from her trip from Massachusetts (glad she got out before the bad weather!) before we headed to Vienna, which seemed like a good place to practice speaking German.

One highlight was reuniting with a friend I met at a youth hostel in 1989!  Having her guide us to places we would not have found on our own was a real treat.  It's hard to narrow down the other highlights, but here are a few.

Photo by A.
Beautiful snowy parks!

Easy-to-understand transportation.

Taking a tram tour of the Ringstrasse.

Seeing Klimt's notes at the MAK.

Enjoying Schönbrunn Palace without the crowds.

Exploring the Technisches Museum, which opened over 100 years ago.
What a great staircase for a Foucault's Pendulum!

Hard to choose just one picture from the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which I first visited about
45 years ago and have the scar to prove it!  These are some of my dad's favorite pieces.

There are certainly fewer tourists when the weather is below freezing, but I could imagine visiting the city again when the weather is better for longer walks.