Christmas Markets- Day 2

Parliment building
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Day 2 in Vienna.  We woke up and got ready in our empty room.  Everyone had beaten us to the punch and were out touring already.  We head to the center where we walked around the streets.  We walked towards Imperial Palace- Hofburg.  There, they were have a luxury exhibition with a big yacht, airplane, nice cars, and a big RV.  We walked through the main area and straight on through running into our first christmas market.  This one was one of the smaller ones.  We made a loop around the shops, looking at the craft that people had made and the food you could buy.

Street in Vienna
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Next, we took the advice of the couple from the bus and headed on tram #2 which takes you around the ring of Vienna.  We rode that for about two loops, looking at the artichecture of the buildings and seeing some of the sites.  It was on this tour we found the big Christmas market of Vienne, otherwise known as Christkindlmarkt.  We jumped off the tram and headed in.  Here we enjoyed again many shops with much more crafts including candles, glassware, soap, ornaments, and children's toys.  We also had ourselves a Vienna 'hot dog' and some very yummy jugend punsch.  Jugend punsch was a warmed up drink that tasted to me, very similar to hot hawaiian punch.  It was very delicious, a well recommended drink.

Christmas Market at day by Town Hall.
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We headed home for a quick nap after touring the fair.  Once we awoke, we decided to head towards the center for some grub.  Found a little restaurant off the main road that seemed very welcoming to the locals.  There, Natalie and I tried the Vienna gulash.  Nothing compared to the gulash of Prague.  The meat was very fatty and the dumplings were small, and noodly in texture.

From dinner we went back to the Christmas Market.  Wow!  The lights made the place look amazing.  It was gorgeous.  Of course, most of the people knew this was the best time to come as well, but eventually the crowds got the best of us and we decided to head back toward the center.  We did some window, touristy shopping.  Went back to the hostel somewhat early that night, a bit still exhausted from the previous night.  Hung out at the hostel bar, before turning in.  Again, everyone was asleep in the dorm so we had to quietly get ready for bed.  Finally I fell asleep.