We decided to start our day out with a little sightseeing. It was so cold today, and the wind was blowing!

Our first stop was the Hofburg Palace. We went to the treasury, which was beautiful. They had coronation crowns and clothes. They also had a ton of relics. They claim to have every possible religious relic. We saw the holy grail, a thistle from the crown of thorns, a piece of the tablecloth from the last supper, a piece of the loincloth that Jesus wore, the spear that stabbed him, and a piece of the cross.

One of the many entrances to the castle

Napoleon’s son’s crib was given to them to be used during ceremonies.

The place was so immense, this is just one small area.

After the palace jewels, we headed to the National Library. I was in awe! Over 200,000 books between the 1500s and the 1800s.

Beautiful old books everywhere.

After the palace and library, it was time to try out the underground. Their metro system is great. Very clean, great signage, and a really good app.

We took the underground to the next palace, Schönbrunn Palace. I would say it very closely rivals Versailles on the inside. Sadly, no pictures were allowed. The grounds were very beautiful as well.

In the courtyard of the palace was our first Christmas market, and our favorite one of the day. They had the best food and ornaments hands down.

Cheesy Spaetzle

Lieberkasse with Cheese and Potatoes with Kraut and Yogurt Sauce

Our first Glühwein

After the palace market, we decided to go back to the hotel and get into warmer clothes for the evening.

Sadly, this happened:

But it was ok, because now we had an excuse to go back after dark, and then we got to see it lit up.

We ended the night at 3 more markets. Freyung, Rathaus, and one we stumbled upon that was very small. We drank a lot and ate a lot too.

Entrance to the Rathaus market

Even the streets are decorated.

The beginning of this year’s collection of glühwein cups

My first ornament

Overall, a great day. Super cold and we are super tired, but we made some great memories.

Tomorrow we are meeting my friend Meredith for the day. They live in Hungary, and I can’t wait to spend the day with them!!