vienna, day one: bratwurst and mulled wine

We landed in Vienna at midday, sleep-deprived and hungry for bratwurst. Luckily, when we got off the U-Bahn near our airbnb, we spotted a likely-looking wurstelstand, helpfully labelled "Hot Dogs". (The photo below was taken later that evening.) When we placed our order, the guy cut a small hole in one end of a baguette-like bun, squirted ketchup and mustard into the hole, and then shoved the sausage inside and placed the cut-off bread butt back on top of the protruding sausage like a jaunty cap. It was very good.

After a quick nap, we struck out towards downtown. First we wandered around some hallways in the Rathaus (city hall — first photo below). We also checked out the giant Christmas market out front, which was bright and packed and filled with tchotchkes. More wandering brought us to a slightly better Christmas market that filled a network of alleys and side-streets, where we drank a traditional mulled wine called Glühwein, which was sweet, warm, spicy, and delicious, and which came with a free mug.

Eventually we made our way homewards, stopping for dinner at a student-y pub in a cool courtyard cultural center. We got incredible little fried potato dumplings covered in parmesan, and a remarkable sweet potato soup. We slept like logs.