A European Christmas market round-up

‘Tis the season … And for me, that means it’s a good time to reflect on some of my favorite Christmas markets around Europe. Because I live in Rome, people often think the city is decked out for the holidays. Sadly, especially in recent years, this couldn’t be further from the truth. To enjoy the…

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Vienna’s plague column

I’ve already written about Plague art in Vienna in an earlier post, concentrating on the impressive Plague column and the monumental Karlskirche. Both of these monuments were erected to commemorate Vienna’s emergence from tragic outbreaks of the Plague, and both are well-known landmarks of modern-day Vienna. The Plague, otherwise known as Bubonic Plague or ‘Black Death’…

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Explore Palais Ferstel’s Passage, Vienna

In Mitteleuropa and Eastern Europe, I always love peeking into the spectacular ‘passages’. Vienna is no exception and the beautiful Freying Passage of the Palais Ferstel is well worth a visit on your next visit to stately Vienna. The palace is named after Heinrich von Ferstel, the architect who built it in 1860. The passage…

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A round-up of European Christmas markets to visit

This year, I couldn’t manage to escape to one of the Christmas markets I love in Europe, so instead on this post I’ll pine away thinking about great Christmas markets of the past take a look at some of the Christmas markets I’ve posted about in European cities. Should you find yourself in any of…

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Holidays in Vienna

I always love Vienna, a city I lived in for a short time many years ago. But I especially love Vienna during the holiday season. It’s cold outside, and often white from a  dusting of snow. The city is lit up beautifully with thousands of lights, shining off the cobblestones and the storefront windows all…

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Best places to experience Vienna’s café culture

Vienna is one of my favorite cities. I spent a happy year living here far too many years ago, and I’ve returned countless times as a tourist. To truly enjoy the city, a visitor shouldn’t rush, but should instead slow down and enjoy age-old Viennese traditions. Few of these traditions are as enjoyable as taking…

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Eat Wienerschnitzl at Vienna’s Figlmüller

Vienna  has to be one of Europe’s best walking cities – and thank goodness for that, since it allows visitors to work up an appetite before sampling the city’s mouth-watering specialties. For me, no visit to Vienna is complete without eating Wienerschnitzl – breaded veal cutlet-  at Figlmüller. Figlmüller has been serving up Wienerschnitzl in…

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