We went to Sankt Pölten today

[wiseheart]

And it was fantastic, as always. God, I love that town! It is the capital of one of the Austrian regions, with a huge, modern administrative city and all that, but the historic centre is a dream, and the ugly modern buildings are far, far away from it.

There is an entire square where the baroque burgher houses have been kept untouched, in their original shape, and the whole old town is full of beautiful houses that are just that: pretty buildings with people living in them. Much prettier than some of the official sights, IMO.

And the best of it is that you can simply walk out of the railway station and directly opposite its main entrance runs a street that leads straight to the historic centre. It is a short way, so short that even Mum manages it in ten minutes or so, and there are amazing sights all along.

We chose today because we wanted to get some of the pre-Advent flair, when all that ugly Halloween stuff is already cleaned away, and we were mostly right.

This is the Chrismassy window of the special oil and vinegar shop (not to mention liquors and other strong stuff). It is amazing; some of the liquor bottles are formed as gingerbread men, others like pine trees or Santas and so on:



We also bought some small gifts. Note the block in the middle, it has dozens of vintage Christmas stickers that are simply beautiful. It wasn't cheap, but Mum said she'd buy it for my name-day, so I won't get it until the 24th of December, but that's okay, that way I can enjoy it twice:



And a lovely idea for an Advent calendar I saw in a Libro shop (books, CDs, DVDs, paper, DIY stuff, little gifts and the likes) and that I may try to sew one day:



The photo has been taken from a weird angle because the thing was placed on a lower shelf, but you can get the general idea.

Comments

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Bonbonwickelpapier! I see you're planning on making Christmas candies :) (only in German would you get a mouthful like that for wrapping paper)

I like that Christmas window of the oil and vinegar shop. It's nicely understated, but really has the holiday spirit. It seems early, but it's November already. What a nice day you seem to have had.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It was a beautiful day indeed, with gorgeous weather, too, so we were really lucky.

And yes, I do intend to make candy for the Christmas tree, not for us alone but for the relatives who were here visiting on Wednesday. Heidi doesn't have the time for such pingeling work with her grandson being with her most of the time. She's happy when she manages to bake some Plätzchen at all, so she'll get the candy from me and my dilemma about Christmas gifts is also solved. An elegant solution, don't you think? *g*

I love the ability of German to make incredibly long words. No other language can do that, and they even appear completely natural! I love the language, I really do.

[artemis10002000]

Oh my gosh all of that looks gorgeous and the town sounds like such a nice place for day trips. You sure deserved a treat!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yes, I believe I did. ;)

Austrian towns are amazing in general. At least the historic parts of them. So far, I've been to Graz, Linz, St. Pölten, Eisenstadt, Krems, Salzburg and Kufstein, and each and every one was unique in atmosphere and architecture. What's more, though, is that Austrian people in general are very friendly. Even in Vienna, which is a monster city by now.

[artemis10002000]

I've mostly been to Vienna, but yes, it is gorgeous! I hope to visit it again sometime soon.

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

It sounds a lovely place.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It is. All Austrian towns I've visited so far are.