As first impressions go, Vienna wasn’t getting a good rep, in my mind at least. This being our second time to splurge on this particular joyous season, comparisons with Prague kept popping up and mostly not in favor of Austria’s capital. The hotel we are staying in is missing a lot of the Yuletide cheer I’ve come to expect, apart from a nearly naked tannenbaum in the lobby, it barely has any decorations at all as if it were any other time of the year. The first Christmas market we went to, a few short blocks away, disappointingly turned out to be more like the ones in Holland – less Christmas and more flea market. As we wandered along and discovered other markets, the spirit of the season did get progressively better and with two days more to go gave me hope that as long as we weren’t naughty, pouty, or crying, we might just be able to have ourselves a merry little Christmas.