Vienna at night

Because of my wonky jet lag sleep schedule, I haven't been emerging from the apartment until well after sundown. It's hard to feel like I'm missing out, though, when this city is so gorgeous at nighttime. Here, forthwith, are some of my favorite pictures from the last couple days of Wien after dark.

CM's workplace itself: the Wiener Staatsoper. Taken from the balcony of the Albertina Museum. It has to be said, I love Lincoln Center and all, but it doesn't hold a candle to THIS.

I was worried all the Christmas lights would be gone by the time I got here, and most places they're (frustratingly) still here but NOT LIT! Not on the Graben, fortunately, where they're still going strong. Aren't they pretty?

This is one of the only available angles to photograph the Rathaus at the moment, because the entire front of the building is dominated by the massive construction site for the WIENER EISTRAUM. I'm just a little bit excited about that.

This is the Karlskirche, which is totally gorgeous, although I'm weirded out by the Christmas signage: Auch für dich wurde Jesus geboren (Jesus was also born for you). It's not the message that I'm debating—it's the freaky giant picture of a baby in the middle. What is that all about?

11/365: It's trendy here during construction on historic sites to cover the façade with a photographic rendering of what it will look like when it's finished. The Votivkirche apparently went a step further and sold that space to advertisers. Classy, oder?