Vienna--or Wien as locals call it--looks and feels like a winter city.

The temperature hasn't gone above freezing once, even during the day. Despite their best efforts, animal rights activists camped outside Mariahilferstrasse's posh department stores aren't persuading shoppers to give up their fur coats for the winter. If I had a spare $3,000, I think I'd buy one too.

I'm not a shopper. And I'm never home at Christmas. So I can't understand why I've managed to acquire a whole load of tree trimmings: a mouse, an owl and a hedgehog cleverly made from bunches of painted twigs...an embroidered petit-point moon and sun...a traditional "snow-storm" with an untraditional red-and-white spotted toadstool...beadwork stars...an emerald-robed Old Man Winter and some tiny sheep made of soap. (I'll just have to set up a tree next year to mark the winter solstice.)

Last night I went to Spittalberg, one of Vienna's advent markets. The atmosphere was magical: dozens of tiny stalls are hung with evergreen boughs and lit with tiny white lights. This is probably the best market for unusual handicrafts, but--like the other markets--you can also eat and drink your way through the narrow lanes around Spittalberggasse. There are stalls selling gluhwein (mulled wine), punch and schnapps; Birne, schnapps made from pears, is a great winter warmer. Stalls also sell sausages, potato pancakes...and then there's the Maroni Mann with his roast chestnuts--nine for just under $2.

During Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, a number of special Christmas markets take place in Vienna.