Silversterpfad

​What are You Doing New Year’s Eve? In Vienna, it’s Silvester.

​Why do German-speaking people call New Year’s Eve Silvester? Because it’s the feast day of Saint Silvester, of course. And in Vienna, on Silvester, you walk the Silvesterpfad (Silvester Path) through town. It’s a fluid, organic outdoor party, starting around 2 p.m. and lasting until the cows come home. I prefer to spend New Year’s Eve with a book and a hot drink and pajamas, but since this was my first European New Year’s Eve, I figured I’d better do the local thing. Next year, I’ll go back to my usual formula. Probably.

I recommend starting your rocking Silvester with a visit to one of the two museums on the Ring (big beautiful boulevard that encircles the city center) that face each other, the Kunsthistorisches Museum (art) and the Naturhistorisches Museum (natural history). We chose the Naturhistorisches Museum. (You don’t really have to start with a museum--that’s just my idea of a good time.)

The Christmas market between the two museums was still open, so we bought our last Christmas goodies. Then we walked along the Ring until we got to the City Hall. That Christmas market was also in full swing for the last day, and a stage had been added for live music.

The Silvesterpfad really picks up as it heads into the city center. Pigs are the local good-luck critter, so you can buy trinket pigs, get some punsch in a pig mug, or get yourself a pig hat.

Along the route, there are stages with live entertainment.

You can street dance. One square had waltz music, and those Viennese make it look effortless! You can also boogie. This DJ was magnificent--he segued seamlessly from Wake Me Up Before You Go Go to Hit the Road, Jack. Mad respect. ​

You can buy delicious Silvester goodies in the shops. See the good luck pigs?

​When you get to the very center of town, Stefansplatz, you can watch a live broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve concert. When the concert is over, live musicians play on the stage.

You can go out for dinner and wash down the old year with something delicious.

Finally, you can walk up Kartnerstrasse towards the opera house. Traditionally, the Staatsoper performs Strauss’ Die Fledermaus on the last day of the year, and they simulcast it on the screen outside the opera. There are a some rows of benches, and a few dozen lucky go-getters snagged themselves some prize seats and settled in for the whole show. It was below freezing, so I’m assuming they had really prepared well sartorially for the show. We stood among the crowd long enough to hear the Prince (a mezzo-soprano in a tuxedo) sing the welcome song and Adele sing her Laughing Song. My goodness, those women could sing! Next time, I’ll pay for a seat inside.

Sam and I then went home on the subway and began our traditional New Year’s Eve ritual--dozing fitfully while waiting for our kids to come home. I’m getting used to the nest emptying out, but the college kids are with us for the holidays and I find myself inexplicably returning to parent-of-teen mode and waiting for them to come home. It’s a conflicting time. You’re proud that they’re responsible and well-behaved so you know you have nothing to worry about, but you wonder if this is the year they won’t be responsible and well-behaved. But still, they’re away from you most of the time and could be doing who-knows-what on a regular basis and just not telling you about it. Like I did in college. It’s just different when they’re under the same roof, even temporarily. Somehow, they are more adult to me when they’re out of sight. When they’re near, I just want to take care of them. But they don’t want to be taken care of. I asked Kid 3 when he thought I could once and for all stop trying to take care of my kids, and he said, “When we’re all past 30.  Maybe 28.”  We’ll see.

What do you do on New Year’s Eve? Comments welcome!

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