A Few of My Favorite Things

I spent a lot of the Christmas season last year internally freaking out about doing things so differently...different country with different traditions...different foods and ABSOLUTELY NO FAMILY on the same land mass.  It was heavy.  Fun and exciting...but heavy. This year I'm still missing my family and lamenting the difficulty of obtaining certain things an American would take for granted (like basically every ingredient involved in Christmas dinner...or wrapping paper longer than a meter), but this year I've nestled into all the Austrian eccentricities and have been able to really enjoy the advent season.  There are just too many things I'm loving about Christmas this year, so I decided to hit on all of them in a more-or-less bulleted list instead of trying to streamline this writing process.

So!  For starters:

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ADVENT: We're doing four different countdowns to Christmas this year, which sounds like overkill, but I've found the diversity between our advent calendars has resulted in a well-rounded way of anticipating Christmas day. I've had a collection of advent bags since the girls were tiny that we usually put chocolates into and open each day, but this year is the first that A & B have even seemed remotely excited about it.  These bags were accompanied by daily devotions for advent that were way over our kids heads...so this year, I bought The Story of Christmas advent calendar.  It's one enormous "book" that comes with twenty-four little books inside.  Each day there is a story to read that tells a little more about the Christmas story.  I have fallen in love with these.  They've fleshed out the story of Christmas so much more than anything else I've read for kids.  I feel like this year Audrey, especially, is gaining a much fuller understanding of exactly how Jesus made his way into the world. On top of all this, we're also doing traditional European advent calendars filled with chocolates and a really fun advent calendar from Playmobil where every door contains a toy that helps complete a Christmas scene.  Like I said.  On paper, this sounds ridiculous, but it's all become a part of the flow of our day--excitedly counting down to Christmas.

I've already gushed on about how much I love Saint Nicholas Day and how exciting it was to decorate cookies with our friends, but I've also been taking advantage of days spent close to home (so's not to miss the post man and his great bevy of Christmas packages) and have been planning how my days will be spent in the kitchen making delicious Christmas goodies. (it has been far too long since I've eaten fudge!! How did I let this happen!?) The Austrians can keep their lebkuchen and criststollen, as far as I'm concerned. That doesn't mean they don't know how to celebrate Christmas, though, because this list would not be complete without mentioning:

VIENNESE CHRISTMAS MARKETS: Dear Lord, how will I ever celebrate Christmas without Christmas markets again!?  They've spoiled me.  Completely.  I don't even like punsch (and by most accounts, this year's batch of official Viennese Christmas Market punsch was particularly bad), but I still can't stay away from the markets.  They ooze cheer.  And there's usually at least one stand selling beverages that are not punsch or gluehwein (which I had the great misfortune to have drunk along with a meal that gave me food poisoning last year...so it's also been cut from my repertoire.)  This year I've been digging the apfelpunsch which is much more akin to our cider and tigermilch (literal translation: tiger milk) which is just hot chocolate spiked with rum.  But the best, BY FAR, is the one place in ALL OF VIENNA that offers EGGNOG!!!!...or something like it.  It looks like eggnog, smells like eggnog, and *mostly* tastes like eggnog, even if it's served in a champagne flute with a straw.  I'LL TAKE IT!!

"Smug."  That is the word you're searching for.

Markets do actually have some nice offerings outside of boozing it up.  Stalls here sell anything from Christmas ornaments and decor (hand made or bulk manufactured) to jewelry, outerwear, toys and every nicknack known to man.  They also have a bang-up offering of food.  Our favorites are the savory foods: fried flatbread called langos, sausages wrapped in langos, which we've started calling "Austrian corndogs" because it's easier than saying: "Debreziner langos".  There are places that sell soup in bread bowls, cheese-infused sausages and loaded garlicy baked potatoes...all of it consumed while standing at small, round, bar-height tables.  *sigh*  Just. Lovely. 

Audrey makes smug look a lot cuter.

I promise I'll stop talking about food after this, but I can't move on without talking about NUTS. All those Christmas songs whimsically mentioning roasted chestnuts?  I GET THEM NOW.  I GET IT.  Chestnuts roasted on an open fire are delicious...and they double as a handwarmer when the temperature takes a turn towards frigid.  These nuts are soft, bland and a little mealy...and I love them.  Roasted chestnuts, for the win.  But not everyone is a fan.  A lot of people, actually, think they're disgusting.  But for people not into bland, squishy food, there is an incredible array of sugary roasted nuts.  These are Audrey's favorite--her Christmas market crack--sugary roasted almonds. I always make sure to get enough so she can share.

If you take the time to look anywhere but the twenty-or-so Christmas markets around town, you'll easily discover that the LIGHTS AND DECORATIONS here are amazing.  Even when the lights aren't lit, it's all breathtaking.  We've been avoiding the general downtown area for the month of December because the number of tourists is INSANE.  But, the weather today was too gorgeous to pass up a tour of the city center. Do you hear the angels singing?  That's Graben over there on the left.  All they do is let in some Christmas tree stalls and hang a dozen chandeliers and it becomes magical.  (and may I just say: "aaaaaggggghhh all the PEOPLE!)

Every major street downtown has it's own signature set of lights; from Chandeliers on Graben to giant red baubles on Rotenturmstrasse, but it's the unending curtains of twinkle lights on Kohlmarkt that lead us to the most magical place for the younger set: the window at The Demel, our favorite confectioners/bakery. Last year their window hosted an enormous advent calendar, revealing a new confection each day.  This year this gorgeous snow queen made an appearance; she is constructed entirely of cake.  It's stunning...even for the littles.  Bailey stood there for a while, just taking it in, and then announced that she'd eat the whole thing, outside the feathers adorning the queen's skirt, of course.


All of this festive stuff is certainly thrilling, but I have to admit that the thing I've discovered most defines Christmas for me is a RIGHT AND PROPER CHRISTMAS TREE...covered in lights and my own hodge-podge ornaments, which all welcome with them the memories of Christmas past.  We went back to good old August Krautwurst this year for our Christbaum.  He was, disappointingly, sober, but he supplied us with a fine tree that has wheedled it's way into my heart.  We spent last Saturday hauling the thing home and decorating it while watching White Christmas. The girls make sure to emphasize that this is our FAMILY tree so we avoid confusion about ownership...but it's kind of a telling phrase.  Because, this tree almost does feel like family--a most loved family member who shows up once a year to usher in the joy and cheer.  Yes, I think of all these things--the markets, the big lights, the festive booze, the savory and the sweets--our family Christmas tree really is my favorite thing.