The Christmas season has started here in Austria. Without Thanksgiving to celebrate, they began putting up decorations a week or so ago. Each day, more and more Christmas markets open up around the country and soon they will all be up and running. This is truly a great time to be here in Austria. Every town hangs up lights over the streets and puts up at least one tree. Just outside our apartment we've got a tree, a wreath hanging and lights over the street. Our Christmas market hasn't started yet but a trip to the neighboring towns offers plenty of them. Last weekend, we visited Salzburg. It is one of the nicest cities in the country, especially during the Christmas market season. The old city is full of big and small markets. Night and day, the markets are bustling with not just tourists, but natives as well. There's plenty to eat and drink as you make your way through the rows of booths. Glühwein (mold wine) and Punsch (hot alcoholic punch) are served at nearly every stand. No wonder everyone looked so happy! In addition to the markets, Salzburg has an ice skating rink put up next to the cathedral. This weekend, we will visit the Vienna Christmas markets for the first time. The biggest one is in front of the spectacular city hall. After New Year's, they convert this area into a massive ice skating rink, much larger than the one in Salzburg.
Obviously, Thanksgiving is not celebrated here. The Austrians have a similar holiday but it is much smaller and not nearly as big of a deal. Do you feel bad for us since we didn't get the Thanksgiving break. Well, don't. The Austrians have their fare share of holidays. Basically, any possible Catholic holiday is celebrated. Banks, shops and school close. Many probably don't even know what holiday it is because they just had one two weeks earlier. Additionally, they take a week long semester break 3 weeks after the Christmas break in order to boost the skiing economy. The different areas of Austria have their breaks at different times to keep the crowds on the slopes from getting too large.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and we look forward to being home over Christmas.
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