Christkindlmarkt

One of my favorite things about Christmas in Vienna are the Christkindlemarkts. The markets consist of a group small wooden huts where you can by anything from christmas decorations, to homemade toys and candy, to almost anything else you can possible imagine. And then of course there are the stands that sell the traditional foods and snacks. Although my personal favorite food stand was the pretzel stand, it seemed that the majority of the people thoroughly enjoyed the Gluhweinpunsch stand. Literal translation being, glow-wine-punch, and more understandable translation being, punch with alcohol in it.

These Christkindlmarkts are all over the city. There are small ones of about 10 huts set up on every major shopping street and larger ones set up near a couple of the major sites such as the Schoenbruenn Palace. But the biggest most popular one is set up in the courtyard of the Rathaus (city hall). It has about 140 stands and is decorated to make you feel as if you're in a christmas movie. It also has the largest Christmas tree and Advent-Kranz in Vienna and probably Austria.

These Christmas Markets were so cute, I loved just walking around them for hours eating delicious pretzels, and listening to Christmas music in two different languages, and just enjoying the Christmas atmosphere. I have literally spend all of the last 4 weekends there. :)

My feeble attempt to get a good picture of the tree. :)

My even feebler attempt to get a decent picture of the market with the Rathaus behind.

(For better pictures or details you can check out www.christkindlmarkt.at)

Vienna's largest Advent-Kranz. (And before you ask.. No Jansen, they are not real candles)

Viennese Christmas traditions

As kids we were always told that Santa Claus and his reindeer had to travel all over the world in one night in order to get all the toys to all the good kids, but more importantly, we've always been told that Christ loves all of the children in the world. So, naturally, I've always known that Christmas is a world-wide holiday. Little did I know that the traditions for one holiday could differ so much from country to country.

Obviously the main origins of the holiday are the same, but this year, after having spent the first 18 years of my life in the states with the same traditions every year, my eyes were opened to new traditions, new ways of celebrating, and lots of yummy new recipes!! :)

During the month of December, as you walk through the city (or any town for that matter), it becomes quite apparent that Christmas is the most important holiday celebrated in Austria with all the beautiful, huge, and intricate decorations. As is the case with most European countries, December 6th is actually the day that Saint Nicholas, the giver of gifts, comes. He comes to all the children who have been good that year and brings them the traditional apples, mandarin oranges, peanuts and chocolate. Rather then setting up trees in their homes in the beginning of december and leaving them up to enjoy for the whole month, Austrians don't set up the tree until the morning of the 24th. Instead they enjoy other decorations, the most popular one being the Advent-Kranz, which translates to Advent-wreath. On top of these wreaths there stands 4 candles, one for each of the 4 sundays before Christmas. One candle is lit on the first sunday, 2 on the second and so on until Christmas when all four candles are lit at the same time. After the tree is finally set up on the morning of the 24th, each family dresses up in there best clothes and gathers together with all their relatives for a nice dinner. The traditional Austrian Christmas dinner consists of Gebackener Karpfen (Fried Carp) and Sachertorte (Chocolate and apricot cake), and the most delicious cookies ever, which are called, Vanilla Kipferln. (To all those who know me and my eating habits really well, you'll be shocked and proud to know that ... yes, I did in fact try the fish... just to confirm that ... yes, I do in fact still hate it!!!) After the meal the family relocates from their gathering around the table to a new gathering around the tree, where they proceed to read the biblical story of Christ's birth. Following the reading they all sing Christmas songs such as Silent Night (Stille Nacht) and Oh Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum).

*Fun Fact- One of the worlds most popular Christmas carols, Silent Night, was written and first played here in Austria in a town called Oberndorf near Salzburg in 1818. The story is... On Christmas Eve the priest went to the church only to discover that the organ was not working. The leather bellows that are used to pump air through the pipes had lots of holes in them. So the priest, not wanting to have a Christmas without music showed the organist a hymn he had written and the organist, Franz Bauer, quickly composed a tune for it that could be played on a guitar.

Finally, after all the eating and singing, the kids are allowed to go crazy and open all their presents. However, here in Austria the kids don't believe in Santa Claus. They are taught that their gifts are brought by the 'Christkindl' (Christ child), a golden-haired baby with wings who symbolizes the new born Christ. The story is told that the Christ child comes down from heaven on Christmas Eve and decorates and distributes trees.

German Lyrics:

Silent Night

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Hirten erst kundgemacht
Durch der Engel Halleluja,
Tönt es laut von fern und nah:
Christ, der Retter ist da!
Christ, der Retter ist da!

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb' aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund'.
Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Christ, in deiner Geburt!

O Christmas Tree

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur
zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!
Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit
Ein Baum von dir mich hoch erfreut!
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Dein Kleid will mich
was lehren:
Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit
Gibt Trost und Kraft
zu jeder Zeit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!
Das soll dein Kleid
mich lehren.

German Christmas Recipes

Gebackener Karpfen (Fried Carp)

3 - 3 ½ lb.s carp fillet
Salt
Flour
Bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
¼ lb. shortening (not butter)
1 lemon, sliced

Wash fish fillet and cut into serving slices. Sprinkle with sale and let stand for 1 hour. Put bread crumbs, flour, and beaten eggs in three separate dishes. Roll each slice of fish first in flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. Fry slices on both sides in shortening until golden brown. Arrange slices on a hot platter and garnish with lemon.

Sachertorte (Chocolate and Apricot Cake)

1 cup butter
8 egg yolks
6 oz. cooking chocolate
1 cup confectioner's sugar
Vanilla
10 egg whites
1 cup flour
4 tablespoons apricot jam

Cream butter. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Add gradually to creamed butter melted chocolate, sugar , and the egg yolks, one by one, stirring constantly. Add flour and a dash of vanilla and beat well. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Pour mixture into a well-greased 10-inch mold. Bake at 300 degrees F. for about 1 hour. Let cool and turn out of mold. Split and spread heated and slightly diluted apricot jam over the lower half of the cake. Replace top and brush with apricot jam and cover with chocolate frosting. (Recipe below.)

Chocolate Frosting

1 cup sugar
7 ox. cooking chocolate
1 cup water

Boil sugar and water until sugar is completely dissolved. Melt the chocolate separately in a double boiler. Add sugar syrup gradually to chocolate, stirring constantly. When cooled, frost the cake.

Weihnachtsbaeckerei (Christmas cookies)

4 ½ cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup milk
1 egg yolk
5 eggs
3 tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups butter

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt onto a board. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and milk to butter and sugar. Mix lightly. Pour the moist ingredients into a depression in the flour and work ingredients into a dough with a knife. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Roll out and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutter. Place on a greased baking sheet and brush with egg yolk.

Bake in a moderate oven, at 300-350, until golden brown.

Batman Smells

So upon teaching the kids a new version of 'Jingle Bells' they absolutely fell in love with it and wanted to make a video of them singing it. So... I thought I would put them on here so everybody could see the kids but I'm having trouble uploading the videos to the blog so I posted the links below... hopefully they work. :)

Keep in mind that one of them is painfully long, but if I were to edit it then you wouldn't get the whole picture. (and I promise, they do sing at the end) And... Flora wrote my 'script' and was very strict about it! lol :) The shorter one is quite pointless really but it captures the kids perfectly... Christoph spazzing, and Fanny getting angry... :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwFjRumq4Ms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6ipAiiF-TU&feature=channel

That Darn Spirit

This weekend was supposed to be the weekend of my trip to Budapest. And I was so excited to go and experience, and then come back and tell everyone about it! However... over the last week or two I had been having this nagging feeling that I shouldn't go. Of course I tried to ignore it, because I really wanted to go, but in the end there really just isn't a way around the spirit....at least not comfortably. So I finally decided to pray about it, and I knew that I should NOT go to Budapest this weekend... for whatever reason I don't know. On top of that my parents had been getting really nervous about my trip alone (more than usual), and had also been getting strong feelings that I should not go. So after discussing it with them it was finalized that I would stay home this weekend and make my dream trip to Budapest another weekend. :(

Wish I had a better story to tell, but all I can say is... that darn spirit...it'll get ya. :) But as frustrating as it can be, I'm grateful for 'that darn spirit'.... because even though I don't know why, I know I made the right decision.

Bittersweet Birthday Wish

Flora's birthday is coming up in a few weeks. She will be turning 8 on Dec. 6. The other day while we were discussing party plans, and she was showing me all the decorations she wanted, I asked her what she would like for her birthday from me. I personally thought it was a fairly simple question, but apparently I was wrong. Because she then proceeded to spend the next two hours going back and forth and back and forth with a million different ideas. Her list consisted of barbie ponies, horse stickers and posters, games... and thousands of other things I've already forgotten. Every time I thought she had made up her mind, she would change it again or say, "oh I don't know Neecol, it's too hard to decide." To which I would respond, "Flora, it's really ok, you don't have to decide right this second." Finally after literally hours of ping-ponging ideas I thought she'd given up for the day. But then she came up to me again and said, "No Neecol, I KNOW NOW what I wish from you for my birthday....I wish that you never have to go back to America and just stay with me forever."

Martin, Martin...wait... Who the heck is Martin?

For weeks I have listened to Fanny and Christoph sing songs that they have learned in Kindergarten. The main song goes something like "Martin, Martin hat einen grossen Mantel an....." I could never for the life of me figure out why they were singing about a man named Martin who has a big coat. But eventually I figured it out when I had to take the kids to a 'Martin's Fest' hosted by Fanny's and Christoph's kindergarten. (kindergarten here is more like pre-school or daycare) The fest consisted of all the kindergarten kids walking around a huge catholic church with little homemade lanterns and singing songs. After which they went to the front of the church and sang more songs about lanterns and Martin and presented a little production about the holy Saint Martin. And then at the all the parents (or au pairs) would go stand behind their kids, and the kids would take a piece of bread and 'ceremoniously' rip it half and share it with the parent (or au pair). :)

So naturally I was curious about this Holy Martin guy, therefore, I had to look it up.

Martin apparently started out as a Roman soldier. When he was an adult he was baptized a catholic and became a monk. He supposedly led a really simple life and was always kind and generous to everyone he met. But the story that made him famous is the story that he once ripped his large coat in half and gave half of it to a beggar during a really bad snowstorm to keep him from dying in the cold. Later that night Martin had a dream that Christ was wearing the half of the coat that he gave away. He heard Christ say to the angels, "here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized: he has clothed me."

So now St. Martin has an entire day dedicated to him and it is celebrated in many different ways throughout Europe. In Belgium, Germany, Netherland and here in Austria the day is celebrated on the evening of November 11. Children walk through the streets (or in our case huge catholic churches due to the rain) carrying lanterns and singing songs about lanterns and Martin. I still have no idea what the lanterns are supposed to mean, but the sharing of the bread is supposed to symbolize when Martin shared his coat.

Martins fest songs:

Ich gehe mit meiner Laterne

Ich gehe mit meiner Laterne

und meiner Laterne mit mir

Dort oben leuchten die Sterne

Mein Licht is aus,

wir gehen nach Haus

ra-bimmel, ra-bammel, ra-bumm

Martin's Lied

Martin, Martin hat einen grossen Mantel an

...oh dang it...now I can't remember the rest... :)

Laterne Laterne

Laterne, laterne

Sonne, Mond, und Sterne

Brenne auf, mein Licht

Brenne auf, mein Licht

Aber nur meine liebe Laterne nicht

Venice History/Info

Venice was created on a series of mud banks with canals instead of roads, making it truly one of the most unique cities in the world! It was orginally a province of the Byzantine Empire and by the 12th century it was a completely independent city-state. Through its control of the spice and silk trade form the East, it was the richest trading nation in Europe. The canals are lined with many beautiful palaces that date back to the 18th century. Venice's power was beginning to wind down around the 18th century and finally lost its independence in 1797....and has since been somewhat frozen in time.






The Grand Canal-
The Grand Canal weaves through the heart of the city ranging in width from 100 to 230 ft and is approximately 2.5 miles long. It is lined with palaces that were built over a span of 5 centuries, almost all of them bearing the name of a once-great Venetian family. There are 3 bridges that cross over the Grand Canal (...and I'm proud to announce that I've crossed all three!) the Calzi, the Rialto and the Accademia. As stated by the French Ambassador in 1495, the Grand Canal is "the most beautiful street in the world".

Ponte di Rialto


Ponte Accademia


Ponte Scalzi




Gondolas-
Most of the time when people think 'Venice' they think 'Gondola'. Rightfully so because the gondola has been a part of Venice culture since the 11th century and are still extremely popular today! We saw them everywhere! With its slim shape and flat underside it is designed to handle the narrow shallow canals. In the past it was simply a way of transportation but today it is mainly just a tourist attraction, and an expensive one at that!









Basilica di San Marco/ St. Marks Basilica-
In St. Marks Basilica you can find a mixture of architecural and decorative styles from the east and west to create one of the greatest buildings in Europe. Built on a Greek-cross plan, it is actually the 3rd church to stand on this site. The first one was built to enshrine the body of St. Mark in the 9th century but was destroyed by fire. In the 11th century, the 2nd one was pulled down to make room for spectacular edifice that would reflect the growing power of the Republic and it's connections to Byzantium. Many of the treasures, statues, and icons that stand inside were brought to St. marks after the 4th crusade had plundered Constantinople in 1204.