Warning! More Pictures...

Warning: there are a lot of pictures here. I hope you aren't bored to death with out trip yet, because I have one more post of pictures to put up!!

Christmas in Austria, part II.

Christmas Eve is the traditional day for celebrating Christmas in Austria. The morning is spent doing usual things - we attended the Children's Mass at the church in Tainach, for example. Unfortunately there were no children singing, which JT thought was going to be the case, so he wasn't so impressed. (Alright, I wasn't either.) It was cold in the church, too, and most kids were bundled in snowsuits, while JT stood around in only a sweater... I love the tradition of putting small Christmas trees on the graves. This one happens to be a family named Drobesch - which is the vulgo name of the aunts'/uncle's farm.

We also headed down the the firehouse to pick up our light from Jerusalem (a flame lit in Jerusalem is brought to Vienna then distributed around Austria) - where the folks gathered around small bonfires and drank Punsch. Hmm, another excuse to enjoy hot alcohol? Back at home, I warmed up while Opa and JT "smoked" out the house with some frankincense and holy water.

Finally, after waiting all afternoon and taking a nap, JT heard a small bell tinkling from the upstairs floor of Oma and Opa's house (that is where Onkel Mike and Tante Sandra have their apartment) - Das Christkind had come and brought a beautiful tree and all the presents!

JT was given the task of passing out all the presents - Sandra's parents joined us along with Oma and Opa, and Mike and Sandra.

And although he was not so interested in his gift from Christkind (a digital camera, which he had asked for), he did enjoy his present from Onkel Mike (and so did Onkel Mike) - a giant box of Legos!
Then we all enjoyed some tasty dinner. (I have to admit, I did not eat the herring salad or caviar. But I did eat the cheeses! Ooops, some of those are no-no's for pregnant women in the States.)

We went home late, but it was a great day. Christmas Day we spent with the aunts and uncle, as well as Mr. Burli's cousin and girlfriend and his girlfriend's 96 (?) year old great-grandmother. I think the aunts liked their aprons....

...and I enjoyed the Christmas cookies. (JT did too once he realized the brown ones were Austrian brownies!)

Meanwhile, it started to snow and gradually larger flakes appeared, so the next day we enjoyed the beautiful scenery with snow!