Merry Christmas from Vienna, Austria | Book Blogger Guest Post

Today I’m welcoming one of my dearest book blogging friends, Karin, from My Life… Karin wrote about the Christmas markets in Vienna a few years ago, and I’m so happy to have her back to talk about her beloved Christmas traditions and the differences between Christmas in the USA and Christmas in Austria. I’ve wanted to visit Austria since I saw The Sound of Music as a little girl, and Karin’s posts always make me want to visit even more! Thank you for sharing your Christmas with us, Karin!

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Merry Christmas from Vienna, Austria
by Karin

Merry Christmas from Vienna, Austria to all you lovely readers and a big “Thank You!” to my dear friend Jana for asking me to, once again, be a part of her Christmas Countdown.

She also let me write about any Christmas related topic I wanted and so I decided to tell you a bit about my Christmas time.

Christmas in the USA and Austria is really different – at least it seems like it from my side of the pond.

Christmas time for me starts on December 1st. That’s the first day for Christmas tunes, visiting the Christmas markets (if you want to know about them in greater detail, I wrote a post for Jana 3 years ago) and especially it is the first day you open your advent calendar. I cannot remember a time I did not get one from my mum. There are many different kinds you can buy – filled with chocolates, spices, nail polishes, teas, etc. – but mine were always handmade by my mum. I can remember a year she made me 24 fir trees out of toilet paper rolls and a cut-out fir and filled them with different little goodies. I also often got a big wicker basket filled with packages but this year I got a stack of different colored boxes, filled with coupons (a mulled wine at a Christmas market), chocolates or tiny figurines.

A must during Christmas time is also visiting one, two, three or all (that would be around 20 in Vienna only) Christmas markets. The biggest one in Vienna is in front of city hall and the whole square is filled with tiny wooden huts where you can buy ornaments, toys, stuffed animals, mulled wine, jacket potatoes, chocolate covered strawberries (a must have each year), chocolates, jewelry and so many more things. Visiting means putting on lots and lots of layers to survive the cold (often it’s the only time during the year I put on a hat), exploring all the goodies they sell at the stalls and finishing with some yummy food (chocolate covered strawberries as dessert) and one, two, three cups of mulled wine in good company.

I graduated high school 12 years ago and we had a class system (not a course system). So all 20 students were together all day and the teachers came into our classroom. We also had one teacher who was “responsible” for the class and acted as an intermediator between students, teachers and parents. Our teacher taught Math and French and for 12 years now, we (our teacher and all 14 students of my graduation class) meet regularly during Christmas time to get some food and catch up on all the things that happened in our lives. It is such a lovely and nice tradition that we always find time in our busy lives to fit this evening in.

In case you did not know, we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve aka December 24th. School holidays usually started on either the 22nd or the 23rd and for over 15 years now, me and all of my friends have a tradition of meeting in our favorite pub on the evening of the 23rd to celebrate Christmas together. We bring Christmas cookies and enjoy each other’s company. December 23rd is a date every one of my friends puts into their new calendar on January 1st because it’s our very own and very beloved tradition. It’s a chance for all of us to come together and catch up. Since we now have jobs and some have kids, we don’t see each other often during the year and we are never all together in one place at the same time. There are smaller groups that see each other regularly but on December 23rd we all, which means around 150 people, gather around and celebrate. Some people I’ve known for 20, 25 years and some just became friends 2 years ago – it does not matter, Christmas celebration starts on December 23rd.

On the day of Christmas Eve, me and my parents put up our Christmas tree. Yes, that’s right, Austrians only put it up on Christmas but we leave it up till January 6th or even longer. So during the morning we reorganize part of our living room, put up the tree, irritate my dog Felix because there is now a big tree in the apartment and decorate it while listening to Christmas music (until my mum gets antsy and demands that enough is enough and we switch back to a radio station). Decorating the tree is mine and mum’s job. My dad tolerates it that he is responsible for putting the tree up straight but after that he usually vanishes and is seen again at lunchtime.

For many years we had a fixed menu each Christmas – turkey with dumplings and red cabbage – but some years ago we decided to mix it up and now we are cooking something different each year. Last year we had homemade “Tafelspitz”, an Austrian specialty of slow cooked beef with lots of yummy side dishes. I insist on having a special kind of ice cream as dessert so that’s still there each year.

Christmas Eve is also really special for us because me and my parents exchange gifts around 5 pm and after some quality family time, some American friends come over to celebrate with us. So Christmas Eve for me means having an intimate time with my immediate family but a big party with good food and lots of laughs as well.

December 25th is the day we spend with the extended family. My mum’s mother and my dad’s dad live about an hour away from Vienna and we go to my grandmother’s for lunch and afterwards we drive 15 minutes to my grandpa and celebrate with my aunts, uncles and all the cousins. We enjoy coffee and Christmas cookies, visit my grandmother’s grave which includes a walk through a dark and quiet town and after that my grandpa goes to check if the “Christkind” – our version of Santa Claus – has arrived and lights the candles on the tree. Before opening the presents, we gather around to sing Silent Night (loud, in a high pitch and we usually are not sure which is the second and which is the third verse but still …).

December 26th is the day of rest in my family so me and my mum can usually be found on the couch reading one of our new books and my dad is usually somewhere in the apartment practicing his mandolin.

I love Christmas time and enjoy seeing the beautiful lights all over the city and I cannot wait to meet up with my old classmates, friends and family.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas with your loved ones and would love to hear your holiday traditions in the comments.