Tag Archives: Christmas

Staycation

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008Although part of me really regrets not making plans to go home for the holidays (which I said I was definitely going to do last year, and then didn’t, again), it’s sometimes good to stay home, relax, and enjoy each other’s company for a few quiet days.  It’s even better to get to do that in a beautiful foreign city that truly embraces the holiday spirit.  We just spent a wonderful time — almost 2 weeks — with Dan off of work and B off of school, just enjoying having some time off in Vienna.  We didn’t “do” a whole lot of anything.  We didn’t travel anywhere, make a last-minute dash to any of the Christmas markets, or check anything major off of our to-do list.  But we had a pretty magical holiday, and I didn’t blog for (almost) the entire time.  It was like a real vacation, just without suitcases.

032We started our holiday celebration off by singing Austrian Christmas carols in our building’s chapel, by candlelight, in German, with a few dozen of our neighbors.  (Yep, our building has an ornate and gorgeous chapel on the 2nd floor.  And we tried to sight-read music to songs we don’t know in a language we don’t speak in the near-dark while wrestling kids and holding candles.  It was fun.  Really!)  It was festive and peaceful and lighthearted and it gave us a nice sense of community connection that we don’t always 087have here.  We followed that up with a failed attempt to see some more of Vienna’s beautiful Christmas lights — who knew they turn some of them off at 9:00?  (Certainly not me, given that we arrived at the street in question at about 8:57, just in time to ascertain that yes, in fact, there ARE lights, they just weren’t illuminated any longer.)  And although we failed that night in our quest to see the lights, we succeeded in getting snowed on a little, which definitely contributed to the holiday spirit.

015The next night, I surprised the family by taking us all on a horse-drawn carriage ride through the streets of Vienna, past several of the big landmarks and amongst the festivity of the last weekend before Christmas.  Although that’s certainly not something we do every day, we started our ride just at the end of our street, so it was a bit like getting a ride around our neighborhood, and it was Jo’s first time to see the city this way.  We all enjoyed it, and just as we were all starting to get cold, we were finished, and we warmed up with some hot chocolate and cookies.

041Then, it was nearly Christmas, and we were busy finishing up the ornaments on the tree, baking and decorating cookies and hanging stockings by the terrace with care.  And then we had a great Christmas Day.  We took in the magic and wonder of the boys finding gifts left by Santa under the tree, we played and shared and read and rested and enjoyed some wonderful food.  We Skyped with the grandparents, aunts and uncles at home, 044and enjoyed their company so much, even from a distance (and even while we despised the time difference that made our days overlap so little).

But Christmas wasn’t the end of our vacation, it was just the beginning!  We rested on St. Stephen’s Day, and then spent the next few days visiting dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, resting some more, playing video games, wishing the animals at the zoo a happy new year and then wandering amongst the enthusiastically festive crowds gathered to welcome 2013 to downtown Vienna.  We didn’t manage to stay out u015ntil midnight, but we all stayed up to watch the fireworks from our kitchen window.

And then, Dan went back to work today.  B doesn’t go back to school until Monday, but he woke up this morning with a fever, and, just like that, we were back to reality.  I love my day-to-day reality (most of the time) but I miss the wonderful spell we had woven over the past few weeks.  It was time well and pleasantly spent, enjoying each other and celebrating together.  We had a great holiday at home.

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Hustle & bustle

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All things considered, we are having a very quiet holiday.  Our shopping is done, as is most of our wrapping.  The tree is trimmed, the halls are decked, the cookies have been baked.  Tomorrow we have one last grocery stop, plus the usual festive activities — setting out the cookies, hanging the stockings, finding all the people for the nativity and reading “The Night Before Christmas” before bed.

We aren’t going anywhere and we aren’t having anyone over.  We don’t have to do anything at any particular time.  Of course, we have some indulgent meals planned, and we expect the boys to be up first thing on Christmas morning.  We will Skype with all of the grandparents, aunts and uncles.  It’s going to be great — we are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas.

But while staying home and not having guests creates kind of a peaceful feeling, I’m finding myself longing a bit for the organized chaos of a lets-get-dressed-and-pack-the-car-hurry-up-we’re-going-to-be-late mad dash to Grandma’s or Grandpa’s house.  Because although leaving the house and going over the river and through the woods can make me feel frazzled and a little stressed, it also means family, being together.  The sometimes hectic schedule of twice-over Christmases that I grew up with came from having so much holiday celebration that it couldn’t be contained on one day or in one house or with one part of our family.  It came from holidays overflowing with love where we always wished we’d been able to spend more time at each house and been able to spend more time talking to each person.

And I miss it.

I miss it because the craziness is just part of spending the holiday together.  And it seems like a lot when you’re faced with it, but it is so little energy to expend for what we experience in return.

So, while I am enjoying and wholeheartedly embracing this quiet Christmas in Vienna, I am also very much looking forward to some bustling, too busy, running late ones to come.

2 weeks, 1 day

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We were so fortunate to have been here to enjoy the Viennese Christmas season last year. It is so lovely — the markets are inviting and festive, the lights make everything seem magical, and the entire spirit of the season here focuses on the religious part of Christmas and being together, rather than on shopping.

Plus, it starts early, and without the guilt of short-changing anything else. There’s no Thanksgiving here, and very little Halloween, so once the autumn harvest has been celebrated, the door is open for Christmas.

The first of the Christmas markets open in just over two weeks, and several of the first ones are close to my house. I love this time of year, and I’m excited to begin to enjoy the wonder and warmth of Christmastime.

It’s beginning to look a lot less like Christmas

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It’s March 3.  It was about 50 degrees outside today — we kept the door to our terrace, and the skylight, open almost all day.  The sunlight comes in to our apartment in the morning AND the afternoon.  The birds are out and singing (loudly).  It was light until almost 6:00 today.  And, I finally put our Christmas decorations away.

I guess that means it’s nearly time for spring!  It’s been warm the last few days here in Vienna, but I’m not fooled — there’s still snow in our forecast for later in the week.  (And, really, I could use one more really good snow.)  But the days are undoubtedly getting longer (and warmer — our toilet hasn’t frozen in a few weeks, at least).  Benjamin got to play outside at school the other day — it’s one of his favorite things about school, and I think his overall enjoyment of attendance may increase significantly once outside play time once again becomes a daily occurrence — and going to the park will soon become a regular staple of our schedule.  The farmers markets were open this morning, and Dan has seen some of the restaurants and cafes setting up their outdoor seating areas again (which is extra exciting for us because we find it so much easier to eat out with the kids when we’re sitting outside — they’re entertained by the activity of the city and no one notices when they get loud).  In a few short weeks, the Easter markets will be going again.  (They were up when we arrived last spring.  Which reminds me, too, that we’ll shortly hit our one year anniversary of living in Europe.)

I’m glad I got the Christmas decorations put away — it would be weird to have them up for Easter . . . even weirder than it was to have them up for Valentine’s Day.

The backwards Christmas

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My usual Christmas preparation schedule goes something like this:  start thinking about Christmas gifts in August, start shopping in October, suspend shopping for a bit while I plan Halloween and help with Thanksgiving, set up the house in late November, get the tree in early December, finish decorating, wish I had sent Christmas cards, then begin a wild dash to get my shopping finished (starting around the 10th of December) and wrap everything starting about the 21st.  Usually, pretty successful (except for Christmas cards, which I always seem to start on too late to actually accomplish).

This year, I have to do everything differently.  I still started thinking about Christmas gifts in August, but I didn’t start shopping, because I wanted to wait to see what would be available at the Christmas markets, which didn’t open until mid-November.  I started shopping a few weeks ago, but I’m finding that I’m already way behind — stuff that I’m getting for my boys from the US has to be on its way SOON if it’s going to be under the tree (first it has to get here, then it has to get through customs) and the things that I’m sending home have to be on their way soon for the same reasons.  I didn’t count on so many of the things I planned to shop for not being available here.  And, not only do the toy stores here just not carry a lot of American items, they don’t stock items like they do at home — there aren’t 100 of everything “in the back” — they have what they have, and when it runs out, it’s gone.  (I already purchased something I really wanted for Liam and was lucky to get the last one — and that was 2 weeks ago.)  The result is that I’m in danger of stressing to the max about Christmas gifts, and it isn’t even December yet.

I know it’s not that big of a deal — if I get really stuck for a gift for someone at home, I can always order from a US company (oh, how I miss quick and free shipping — the USPS is a wonder I never really appreciated) and if I really need something for the boys, I can always shop in person at a store here and hope for the best.  It’s more that my rhythm is off than anything — I have a way of doing things that works for me, and I simply can’t do things that way.  (That’s been true of dozens of things here, this is just one more.)  The holidays really aren’t about the gifts.

Oh, and I still have to figure out the whole St. Nicholas thing, because apparently he comes NEXT WEEK and I have no idea what kinds of things Benjamin will be expecting, because he’s been hearing about St. Nicholas at kindergarten.  I don’t want him to feel like he’s missed out on something his classmates are all talking about at school next week.  (I don’t even know if St. Nicholas comes overnight before or after St. Nicholas Day . . . I have some homework to do!)

I haven’t started decorating the house yet, and it’s not even possible to purchase a real Christmas tree (as opposed to one that comes in a box) yet, because they typically decorate the trees here on Christmas Eve.  Add to that the fact that I don’t even know where I would buy one, I don’t have a car (and I can’t imagine the Austrians would take too kindly to my carrying a tree home on the U-bahn) and I have no Christmas lights yet.  (But those are problems for another day.)

It all sounds very stressful, and it is, if I think about it the wrong way.  But it’s also really fine.  None of that stuff matters all that much, anyway.  What matters is that we have a fun, happy, loving holiday season.  We’re going to look at Christmas lights (which are amazing here), visit the Christmas markets, bake cookies, open our Advent calendars and get ready for Christmas.  I have to keep myself in a good mental place to do all of that with joy, instead of with stress, because only doing 10% of it, but doing it with joy, will make a better holiday (for all of us) than doing 100% of it with stress.

I just have to keep remembering that.  And I’d better look up the St. Nicholas thing.

Gingerbread

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‘Tis the season for many things — decorations, lights, music, holiday shopping (which means Christmas markets here in Vienna) and lots of festive foods and drinks.  Punsch is particularly popular here (we’re not entirely sure what it is, and it seems to vary by vendor, but it appears to be rum or vodka and a little bit of fruit juice, served warm), as well as hot chocolate, mulled wine, cookies and gingerbread.  Lots and lots of different kinds of gingerbread.

To me, gingerbread is something that makes little houses which are fun to decorate (theoretically — I haven’t actually done it in years) or a flavor that goes into a latte.  I did buy some mix last year and make a few gingerbread cake men (very yummy) but I honestly hadn’t given a lot of thought to gingerbread in my life.

In Vienna, gingerbread is a big deal.  There are entire shops at the Christmas markets devoted to nothing but different kinds of gingerbread — cakes, loaves, cookies.  At the Christmas market closest to our house, there are *3* gingerbread shops.  (Think about that for a minute:  3 shops that only sell gingerbread.  Seriously.)

A few weeks ago, Benjamin asked for a treat from one of the gingerbread shops when we were out.  He selected something from the case, took one bite, and decided he wasn’t interested.  I decided to try it.  What he had selected was gingerbread, topped with raspberry jam and coated in dark chocolate.  Yup.  It’s great.  I’ve been converted.  Now I love gingerbread.

Now, when we go to the markets, I often make a stop at a gingerbread shop.  This past weekend, at the Schonbrunn market, I had to elbow and push my way up through the crowd at the gingerbread shop to get up to the front to see what they had.  So, not only do they have dozens of new gingerbread markets around Vienna right now, but you have to shove your way up to the front of the line to get served.  They like their gingerbread here.  So do I.

I love Christmas in Vienna.

A too-busy weekend

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Thursday being Thanksgiving, Dan took Thursday and Friday off (like we used to do at home) so that we could take a long holiday weekend and enjoy the beginning of the Christmas season (even here in Vienna, today is the first Sunday of Advent, so Thanksgiving or no, it’s Christmastime now).  It was a great idea, but, as often happens with these lofty and overly rosy images I have of time off as a family, we’re at the end of the weekend, exhausted, off our schedule and a little grumpy.

018We had a great time this weekend (really).  We visited some Christmas markets, we all got to take naps (on at least a few of the days), we went out to eat for Thanksgiving, we got some chores done around the house (not as many as I’d hoped), some of us got to sleep in a little (Dan and Liam did — I’m not bitter) and even went to the zoo today (and saw the pandas for the first time, which was amazing).  It was a fun, packed weekend.  The boys rode on rides at the markets, I did a little Christmas shopping, and we got to spend a lot of time together as a family, which was wonderful.

Really, we had a good weekend.  Really.  But we did too much (and we didn’t even do all of the things we had planned — we do a pretty good job of sticking to a schedule unless it’s labelled “vacation” or “holiday”, in which case everything goes out the window).  So, here we are, trying to get ready for our upcoming week and it’s an hour past the kids’ bedtime and they’re just getting out of the bath.  We got home from the zoo this afternoon completely exhausted and frozen (never trust a Viennese weather report) and by 8:00 we had two kids (who refused to nap earlier) passed out on the couch — too late to be a nap, too early for bedtime.  Benjamin and Liam are still hanging on to the colds they had last week, and now I think Dan & I are getting sick, too.

I’m really glad we had some time off, got to spend so much time together, and took a break from our normal routine to explore and do some fun out-of-the-ordinary things.  But this was not the recipe for a restful holiday.  I think I need a vacation to recover from my long, holiday weekend.

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Advent

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Advent calendars are big in Vienna — they’re in many shop windows:  card shops, paper shops, toy stores, candy stores, book stores — even one tobacco shop seems to sell them.  Everyone seems to sell Advent calendars this time of year.  I’ve always loved them.  I have very fond memories from when I was younger of sitting on the floor of the Cricket Book Shopin Ashton and selecting my very favorite.  As I was about so many things (pumpkins, Christmas trees, Easter eggs) I was very particular (I always liked it best if the pictures in the windows told some sort of story, or were related to the exterior of the advent calendar — like opening up windows onto a scene inside of a house, rather than just random pictures of cute Christmas things) so the process of selecting one took a while, and I would secretly lament that I couldn’t bring home several.  Now that I’m a mom, I get to do just that . . . one for Benjamin, one for Liam and one for me (and Dan can share, too)!

The Rathaus (city hall) here apparently decorates one of its actual windows every day of advent — I can’t wait to take the boys over to check that out each day.  It’ll be like a real life advent calendar!

I sent my parents and siblings Advent calendar Christmas cards this year, so we could all open them together, even though we’re far apart.  I’m really excited about this tradition — familiar for me, new for my boys, shared with my family, and different here in Vienna.  It’s almost time, and we’re all looking forward to it.