A little cultural treat

I didn't know that they shoot for Christmas - kind of a strange custom, isn't it?
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Hamburger, that goose looks so inviting. I might reconsider and get a goose
instead of a duck for Christmas.

Light the fourth candle.

We just did as well, and we're drinking Gluehwein....

cj ,
if you can get a " grass goose " ( a goose fed a lot of grass ) - rather than one just fed on corn , you'll get the best goose you've ever had .
we used to buy a grass goose from mennonite farmers at the kitchener-waterloo market - it would be a long trip for you , but worth it .

this lady might just have a grass goose - under the counter .
since there weren't many grass geese , they would sometmes be hidden under the counter



from the restaurant " bei muttern " :



no fuss , no mess ... ...

Beautiful, George. (My favourite -- thanks.)

The Gluehwein was wonderful.
Thumbs up from the clan!

I've noticed some -for me- rather unusual traditions here in Austria:

- on Christmas Eve, the (Traditional) 2nd Emperial and Royal Dragoon Regiment was bring the Peace Light to various villages close to Vienna (where we are staying).
Hundreds of people came to central places to light candles and take the light home.
[That's done at home, too, but less spectacular.]

- my new relatives (adopted son of my cousin) showed us 'wheat'.
That's the literal translation from Croatian and means exactly the same: on December 13. wheat is grown in a bowl, three candles are sticked in that bowl, carrying an apple.
The apple finally will be eaten on St. Blaise Day.
The meaning of the candles and how long this bowl is kept "active" obviously differs from village to village in Bosnia/Croatia since both, 'niece' and 'nephew' had different opinions about that.

This pic from wiki is a bit different to the one we saw

We did a lot more visiting among our families this year and it was a throwback to my childhood when that was a common occurence. BAck then the mothers used to put on a "progressive meal" that started at one house and just went on. We revived it this year to mostly help my wifes sister who lost her husband in the late summer.

While we were visiting and travelling about, I noticed a custom that may be unique to East Coats US. On Christmas Eve, the volunteer fire companies will dress out one of their engines and also dress up some guy like Santa Claus and put him on a seat on top of the ladder area on te engine. Then they would drive the engine around the entire town of their "fisrt response territory" and have Santa wave and shout and the sirens would be blaring. People would come out and return the waves and the kids would get all stoked up just before bed time so instead of any calminative effects this "fire engine Santa" custom would have the same effect of trying to make a band of weasels get to sleep while they were busy tearing a chicken apart.

I dont know whether they do that in other parts of the world but it truly is an annoying one around here. Where we live, since its so rural, noone from any fore company comes out that far unless theres a fire. However, one could hear the sirens all the way in the town which is more than 3 miles away from our place.
Silly custom.

I indulged, briefly, in the Boxing Day sales yesterday. Didn't go out til about 1 p.m. and was back before dark. Missed most of the crowds, but still managed to get some of the deals I'd spotted in the flyers.

Now I'm watching the Brrrrrrrrmageddon coverage of the storm in the NorthEast of the U.S. Glad I'm not there right now.

On the way back from my cousin's tonight, we drove through the Wachau region, on the Danube river.

In one of the little vineyard village, aside of a thousand years old fortified church, I've noticed a ... well, uncommon tradition for me: Christmas decorations on the cemetery

The Christmas markets won't open before next Monday here in Hamburg - so we (c.i., the McTag's, Mrs Walter and I) can only watch how they#re built up.

But that's already quite a nice view already now




(Historical Christmas market in fron of the Hamburg townhall)


(Fairy tale motifs on the ships of the Alster fleet, on Binnenalster)

Typical Hamburg weather too!!

Is it a nice day in upper San Diego??

Thank you Walter.

I've never been in Hamburg at this time of year. So nice to see these photos - particularly the one of the BinnenAlster. I've got a real soft spot for that area.

No George! It's a chilly 59 F and I am wrapped around a blanket and drink some hot tea - it's certainly cozy but I prefer the low 70s. How is it in sophisticated SF? I was thinking of you - we had the America's Cup down here!!

It's more or less the same here, but with rain showers. It does feel a bit wintery ... for California !

Lots of folks from SFYC went down to San Diego to watch the races. perhaps some occasional regrets that they didn't sell out to Larry Ellison - all he wanted was control of the Board.

I've been travelling a lot - Dallas, Denver, Washington and Coral Gables (to see new grandson): having occasional second thoughts about continuing an active role in the company - do I need this ? (tho' I probably will continue); and looking forward to a less hectic Holiday Season.

I hope you and daughter are well. Happy Thanksgiving.

You could retire and travel for pleasure instead. Let me know when you're heading for Munich, I'll give you some hometown tips
We're doing splendid! My teenager started volunteering at Scripps hospital and she likes it - community service is good for them.
You and your family have a great Thanksgiving too, George!

Only since three days we've got the typical November weather - before we hahd had only sunshine, temperatures up to 20°C , ... warmest November since 375 years!

Belsnickeling begins after Dec 1. We hire Belsnickels (re-enactors)in Lancaster to walk around and either hand out mini presents or engage folks in some ribald Holiday greetings and "good natured " criticism.

"Nice ass there lady".(overheard coming from a Belsnickel in full "Dumpsterman" regalia)

SOmetimes the wishes go beyond what would be considered PG and fistfights can often ensue. I live for misunderstood Belsnickeling. Its so AMerican to take a simple holiday tradition and turn it into a criminal enterprise