FROHE WEIHNACHEN UND EINEN GUTEN RUTSCH!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope everyone is well this holiday season. I am currently packing for Stuttgart, Germany. I was originally going to spend the holiday in Torgau with my friend's entire family, but due to a change of plans, I will be staying with her and her sister in Stuttgart, another beautiful city in Germany.

The advent season is a beautiful time here in Salzburg. There is a "Christkindlmarkt" (literally, Christ child market), in which you can purchase delicious hot beverages (Glühwein and Punsch) and also a variety of goodies such as Brezeln (pretzels) in different flavors.
There are also creatures call Krampus and Perchten (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Christian_Alpine_traditions#Perchten). Sadly, I missed all the "Krampus- und Perchtenlauf" opportunities this year, so I never met either of them. I will get to experience some of the other odd traditions they have here, hopefully, so I supposed I can't be too sad.

I have been blessed with many adventures while here so far... I climbed Gaisberg, one of the mountains in the Alps, and I also spent a day in Munich. I will upload photos from my time here as soon as possible.