Salzburg Christmas Markets

Hi everyone!

I hope you are doing well. I had another calm weekend in Salzburg. On Thanksgiving my study abroad group went to a Mozart dinner theater. It was really lovely and in the oldest restaurant in the world or something, it dates back to a monastery from like the 800's. I got a real Thanksgiving meal on Friday, though. My American friend Danielle, who I met in my aerobics class, invited me to a Thanksgiving dinner at her house. There were over 20 people there, including my friend Kathleen who went to France with me. It was a mix of American, British, Irish, and a few Italian, Czech and Polish students. Everyone brought something, so we had turkey and dressing and mashed potatoes. The British brought bread pudding and rice pudding, so that was new to me. I didn't understand at first, but Kathleen taught me that they call all deserts puddings. Once again, there is a huge cultural gap between Americans and British/Irish/Scottish people, even though we speak the same language.

On Saturday I rode my bike along the Salzach River which runs right through Salzburg, and went up to this church on a hill called Maria Plain.

I also went to the Christmas Markets in the Aldstadt with my Austrian friend Hanna. There's such a great atmosphere of the bustle of shoppers and little stands with Christmas goods. They say this is the warmest November Salzburg has had in 230 years, and that there should be snow for the market. Of course I'm a little relieved it isn't colder than it is, but I hope it will snow before I leave. We had some Glühwein, hot spiced wine, and walked around the market. It's so cool that their markets over here are outside.
Here's a pic of the Getreidegasse, the shopping street in the Aldstadt all lit up:

There's also an outdoor skating rink set up and humongous Christmas trees.

We had church on Sunday and choir practice again. I'm looking forward to our Christmas service and concert, but I also really enjoy rehearsal and just singing again.

Here's one view of the house I'm living in: There are gardens on both sides, and sorta shutters on the windows, but I guess they're more like a double window.

This is the view of Salzburg from the church I hiked up to. It's a great view of the mountains surrounding Salzburg.

Next weekend I'm going to Berlin. It should be interesting. By the way, I was thinking that I wouldn't have too bad of culture shock coming back to the US, since I'm in an industrialized, Western country and all, but then I watched Cars, which is a cute film, and SO American, I'm definitely going to have culture shock. No doubt. Just watching I had dreams about dringing through the Hill Country. I only have 3 1/2 more weeks here. I definitely feel ready to come home. I've done so much and learned through every experience. Pray that I would continue to live these last weeks here fully and to invest in relationships here to the end.

Loving the Advent Season in Salzburg,
Liz