Christmas markets, December 2012

One of the best things about the holidays in our part of Europe is the various Christmas markets.  Bratislava has a really cute one, there are several in Vienna (the largest and most popular being in front of the Rathaus), Budapest, Austria, etc.  We went to Vienna one weekend to make the rounds, this time going to one we hadn't been to before, behind the Museumsquartier.  We also went to Schloss Hof, an Austrian palace just over the river from Devinska Nova Ves, just over 10km from Bratislava.  We took a weekend to go to the Nurnberg market, one of the oldest in Europe.  And of course, we went to the Bratislava market several times.  I love to stroll around the market, looking at all the stuff available at the different stalls.  Gluhwein (varenne vino) is my favorite.  In Nurnberg, we also tried blueberry gluhwein, not bad!  Nurnberg is famous for their nurnbergers, short little sausages.  They smelled fantastic!

Holiday Buzz

Saturday morning, blue skies, it's gonna be cold today.

Blowing snow last night and the last snow flakes from the system. That's our car, a Skoda Fabia. Diesel with a five speed manual transmission. Built on the Volkwagon Golf chassis. Sneh means snow.

Heading back from the Billa market with breakfast, it only got colder as the day went on. We spent Saturday afternoon at IKEA looking for a bathroom storage rack. It's really no different than any other shopping center, the bright lights and people mindlessly walking around in search of something to make themselves happy.

PwC building during much warmer days in May.

Monday morning, the south side of the building.

Look at the temperature, really a heat wave on Monday. Heading to Old Town for lunch at the Holiday Markets.

Look at all those onions, chicken and pork cutlets, sausages and bread grilling. Ciganska kuracie coming up. Those are green and red peppers on the left.

I found a holiday beer at Billa on Monday. Zlaty Bazant Bock, it looks and tastes like a Moose Drool.