St Nick but no Krampus and other Vienna, Austria Local Custom Tips

December 6th is the day on which St Ncholas visits Austrian children. I became aware of this on Wednesday morning when cheering and singing from the puppet show down below on the Freyung became even noisier than usual. Leaning out my bedroom window I saw a very strange sight - what looked to me like St Patrick dressed in red, skulking behind one of the little wooden market stalls. This turned out to be St Nicholas waiting for the signal to pop out and surprise the waiting children. Later in the day I heard that this year, Krampus, St Nick's black sidekick, was not allowed to visit schools as it was considered poitically incorrect. Later still in the afternoon I finally saw a Krampus, in the Nascmarket, made with prunes,bacon and coktail sausage sticks. Poor Krampus ! Watching St Nicholas visiting with the pre-school children was a nostalgic andseasonal experience and I was seriously impressed by how well-behaved and orderly these very young children were, even when really excited.

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Website: www.vienna.info

I've been in a fair few European capitals in December but I think it's highly unlikely that anyone does Christmas better than the Viennese. The place seems somehow made for Christmas and you will have absolutely no problem finding a Christmas Market to shop or browse in. The biggest and probably the most commercial is at the Rathaus and then various other smaller ones are dotted around at regular intervals. On Freyung, the Square we stayed on, there was a great market, small enough to get around easily and with quite a lot of crafts and home-made foods. A little way up the street was Am-Hof, specialising in antiques and bric-a-brac and outside the Kunsthistoriche Museum was the best craft market I came across. I bought wax stars here and some ceramic jewelry . I also bought cute little wooden toys for the 'kinder' in my life and a black ornamental cat for myself. Sometimes the crowds are so thick that it can be difficult to see the stalls, so if you're an early bird then your chances of some relaxed shopping are greatly enhanced. Most of the markets stay open until around 9 in the evening and it's really nice to stop and have a hot punch on your way back home.

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Website: www.weinachtsdorf.at

This statue of Dar Liebe Augustin is just outside the oldest restaurant in Vienna at Fleischmarkt and Griechengasse. Liebe Augustin, who was a frequent guest at this restaurant ,was a charismatic figure in 17th century Vienna who played the doodle sac ( probably bagpipes to most of us) and brought some happiness and relief to people devastated by the plague. Even though he was in constant contact with peole afflictd by the disease he never caught it himself. There was even a songwritten about this "oh, du lieben Augustin/Alles ist hin'. This local custom was pointed out to me by Globetrott who tried but didn't quite manage to teach me the song.

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Website: www.vienna.info

Going to a cafe in Vienna is a pleasurable experience on all kinds of levels. For the price of a cup of coffee you can stay as long as you like and people-watch to your hearts content. Some of the cafes have live classical music and many are in themselves, architectural showpieces. It's very hard though, to have just a cup of coffee in any of the cafes here. In fact it would be a travesty because everybody owes it to themselves to savour the local specialities. This is the excuse I made to indulge in mountains of calories that normally I would avoid like the plague. The biggest problem is actually selecting which gateau to indulge in. The Sacher-torte is all chocolate with just a tiny layer of fruit preserve under the top icing.This slightly dilutes the sweetness. More exciting by far for me is the dobosotorte (spelling ?). It's the one in the picture with all the tiny layers of caramel frosting and the hard, glazed toffee icing on top. I actually can't think of any word good enough to desctibe it ! The apple strudel is also superb and not quite so heavy. To accompany your cake there is a bewildering selection of coffees, the most popular, I think , being the melange. The coffee is nice but the hot chocolate is divine !

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Website: www.vienna.info

Vienna doesn't just stop at Christmas markets. There are wonderful decorations on streets, public buildings and shops all over the city. I have never before seen so many perfectly dressed Christmas trees and it made me cringe to think of some of the scraggy, almost bare offerings which grace some of our towns and open spaces. Even some of the trams are decorated at Christmas and watching one go by festooned with great golden bows is a sight for sore eyes. I understand the Christmas trams can be hired for private parties which must explain how jolly all the passengers look. As well as at market stands, people drinking gluehwein can be found in courtyards everywhere. So many buildings in Vienna are actually former palaces that an amazingly high number of them have large cobbled courtyards hidden away inside. Passing by in the evening you are alerted to these courtyards by the smell of hot mulled wine and the buzz of conversation. A most civilised local custom, I think.

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Website: www.vienna.info

Something which really surprised my was how much Catholicism there is in evidence in Austria. My history lessons on the Counter-Reformation had obviously long ago been forgotten but everywhere you turn in Vienna there is a monastery or yet another stunning Baroque church. Not only are there churches but there are people praying in the churches. Praying and singing with a very high proportion of the churches having wonderful sung masses. At 4.00pm on December 8th a candle-lit procession leaves Am-Hof to parade throught the city and I was absolutely staggered at the outpouring of religious fervour from the people who took part. The 8th of Decemebr in Ireland is a so-called holy day also but it is entirely devoted to shopping. In Vienna though there was a huge turn-out and when somebody handed me a candle I got a bit carried away and joined in myself.

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Website: www.vienna.info