I [donut] like Christmas.... I LOVE IT.
My roommates and I went to Budapest, Salzburg and Sienna (all in one weekend!) through Bus2Alps. We took a walking tour of Budapest and I learned things about Hungary that I didn't even know that I didn't know. Our guide even taught us some Hungarian! For example, to order ten beers, one would say "tíz sör", which is pronounced like "T-shirt."
While on the walking tour, I ordered hot wine from the first stand I saw. It warmed my hands as well as my soul.
After walking all around Budapest, we relaxed our feet in the Budapest hot springs. While it was about 40 degrees outside, that didn't stop us from submerging our bodies in the adult swimming pool! The steam felt nice; the only problem was that we got so comfortable that we forgot about the fact that at some point, we would need to get out and run inside!
The next morning , we got on the bus early and arrived in Vienna where we did another walking tour. (Why is it always walking tours? why can't we do bus tours?) Afterwards, we were free to roam. We roamed right over to the Christmas markets where I fell in love. Imagine everything you love about Christmas: hot drinks, hot foods, lights, Christmas ornaments, etc. And it's everywhere you look! Needless to say, I spent too much money on Christmas ornaments for my future home. My future Christmas tree will look amazing.
This time we were headed for Salzburg. We watched the sound of music on the bus ride there. But instead of doing the sound of music tour, my roommates and I roamed through more Christmas markets and climbed to the top of a castle!
Just like most families, my family LOVES to adorn our house with Christmas decorations. My mom, along with every other mom in the United States, had a collection of snowmen, santas and nutcrackers that she's collected from who-even-knows-where. But my all-time favorite part about Christmas are the smokers. Let me explain. Like I've said, my parents lived in Rome for a year after college. During that time, they went all over Europe. During their visit to Germany, my dad bought a "smoker" from a shop for just a couple of dollars; or rather, Euros. He brought it back to the states and ever since then, my parents have found these little smokers at garage sales, thrift shops, and estate sales. These smokers are hand-crafted out of wood and painted and sometimes given props (such as scissors if they're a hair dresser) and there are two parts. They split at the middle and the bottom half are the legs and the top half are the torso and arms. Inside of his top half, he's hallow. The idea is that you place a cone of incense on top of his legs and light it. Then, you place his top half back on and the smoke slowly trickles out of his mouth hole. So, every time I found one of these treasures, i bought it. I ended up leaving with three, so I'm starting my own collection for my future family!
