Christmas in Austria is a magical time. In the snow-covered Alps, families descend from their mountain homes to the valley below, illuminating the night with torches held high to light their way. Carolers gather in churches and town squares to sing and celebrate the season. Christmas trees are purchased around the 24th of December and are decorated with real candles that will be lit for the evening’s festivities. After the church services, families have a Christmas Eve dinner of “Gebackener Karpfen”, or fried carp. Dessert will be tiny buttery cookies and perhaps a “Sachertorte”, a chocolate and apricot cake made only for special occasions. After dinner, a bell is rung and children are allowed to go into the room with the lit Christmas tree and variety of gifts. The Austrian Santa is from the Alps. He wears a simple warm brown wool coat and boiled wood embroidered slippers. However, he has adorned his cap with sprigs of holly and berries and in his heavily embroidered sack are gifts that every child will love as well as the beloved Austrian Christmas tree. A pocket watch tells him to keep on schedule and a lighted lantern guides him around snowy mountain paths.
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