Merry Christmas from Amstetten

Mark, Deets, and I were fortunate enough to celebrate Christmas with Christina’s family today. The five of us hopped into the car headed for a small village near Amstetten where we met an exceptional number of family members, who were gracious enough to share their Austrian Christmas traditions.  Our first stop was a holiday buffet in town complete with schnitzel, fried fish, garlic soup, cheese plates, and beer. That was only the first course…

Adequately stuffed, the Kahrers, Linzattis and Schlinks continued onto the Kahrer residence for a small gathering before moving onto the grandparents’ house. The gift exchange started with bottles of wine Mark picked out, along with a chocolate cake I picked out. They outmatched us with homemade cookies, spiced cider, coffee, digestifs and toys for Deets. Their hospitality was undeniable.

Sparklers in the tree! Totally awesome.

Mark's toy house, Deet's spiced cider.

Mark showing Deets how it's done.

Maria and Josef, married for 29 years and still madly in love.

Walking down the road to the grandparent’s party, we learned their home, which could be seen from the Kahrer’s, was about 300 years old. It was a gorgeous two story yellow house that was tucked behind a hill, on farmland that has been with the family for about the same time. Their dining room alone contained about forty family members, from 4 months to 80 years old. The children gave a mini violin/cello/flute recital and we all sang our version of Silent Night before they tore into their gifts. Needless to say, food was boundless along with beer and tuica. We were having a blast and it seemed the fun was just getting started as we bundled up Deets to head back to Vienna.