just a little treat i bought for myself...

Christmas is in the air and I am looooving it. I'm not used to seeing Christmas decorations until right after Thanksgiving, but Graz has been decorated for about two weeks now. Tonight was the first night they lit up the huge Christmas tree in the middle of Hauptplatz (the city square). Hauptplatz is constantly buzzing with people and activity these days...there are various Christkindlmarkts which consist of little wooden houses from which people sell ornaments, homemade crafts and goods, gluehwein (hot mulled wine with sugar and spices...delicious), waffles, etc. We also have the largest advent calendar in all of Europe. They set up this huge light display that shines on the Rathaus (main government building) and shows the number of days until Christmas. It has been snowing like crazy all day long (almost half a foot so far, and it's still going strong), but we braved the weather and walked to Hauptplatz to watch the festivities.

Photos from top to bottom: 1) The front of the Rathaus before they lit it up. If you look closely, you can see some guys playing trumpets on the balcony. 2) Buildings and people downtown. 3) Mary being adorable. 4) Christmas tree, pre-lights. The lights you can see in the picture are on one of the Christkindl stands. 5) Lights! The pictures don't do it any justice, but the tree is enormous.
















































In conclusion: I love Christmas, Austria and snow. Life is good.

Slovenia pictures, finally!

I finally got a chance to post my pictures from our trip to Slovenia last weekend. I still have a ton to put up from Lindsay's visit and Thanksgiving...so keep checking back. Ciao!

it was a very cramped journey from graz to maribor, slovenia. tom's bum was not enjoying it so much. 

a house across the street from iztok's. it's one of the few i've seen that doesn't look eastern european/communist.

mmm, slovenian beer. it tasted like a meal, if that makes any sense. 

iztok's friend's piece from the exhibition we went to friday night. he's a graffiti artist, so this picture of gandhi was made only with spray cans. crazy. 

slovenian graffiti. wuh? 

hanging out on iztok's giant bed 

mm, wiener schnitzel, gebackene kaese, pommes, salat, semmeln, eistee...iztok's mom cooked us a feast. 

jen and noel taking advantage of the cheap cocktails 

view from iztok's house 

winter in maribor...the first snow of my austrian experience! it's snowed three times since then as well. mmm, i love it. 

iztok's family makes their own wine so we brought four gallons with us on the bus. most houses that i've seen in slovenia and croatia have their own vineyards, even the more peasant-looking homes. the wine is amazing. 

taking a break from napping 

my first and favorite castle of the day. it's actually a five-star hotel now, which makes it a lot less cool...but it was still really beautiful. 

again 

bridge and swans 

apparently a few weeks ago a swan was found dead in a slovenian lake and for the first few days the slovenian government denied the possibility of the bird flu being in slovenia and tried to argue that the swan drowned. a swan? drowning? 

one of many communist-strength-themed statues 

couldn't resist 

ivy 

cute old fisherman. i like his dinghy. 

the gang 

cool church