The Krampus

One thing I'm not sure that anyone at home knows about is how incredibly dangerous it is here on December 5. You're just getting in to the holiday swing of things, all the lights are going up on the hotels, the trees are up and lit around town, the Christmas market is being set up....and then December 5th rolls around and you have to stay inside all day, hiding from the Krampus.

ALL images via Google, I would be too scared to take a picture myself

As you can see, the Krampus are beasts who accompany St. Nicolas on December 5 to punish children who have been bad and to scare children into being good during the Christmas season (children, adults, whatever.....I was scared). They drag chains along the ground and always pull a wheel barrow full of fire. They come out as soon as it gets dark and walk around town scaring.....everyone.

This mostly happens in Austria, also in some parts of Germany,  and unfortunately, the South Tyrol - which is basically where we are, and why we have them lurking around in Cortina...the downfalls of being only an hour away from Austria.

Anyway, I had my first scare last year - my friend Natalie and I were caught outside in the open as the Krampus descended on Cortina from the hill behind our apartments (we had to make a run for it to get inside - and they are not afraid to chase you) - so this year I had written on the calendar in big letters "DO NOT GO OUTSIDE". We were able to watch them come down the same hill, right at 5 o'clock when it was dark, from the safety of our balcony. It was thrilling. But then we really couldn't go outside for the rest of the day so...it was time for a glass of prosecco.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like December

Munich!

On Wednesday and Thursday, we took a little girls trip to Munich. I've never been to Germany before - except the airport - so I was really excited. The weather was AWFUL - freezing and snowy and rainy....but we came prepared with rain boots, umbrellas and hats, so we still had fun walking around and seeing the sights, which was mainly....the Christmas market! Let the Christmas market season BEGIN! Their market had just opened, and was very popular, so we spent a lot of time there buying ornaments for our trees and drinking Gluhwein and eating pretzels and sausages with mustard. We also spent a lot of time in the German grocery stores, looking at all the things they don't have in Italy. We stocked up on German chocolate, beer and clementines (most of which you can probably buy in Cortina, but....), and practiced our German, which was very mediocre. Turns out that Munich is only four hours away from Cortina, so we'll be going back, maybe in the spring when it's not so cold and gray!

Our Thanksgiving

Here's a few photos from our Thanksgiving dinner last night, if you'd like to see. Last year, our turkey was 40 pounds and this year it rang in at 32 - needless to say, the wings and legs needed to be cut off to fit it in the oven, and then the rest of it turned out very well! Apparently they do not have small turkeys here (I asked for a 20 pound one, and this is what we got).

Everyone brought something to the dinner so we had tons of food - besides the huge turkey, there was mashed potatoes with three different kinds of gravy, two stuffings, squash with walnuts and gorgonzola, Ryan's famous and costly green bean casserole - and - being in Italy, we had to get a little creative. We had carrots with brown sugar instead of sweet potatoes and a cherry sauce instead of cranberry, which they don't have here anywhere, except for in the woods, so says one of the Italians who ventured over. We drank prosecco and ate and ate and ate, and then had tons of dessert - pumpkin cheese cake, chocolate pie, butter cake, lemon bars....My friend Stacy made all the desserts and she's 6 months pregnant so she went a little overboard. Everything was so good AND we played Charades after dinner, so I felt very at home (especially when some of the boys complained about it, and then gave in, just like my dad would do).

Overall, Thanksgiving was a huge hit and now...on to Christmas! Ry and I went for a walk this morning through town and everything was being set up for December 1, when the Christmas season will officially begin!

The Bear(s) Went Over the Mountain

Yesterday was Derby Day here in the Dolomites, so Audrey and I headed up and over the mountain and down to Alleghe for the game (we were actually going to visit our friend Natalie, who is now in Alleghe with her fiance, but we saw some of the game while we were there too).

Image via Alleghe Hockey (which is why they're about to score on us)

 Derby Day is a big deal here - every Italian who follows hockey in Cortina, Alleghe and Belluno was crammed into the rink. The game ended up tied at 3-3 at the end, so they went into overtime. If we go into overtime, we get one point, even if we don't win, so Audrey and I were standing there, whispering to each other "20 seconds until we get one point!! 10 seconds until we get one point!!" We got the one point.

Unfortunately, the previously mentioned fiance of our friend Natalie, ended up scoring a very dramatic goal with two minutes left in overtime. Oh well. We got the one point. And that is just one of many things we're thankful for on this Italian Thanksgiving Day!

And now....on to the cooking!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're sending lots of love back home this Thanksgiving day! (And a little bit of jealousy....) We aren't celebrating until Sunday so we still have three days to wait!

We hope everyone has a fun and yummy day - even all the way over here, we are so thankful for our friends and family back home who Skype with us, email us, and keep us in the loop from thousands of miles away.

Stay tuned next week for pictures from our own celebration.....including the 25 dollar green bean casserole which will be making a come back this Sunday. xo

And a Few More....

Back by popular demand....here's a few more picture of our trip to Rome earlier this month.

The Victor Emmanuel monument, which was very close to our little hotel

Rainy streets in Trastevere, our first night

Great view of the Colosseum

Walking around the Forum....

More Forum

A beautiful ceiling in the Vatican Museum - which we saw a lot of

A map from the "map room" in the Vatican Museum....we were trying to look for Cortina!

Even MORE walls and ceilings!

A view of Piazza del Popolo

A little duck pond in the Borghese Gardens

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Ryan has a tough game on Saturday night against Brunico - they're #1 - but we won on Thursday so we might be making a come back....