For the first time in our lives, both Michael and I did not spend Christmas with our families and instead enjoyed a newlywed Yule Tide in Hungary. In order to keep some things normal, we bought a real Christmas tree from one of the corner tree lots that were set up around the city. Since we don't have any ornaments with us, we went the old-fashioned route and strung popcorn (a very labor-intensive process that confused some of our Hungarian friends) and designed our own ornaments and tree-toppers. I am quite proud of the fleet of dachshund ornaments I fashioned out of red construction paper.
Two days before Christmas, we headed to Vienna to visit the Christmas markets and enjoy the lights.
Instead of going to the big, commercialized market like we did last year, we tried to visit the smaller ones. These were all charming with wooden stall after wooden stall of handicrafts and food, but there seemed to be an overwhelming amount of vendors who sold Nepalese or Hindu type goods. So rather than the expected smell of mulled wine and bratwurst wafting through the air, we caught wiffs of patchouli oil and incense, which did make me slightly nostalgic for Boulder.
The best part of our one-night stay (besides eating delicious schnitzel and visiting two microbreweries) was ogling the Christmas lights. The city center of Vienna simply dazzled - lights were strung everywhere, and some buildings were shrouded in so many lights, they looked like wrapped presents.
My favorite lights were hung from large circles, so they streamed down like octopus tentacles.
Back in Budapest n Christmas Eve, we watched our favorite holiday movies, baked a lot of sweets and allowed each other to open one present, just like at home. On actual Christmas day, we didn't want to cook a big meal for just the two of us, so we went to the Marriott Hotel to feast on their delicious buffet, which was every bit as good as their Thanksgiving display. Maybe we'll make that a tradition ... That day I also went to mass at Budapest's most famous church, St. Stephen's Basilica. Although I couldn't understand the mass because it was given in Latin and Hungarian, it was such a beautiful experience to sit in this immense cathedral among strangers full of Christmas joy and wonder how many people had also been to mass in the same spot and stared at the same stunning frescoes over the last few centuries.
On Christmas night, our good friends filled our apartment, drank my mulled wine (even though I accidentally added peppercorn instead of cloves into it) and were holly and jolly into the wee hours of the night.
