Sorry, No Photos Here

I do have an abundance of new, interesting pictures to put online, but my mom and two younger sisters are visiting Vienna for the holidays, and I'm running on very little sleep.

We've been walking all over Vienna - Naschmarkt, Mariahilferstrasse, Kärntnerstrasse, the Graben, Rotenturmstrasse, Griechengasse, Grinzing, Hietzing, and even up at Kahlenberg. We've visited the Christmas markets at the Rathaus, Spittelberg and Schloß Schönbrunn. We also walked some of the gardens at Schönbrunn and toured the inside of the palace -- and that's just in Vienna!

Yesterday we took a train to Mallnitz in Kärnten / Carinthia. "We" includes my mom, my younger brother (Craig), his girlfriend (Sabrina), my two younger sisters (L. and S.) and I. Mallnitz is a tiny, picturesque Alpine village in the Hohe Tauern (High Towers) National Park. Grossglockner, Austria's tallest mountain at 3,797 meters (12,457 feet) is part of the Hohe Tauern range, and is not far from Mallnitz.

Mallnitz threw an exciting festival last night. The setting was perfect - more than a foot of pristine snow fell on the town and surrounding areas yesterday -- excellent timing. The festival was held in the town square - a stream running through it, typical, centuries-old alpine architecture surrounding it. The festival centered around the Perchten, demons with roots in pre Christian Norse/Germanic mythology. Perchten seem to originate from a legend about Freya, wife of Odin/Wotan, chief of the Nordic gods.

But it's 6:25 (AM) and I need some sleep (another big day tomorrow), so I can't do the whole post tonight. The pictures of the festival, and of our time in Salzburg, are great, and the info I'm finding on the Perchten (most in German) is pretty interesting stuff.

I will get the pictures online ASAP.