Part Two Of My Journey

There was so much to see when I was away and I drove everybody around me because I was stopping to take pictures every two minutes.  The light my not have been great at times because the sky was grey with snow laden clouds but still I could not help but try.

We stopped in a roadside restaurant one day and I could not help but drool at the food that was on display there.  And just inside the main entrance was this little giant beauty of a gingerbread house.  i don't think that I've ever seen such attention to detail in one before.  It even had gorgeous shutters on the windows.

If you can see the man standing behind it.  You can get some idea of the scale of this thing.  I think that I would have eaten half of it before I even managed to decorate it.  Yum diddily yumshious.

The same day we went for a short walk around a small lake, the name of which I can't spell so I'm leaving it out.  The snow fell lightly and it was so fine and dry that it sat on our hats and eyelashes like icing sugar.

This tree with steps that children climb so that they can jump from it into the water, sits dormant and sleeping over the semi-frozen lake while it waits for it's playmates to return in the heat of the summer.

At a small local Christmas market on the way back to the house we stopped and drank some Glühwein and ate hot waffles sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. This kept us warmed up nicely as we stood and chatted about Christmas and all the nice biscuits and sweets that we wanted  had to bring home and how on earth we were going to squeeze them into our suitcases.  We just couldn't go home and not bring a selection (of everything) home for the holiday season.  I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that the cake shops are heaven on earth!

Our last big trip was to the Salzburg Christmas market.  We went at night so that we could experience the true magic of it.  It was beautiful to see the stalls lit up with candle and fairy lights.  The choir stood on the steps of the Cathedral and sang carols in the cold night air.  This would get even Ebeneezer Scrooge into the Christmas spirit.

I love the colours of all the liqueurs and schnapps here. I had never realised that they could look so appetising and appealing.  Just look at that blue and pink!

Traditional nutcrackers stand to attention and proudly.  So beautifully handcrafted.

And finally row upon row of smoker dolls of every type and description stand in a blast of colour in the dark cold evening.

And last but most definitely now least, as a family we have had some excellent news in this last week.  My son was diagnosed with petit mal epilepsy when he was four years old and his specialist has decided that now as everything is in his favour, EEG results and MRI, he can finally try and come off his medication.  Needless to say we are all very happy bunnies about that one.  The best Christmas present that we could have ever asked for.  We are just going to take it one step at a time together.

Thanks for taking the time to visit and read my ramblings.
Rosie xx