K-k-k-k... Krampus!

Es muss ein Wunderbares sein

Here is our choir! Listening back it did sound pretty good considering we only had 6 Altos and very few men. It meant a lot to me to be in a choir again, to sing in harmony, it felt like home. If only there was a permanent one. Music Gleek for life. 

*I will add the video when I have more time!

Six Altos to the right.

Es muss ein Wunderbares sein

Felt, felt, I like felt!

This was a little Christmas Market in the nearby castle. It was a somber but beautifully melancholy day that contrasted the warm atmosphere inside. It felt festive. I also rekindled my love for felt crafts. They are always so unique and organic looking.  

K-k-k-k....Krampus

They walk among us.

Going into Krampus I had no idea what to expect. I thought perhaps some people dressed in masks, like Halloween, to scare little kids. Wrong. Lucky we met up with a few people before hand at the Soroptimist Glühwein and Punsch stand and saw a picture of the little kid with a terrifying monster. So I was sort of prepared for what was coming up the street. As the parade of horror approached so did the crowd, the red smoke and the cries of terror. The procession neared us and what I thought would be a few dressed up silly men contained to the street were huge, gory, and quite terrifying monsters that when provoked chased people down the street. If you are old enough to look back on it it’s quite comical. My host mom told me that they used to in older days be quite violent and really get in there and beat the children, (but now of course that would be barbaric). 

The parade of carnage was followed by a “fire show” in the Haupt Platz (town centre). Among the creatures was a Gollum-like creature that got really wild in the prelude to the fire. He spun menacingly around the stage to the tune of “O Fortuna” then the biggest monster said something to him in German and they played some German heavy metal. Which brings me to my next point... The audience. From kids and their parents, to normal citizens, to punk-rebel twenty somethings, to students crowded the streets. It was really something, a truly unique Austrian experience...