Category: Travel

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The Inaugural Cruise of the Celebrity Ascent

We were fortunate to get to sail on Celebrity Ascent on her Inaugural cruise from Fort Lauderdale in November, 2023. What an awesome ship!! This was the first time we have been on one of their Edge Class ships. Everyone whom we have booked on an Edge class ship told us how wonderful it was, and we can now confirm all of the positive reviews.

Boarding was the best we have ever experienced. A quick picture, scan the QR code, walk onto the ship. As fast and easy as our boarding was, I think it would go very smoothly on a regular voyage. Our cabin cards were waiting for us in a little package outside of our cabin. Very easy boarding! Getting off was just as easy. We carried our bags, so it was just a facial scan at customs, and we were done.

This is a 3,260 guest, double occupancy ship. There are lots and lots of very nice public spaces. The infinite balcony in our stateroom is awesome. More about that later. There are 8 speciality restaurants – Le Voyage Steakhouse, La Grand Bistro which serves French cuisine, Le Petite Chef which has the 3D table animation art form to add to your experience, Raw on 5, a seafood restaurant, The Magic Carpet for nibbles and drinks and dinner in the evenings, The Rooftop Garden Grill, and the Eden Restaurant which is an open kitchen restaurant. There are 4 main dining rooms, all serving the same menu for each meal. The ship also has several other complimentary dining – The  Eden Cafe which offers morning beverages and bites, the Spa Cafe and Juice Bar for healthy cuisine, the Oceanview Cafe which offers made to order breakfast and lunch with an international menu for dinner, Mast Grill for burgers on the top deck with an amazing view. The Retreat (an exclusive area) has 2 restaurants. Ascent has 9 bars, some on the top decks with gorgeous ocean views – a Martini Bar on Deck 3 and the bar on the Magic Carpet.

The Magic Carpet is a great place to sit and gaze at the ocean with a drink. It is a cantilevered, floating platform, surrounded by glass or open areas (except obviously against the ship). It juts out over the ship. It stops at 3 different levels during the day. It stops on the deck in front of the cabanas and becomes a pool deck extension, and it stops at one of the ships main dining rooms to serve as alfresco dining. In the evenings it stops on deck 16 to offer “Dinner on the Edge” dining.

Our cabin was very nice. We entered with bathroom to the right – good size room with a decent shower. Backed up to the bathroom is a large closet with shelves and hanging up space. Then a 3 person couch with desk and shelves across from this. Refrigerator with water on the top. Some shelving and a safe. Then the king size bed with small built in tables on either side with usb ports and drawers.

Our stateroom, as do most of the veranda staterooms, had an infinite balcony. We were interested to see what this was. It was pretty impressive – with the push of a button, the top of the window slides down until you have an area very much like a normal balcony on a ship. But, it is protected so no wind, it’s shady, and you have opened your room up to the outside! It gives more space in the cabin and is useful even when the water isn’t conducive to sitting on the balcony. 

The balcony area can be closed off with panels that can be opened or closed at the touch of a button. A plus on this ship, as far as I am concerned, slightly in front of the window is a black out curtain that rolls up into the ceiling and lowers to the floor, with a switch.

We stopped by our muster station and got that done in about 5 minutes. Our first lunch was at the  Oceanview Cafe, the buffet. There are about 10 huge stations there not counting the dessert and bread stations. Anything you could want almost, even grilled steaks, Mexican station, etc. It was a huge spread!!

We started  our exploration on deck 16 and worked our way down. (Deck 17 is for The Retreat guests.) Deck 16 has part of the jogging track and a hot tub. Deck 15 is the “Resort Deck”. It has the rest of the jogging track, the Rooftop Garden Grill, the Rooftop Garden area, the Sunset Bar, and the Fitness Center. The Fitness Center had lots of equipment.  We stopped at the Sunset Bar, what a fabulous area – several levels, mostly outside areas with a few covered areas, lots of little nooks for privacy or joining a few other couples. Part of it is a Rooftop Garden with lots of greenery. There are several float pools that are cantilevered over the ocean.There are some really neat pluses on this ship – infinity hot tubs look out on the ocean, most with glass panels, there are lifts to get handicapped people into the pools, lots of green spaces with chairs to have some quiet time, lots of lounge chairs under a cover, etc.  

Deck 14 has the Mast Grill, ll Secondo Bacio (a coffee bar and fresh squeezed juices), the Oceanview Cafe (the awesome buffet), the Spa, the Solarium which is an adult only pool and lounge area, SEA Thermal Suite, Spa Cafe and Juice Bar, and where the Magic Carpet was at the time. There is also the Main pool with a terraced deck. It has a huge silver octopus on one end of the deck, very nice.

Decks 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 were all cabins. Deck 6 was mostly cabins but also the Eden Restaurant which is multilevel. Deck 5 is the Theater (multilevel), The Club (a hub of activities and social interaction, morning, noon, and night), the Steakhouse, The Club, Shops, more of the Eden Restaurant, The Eden Bar, Raw on 5 Restaurant and the Grand Plaza which is multilevel.

Deck 4 had more of the Grand Plaza (this is really a nice space, multilevel and great places to sit), the rest of the Theater and the Eden Restaurant, Le Grand Bistro Restaurant, Cypress Restaurant and the Cosmopolitan Restaurant, where we ate our dinners. The Casino is also on this deck.  Deck 3 had some staterooms, the rest of the Theater and the Grand Plaza, the Martini Bar, Tuscan Restaurant, Normandie Restaurant and Camp at Sea for the kids. Deck 2 was where the Magic Carpet goes for passengers getting to the tender boats and the medical facility.

There are no water slides, etc. for the kids. There is a Camp at Sea group for 13-17 year olds, one for 10-12, one for 6-9 and 3-5 if they are potty trained. The programs look like most cruise ship programs but they do use Stem Programs (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The are also autism friendly. They base their programs on the interest of the children participating on the cruise, so it changes a little with each cruise.

The shows in the Theater were done twice a night – 7:30 and 9:30. The first night, the show was “Bridges”. The daily happenings paper said it was “a celebration of human connection set against the backdrop of some of the world’s most iconic bridges from London to Venice, New York, San Francisco and Sydney, featuring a scenic bridge as the centerpiece that transports the audience to breathtaking locations.” It was a well done musical.

The second night was “Awakening” which is “a captivating, sensory experience taking you on an eye opening journey through a showcase of surreal dreams, awakening your sensed to explore a world where anything is possible”. Not something we enjoyed but lots of people really liked it. I think our biggest issue was with how dangerously loud the sound was. I measured over 117db at one point. They have another show – Residency which is a Las Vegas style music show. We didn’t get to see that one.

We didn’t use the Casino but it was large. It is non-smoking which I thought was unusual but great. They have over 200 slot machines and 150 game tables.

I was amazed at the choices at the Oceanview Cafe. Breakfast was everything you could think of plus stations for cook to order food. They even had my favorite – sausage gravy and biscuits and grits. One lunch buffet had one station (out of the 10 or so) with only seafood – lobster, shrimp (boiled, fried, grilled, etc.), crab legs and more!! It was awesome!! We ate suppers in one of the main dining room, the Cosmopolitan. The food and choices were great! Each main dining room has the same menu.

Everyone was friendly, nice and very service oriented. We couldn’t have had better service in the restaurants, bars, shops, or anywhere. It was an awesome, great experience!!

Celebrity has a party on board called “Shine the Night”. You were to wear a metallic outfit if you had one for a party on the Resort Deck. Lots of music and some surprise music performances. It was fun!  There were also several places that had music and  dance floor. There was a piano bar, game show of trivia, lots bar tastings, lots of music options, art shows, shop options, spa options, pickleball, dance, yoga and other fitness option classes, live music, wine and liquor tastings, dance parties, comedy shows, All the activities you find on most cruise ships with their own spin. 

The ship was very pretty. The colors were subdued with tan, white and black with red and blue accents. No in your face purple, orange, etc. Very subdued and nice. They were just starting to decorate for Christmas too, which I loved. The “elves” came during the night and did gorgeous greenery with white lights and red decorations on railings, beautiful trees, etc. It was starting to look a lot like Christmas!

This ship has brothers as co-captains. One of the things the ship did for us was to take us out in the life boats and go around the ship for pictures, I’m sure they don’t usually do that, but they did for us. It was wonderful! The life boats have individual seats for passengers, which was nice. One of the captains was piloting one of the life boats, He was driving around in figure 8’s, racing the other boat, and just generally having a good time, as did all of the passengers.

We really enjoyed the trip and seeing the ship. We will be going on more Celebrity cruises, especially the Edge Class.

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Passau, Germany – December 13th & 14th, 2022

Passau is known as “the city of the three rivers” and founded more than 2,000 years ago, Passau is one of the oldest cities in Bavaria. 

We had about a 10 minute bus ride to the downtown area from our docking area. Our tour this morning was a walking tour which was fine but there was a pretty steep hill in town and we went up and down it twice.  We first walked to a church  where we had a talk about making gingerbread, tasted the 3 kinds of gingerbread and watched how to make an evergreen wreath with candles. It was cold outside but it was slightly warmer in the church. 

In Germany, the head “master” gingerbread person used to be able to do it with a 4 year level but now it was that plus 4 more years of training, plus 3 years apprenticeship plus another 4 months to learn about opening a business, etc. Until then, you can’t open your own business for gingerbread in Germany. You have to pass several different tests and if you can’t pass them in 3 tries, you can never open your own business unless you partner with a master who had passed it all.

They used to always be partnered with a candlemaker because they used the same wooden molds. Today, they don’t do that because the gingerbread isn’t made in the same molds. He told us there are three kinds of gingerbread, First kind they sweetened with honey, second with molasses, and now they sweeten with sugar and lots of spices. Each has its points and is softer depending on the sweeter – honey, molasses, or sugar. We got to sample each kind.

Being right on three river, there are occasional floods. There is a building near the river that they mark where the floods come up to and the years they had the floods. The last flood they had was in 2013 and it was their deepest – 10.04 feet! That flooded the bottom floor of any building near the rivers.

Saint Stephen’s Cathedral in Passau has the largest Catholic church organ in the world and the largest organ in Europe. It has 17,974 pipes and 233 registers. It is beautiful to listen to. The last time we were in Passau, they had a concert there every afternoon at 4 PM. We were really looking forward to hearing it again. Unfortunately, the city is having problems finding people who know how to play this beautiful organ and they have discontinued the daily concerts. They only have 7 people who know how to play it. We did get to hear a lady practicing several pieces as we were in the cathedral. The city is offering scholarships, etc. trying to entice more people to learn how to play that organ.

Their Christmas Market was at the top of the hill so we only had to walk down one more time to get to the bus. When we got back to the ship, they were gave us a warm wine punch which was very good.

The next day it was back to the real world! Bags put by 5 AM and our bus to the airport left the ship at 7 AM. They did have the dining room open very early for breakfast so at least we started with a good meal.

The flight home would have challenged a saint but that is for another time. Suffice it to say, we will have second thoughts about airline trips in winter.

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Linz, Austria – December 12th, 2022

There was an option today to take the regular tour or an easier tour. We opted the night before to take the easier tour and we glad we did. It was raining and cold – 28 degrees – when we left the ship. The regular tour walked the entire way. The easier tour rode an enclosed trolly from the ship to the center of town. It only took about 15 minutes off the tour but we were in an enclosed trolly and not walking. A definite plus! We did walk back after the tour (no choice) but first thing in the morning, the trolly was much better. The trolly was cute, colorful and dry! The rest of the tour was the same, trolly or walking. They called us the “Fast and Furious Tour”. Silly. 

We went to the tourist information office which had an aerial view of Linz on the floor. You could see where we had been, where we were and where we were going. It was pretty interesting.  We walked through the courtyard of the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s friend’s home where the Linz Symphony was written by Mozart. I guess you can tell we are somewhat into classical music.

We walked to lots of beautiful buildings, the Linz Castle Museum, the New Cathedral and to the Old Quarter to see Market Hall, the Landaus tower and the city’s main square. Then we walked in the snow back to the ship for lunch.

Later in the day, we walked up to the Linz Christmas Market. There were plenty of food places with gingerbread, lots of Christmas sweets, gluhwein, etc. and lots of Christmas things.  Most of this market’s Christmas ornaments were hand made, so beautiful and unique.

We had some gluhwein as well as a huge doughnut that was a lot like a Krispy Kreme doughnut, with an apricot filling – in other words, excellent. We passed lots of coffee shops (which are actually coffee shops, not like in some other European  cities) and decided to stop at the oldest one in town the way back to the ship after the market. We had some excellent Cappuccino and espresso and some famous Linz cake. Linz Cake (which will last long enough to send overseas so is frequently sent to soldiers)  is believed to be the oldest known cake in the world. It  is an Austrian cake with a lattice design on top of the pastry. The cake is named after the city of Linz in Austria. I was expecting it to be very dry but it wasn’t. It had some blueberry preserves on top that were good

Passau, Germany
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Krems, Austria – December 11th, 2022

Our tour for the morning was a tour of “Gottweig Abbey at Christmas”. It is a Benedictine Abbey  where the monks live, work and worship. We had a “Privileged Access” and were able to participate and see things not normally on the tours. The oldest part of the monastery, a small chapel in the inner courtyard, dates back to 1072 and it is usually closed to visitors. However, Viking guests are invited to step inside the chapel and enjoy the nativity scene, an important work by the monks. The monks make a famous apricot brandy and we got to sample some. It was very good. We had a great, knowledgeable guide who made the Abbey come alive with stories.

The Abbey is a UNESCO site so what wasn’t finished before becoming an UNESCO site cannot be finished. So, no heat, some of the windows weren’t built yet and there are other parts in the plans that can’t be completed. I think that is a downside of being a UNESCO site but I understand the rational. 34 monks live there with some living in the surrounding districts as the parish priest and do their work in their churches.

After the tour with our guide, we had a wine tasting of three wines made here and went into the gift shop. Then we were dropped at the Christmas Markets. It was on a pedestrian street, no cars allowed.

As we were leaving port, it started snowing. There was snow on the ground and some coming down all through the Wachau Valley. It was so pretty!!

Mike and I went to the lounge for a demonstration of strudel making by the chef. It was very interesting. The whole time the chef was demonstrating how to make the strudel, they were serving a “Tea Time” with little sandwiches, small desserts and coffee or tea. We got to have a piece of the apple strudel he was showing us how to make. If mine would only taste like that!

Our Strudel Class

Supper was an Austrian meal. We started with a shot of Aquavit then went in the dining room to tables decorated with red and white napkins, etc, soft pretzels, glasses of beer, etc. You could get a selection of food or go to the buffet of all of it. We mostly got a selection of food each then extra from the buffet. It was food like – sauerkraut, sausages, hot potato salad, cooked red cabbage, etc. The desserts were very elaborate and they made a dome pastry thing that they flambeed with rum (they seemed sort of like small rum babas to Mike). Then back to the cabin, stuffed.

Linz, Austria
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Viking Danube Christmas Markets Cruise 2022

Prior to COVID, we had scheduled this cruise on the Danube from Budapest to Passau in December of 2020 with four other couples, Of course that got side lined, and over the next two years we lost two couples, so it was just the six of us going. Shot and Pam Shuler, Beth and Dennis Trammel, and us.

This was our second Christmas Markets river cruise. The first one we did in 2017 from Amsterdam to Basel Switzerland on the Rhine River. That was a fabulous experience, and we wanted to do the same thing on the Danube.

The river cruising experience is so laid back, with just 80 or so couples on the boat. It’s very easy to meet people and make new friends. Then there is gliding along the most iconic rivers of Europe with fine dining, superb service, on a beautiful boat. The Christmas Markets just make it that much more special.

As a starter, click to view a short video of the journey, then look at the details of each city along the Danube

So journey with us as we depart Budapest and sail upriver on the Danube towards Passau Germany on an eight day voyage of exploration and discovery.

Budapest, Hungary
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Vienna, Austria – December 10th, 2022

Up for a great breakfast. We ate most of our breakfasts in the main dining room. They have a buffet breakfast that you can go to or an area with sweet rolls, croissants, etc. but we liked to sit, pick from the menu and have it brought to us.

The tour this morning was again, a tour of the city and Christmas Markets. Most of the tours we had time during the tour to visit the Markets for plenty long enough. Some of the markets were close enough to the ship, we could go there again if we wanted. 

Vienna is a beautiful city with lots of elegant buildings and streets. We drove along the Ringstasse (the Ring Road), a road that was laid out during the 19th century along the old city walls. Lots of elegant public buildings, grand residences and imposing palaces. We did some walking around the Schonbrunn Palace which the best claim to fame in my opinion was it was one of the places where the Lipizzaner stallions live. It was also home to many centuries of Habsburg or Hapsburg family. They were an imperial family who were one of the principal sovereign dynasties of Europe from the 15th to the 20th century.

We stopped at St Stephen’s Cathedral which is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the  Archbishop of Vienna.The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV (1339–1365) and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147. The most important religious building in Vienna, St. Stephen’s Cathedral has had many important events in Habsburg and Austrian history and has, with its multi-colored tile roof, become one of the city’s most recognizable symbols.

There was to be a protest in the city in the afternoon – protesting any and all things according to our guide. It started out being a protest for the COVID restrictions but has morphed into protesting everything in general and nothing in particular since there are no more COVID restrictions. The city closes part of the palace and the ring road for the protest. Our guide didn’t think much of the protest because they couldn’t even be specific and were protesting higher taxes and food prices, which nothing could be done about.

We went to the Christkindlmarkt at and around St. Charles Church and to the Magic Christmas Market. They had their market laid out in with four branches. They had the most unique, beautiful, handmade ornaments I had seen. We spent a fair amount of money there! They also had some really good Gluhwein.

We also walked to the Pasqualati House where Beethoven lived in Vienna and on several occasions between 1804 and 1815. The composer worked here on his opera “Fidelio” and on piano pieces such as the well-known “Fur Elise”.

Interestingly, The lights on all the streets with the Christmas Markets are all different – some like huge chandeliers, some just strung across in layers, some all over the buildings, etc. The reason for this is that the merchants on the streets decide what they want to put up and pay for. Makes for lots of variety.

In the afternoon, we did a “Behind the Scenes at the Lipizzaner Stallions” tour at the Stallburg Imperial Stables at the Hofburg Palace. That was pretty awesome! We had a guide for the ten of us who took the tour. She told us lots about the stallions, how they are trained and the history of them. The facility was built in 1729 by the Emperor and is one of the oldest of its kind in the world. It is built as part of the Schonbrunn Palace and the horses have very palatial facilities. We got to see the outdoor courtyard, the tack room, the stables, the performance arena and the outdoor training facility. Most of what we got to see was behind locked doors or gates where the general public wasn’t allowed. It was very cool seeing the stallions in their stable. We were just outside their individual stalls where you saw their names, what they ate for each meal and got to have a personal experience with them just on the other side of slats of wood.

We got to see several of the horses in outside stables. The horses are not totally white until they are about 7 years old. They have brown or gray in addition to the white. That is one of the things they look for when the pick horses to train. They also look at temperament, if they think they will train, their personality, etc. Lots of horses don’t make the cut and when they don’t, they sell them off, usually. They stay in Vienna 6 months of the year and have a summer vacation for 2 months and also get to go to the summer farm so they can get outside. It takes about 7 years to train a horse to make a show horses. Each horse does one of the tricks, not all of them. There is a school for the trainers too – one groomsman and one rider/trainer/horse.

Only 6 horses originally started the entire line of the horses so the first name of each horse is the lineage, the second name is the mother’s name. There are 70 horses at various stages of trainings, etc. The horses start doing shows about 8 years old and perform until they are about 25. Then they are retired and live the life of leisure until they die.

Then we went to the Gerstner K. u. K. Hofzuckerbäcker Coffee shop where Mike and I each had a huge piece of apple strudel with clotted cream. You could have one of those, a cheese strudel or any of about 15 awesome cakes and coffee. One of the great things about this place, beside the awesome food, everyone enjoyed their job!! They were all friendly, engaging and just really seemed to enjoy what they did.

The coffee shop was about a 2 minute walk to the Vienna State Opera. Gustav Mahler was, at one time, the director of the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna state orchestra. During his time there, he decided to change the rules. He wanted people to pay attention to what they were watching and the people were using it as time to socialize – see and be seen – talking during concerts, leaving the lights on, etc. He said people needed to pay attention so no lights during performances, no talking and no eating and drinking. The people didn’t like that because they were used to using it as time to socialize so they said if they couldn’t socialize, they weren’t going to go and they stopped. Mahler knew he had to do something so he instituted the intermission, which was OK with the people. Today there are usually 3 intermissions with any thing going on in the Opera House.


There is a different opera, play, etc. every day at the Opera House. They were doing Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” the day we were there which would have been great to see but unfortunately, we didn’t have time. You could stand for the performance for about 15 Euros. If you wanted to sit in the best place, it was 301 Euros.

Then back to the ship for a relaxing supper and evening. Course, we did make time for a couple of scotches before turning in for the night.

Krems, Austria
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Christmas Traditions around the World

We have so many traditions, especially for holidays and it’s fun to learn about traditions in other countries.

Philippines

The Saturday before Christmas Eve, in the city of San Fernando – the “Christmas Capital of the Philippines”, is a “Giant Lantern Festival”. The festival is a century old tradition which is a competition between each of the surrounding districts. The original lanterns were 2 feet tall and now are 20 feet tall. The lanterns are made from a variety of materials such as colored plastic, fiberglass and handmade paper. They consist of thousands of spinning lights that light up the night sky and symbolize the Star of Bethlehem and unwavering hope.

Sweden has used a Yule goat as a Christmas symbol since ancient pagan festivals. It is a symbol of generosity and plenty. The goat was also supposed to help deliver presents and is almost as popular in displays, decorations and on trees as reindeer are. Gävle, Sweden, in 1966, had the idea of making a giant straw goat. The goat is more than 42 feet high, 23 feet wide, weighs 3.6 tons and is built every year on December 1. It has been in the Guinness Book of World Records. Unfortunately Gave’s goat has been burned 35 times in the last 50 years. Do the people keep building the goat because they get lots of visitors each year to see if the goat survives or is it just they love their tradition?

Austria has a tradition at their St. Nicholas festivities on December 6. St. Nicholas rewards the well behaved with gifts. He is joined at the festivals by an evil accomplice, Krampus. Krampus is an anti-St. Nicholas who comes to warn and punish naughty children. He is a devil figure, often in chains, dressed in fur with a scary devil mast with horns and a long red tongue. He carries a wooden stick or switches to threaten children who misbehave. Sometimes he appears with a sack or basket strapped to his back to cart off evil children for eating or transporting to Hell. The US has introduce Krampus in post cards, holiday cards and several movies.

Japan doesn’t celebrate Christmas in a big way but they do have a traditional meal. Or traditional since 1974, when Kentucky Fried Chicken did a very successful advertising campaign which featured Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas dinner. It is so popular that people order their dinners months in advance or wait in line for hours, just have have their fried chicken dinner for Christmas.

Iceland celebrates for 13 days before Christmas. Each night children leave their shoes by the window. One of the 13 troll like “Yule Lad” characters comes during the night, leaving good boys and girls a small gift or candy. Naughty children get rotten potatoes in their shoes. The 13 Yule lads are troll like and each have their own speciality. Sheep-Cote Clod harasses sheep; Gully Gawk hides in gullies waiting for an opportunity to sneak in the cow sed and steal milk; Stubby is unusually short and steals pans to eat the food left in them; Spoon-Licker steals wooden spoons to lick and is extremely thin; Pot-Licker steals leftovers from pots; Bowl-Licker hides under beds and waits for someone to put down a bowl which he steals; Door-Slammer likes to slam doors, especially during the nigh; Skyr-Gobbler loves skyr (similar to yogurt); Sausage-Swiper hides in the rafters and steals sausages that are being smokes; Window-Peeper is a voyeur who looks through windows in search of things to steal; Doorway-Sniffer has an abnormally large nose and acute sense of smell which he uses to find laufabrauo (leaf bread – a traditional Icelandic Christmas bread made very thin, decorated and fried); Meat-Hook use a hook to step meat; Candle-Stealer follows children to steal their candles; Gryla, the mother of the Yule lads whom Icelandic mothers would scare their children from misbehaving by telling them Gryla would abduct them; Leppaluoi is the husband of Gryla, not evil but lazy. These 13 trolls are known for the mischief their name suggests.

Denmark homes are decorated with superstitious characters called “nisser”. “Nissers” are believed to provide protection from evil and misfortune if treated well. They are however, known to be short tempered when insulted or offended. They usually play tricks, steal things or even injure livestock if offended. Their name means “a household spirit” or goblin in Norwegian. They are generally described as being short, having a long white beard and wearing a cone or knit cap. They look similar to garden gnomes.

On Christmas Eve, Danish families place their Christmas tree in the middle of the room and dance around it singing carols.

The Irish leave a tall red candle in a front window on December 24, a welcoming symbol of warmth and shelter for Mary and Joseph. Traditional Christmas fare in Ireland often includes homemade roast goose or turkey, vegetables, cranberries, and potatoes. And they serve Christmas Pudding, or Plum Pudding. One superstition of the pudding is that it should be made with 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and His Disciples and that every member of the family should take turns stirring the pudding with a wooden spam from east to west, in honor of the Wise Men.

Boxing Day, celebrated on December 26, is an important day when they traditionally have football games and horse racing. Another tradition for the Christmas season in Ireland that I like – in some towns, Women’s Christmas is January 6 (also known as the Feast of the Epiphany). The women are given the day off and men do the housework and cooking.

Christmas dinner in Poland typically has an extra setting at the table in case anyone shows up uninvited. Nothing can be eaten until the first star is seen in the sky (a reminder of the Wisemen who followed a star to visit Jesus). At the table are 12 dishes, meant to give you good luck for the next 12 months, or a symbol of Jesus’s 12 disciples. It is traditionally meat free (to remember the animals who took care of Baby Jesus in the manger). One of the must haves is “barszcz” which is a beetroot soup. Carp is often the main dish along with bios which is made of cabbage, bacon and dried plums. Most also have a popular dessert, a poppy seed roll made of sweet yeast bread, mixed dried fruit and nuts or a moist cake made with honey (like gingerbread) or gingerbreads.

In Poland people prepare their homes for Christmas by cleaning everything, including windows and carpets. Everything must be clean for Christmas Day!

Ukraine celebrates Christmas on January 7 because they use the old “Julian” calendar for their church festivals. They eat their main Christmas meal, called the Holy Supper, on January 6. As with Poland, you can”t begin the meal until the first star is seen in the sky. They also have 12 dishes with no meat. A similar meal is eaten.

Farmers might want to add this to their traditions. In Ukraine they have a dish made of cooked wheat mixed with honey and ground poppy seeds. Most families throw a spoonful of this mix at the ceiling – if it sticks, there will be a good harvest in the new year.

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US Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas!! It is my favorite holiday! Not just the religious aspect, I love the decorations, family time, food, and fellowship of this time of the year.

Today, most Americans blend religious and secular customs with their own family traditions, often incorporating food, decorations and rituals from places they or their ancestors once called home. Roast turkey and ham are popular for Christmas dinner throughout the country, but depending on the region, so are tamales, roast goose with red cabbage, crawfish jambalaya, roast pork or “seven fishes” seafood salad.

Using mistletoe inside began because of the healing properties of the herb. Since it blossoms even in the coldest winter, the Celtic Druids began to look at it as a symbol of vivacity. The association between mistletoe and fertility/vitality strengthened through the Middle Ages and became part of Christmas. Kissing under the mistletoe began in England where men could sneak a kiss from any woman standing under the mistletoe. Any refusal was considered bad luck

The nativity scene of Jesus’ birth was begun by St. Francis of Assisi who created an original living nativity around 1223 in a cave in Grecio, Italy. He created it to help his followers better understand the birth of Jesus. At the time, plays were a common way for the church to help people learn scriptures. The nativity scene typically has at least Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Shepherds, sheep, angels, donkey, ox, and the Magi (Three Wisemen) and their camels

Advent is a religious event that has been celebrated since the 4th century. It is a four-week period that starts on the Sunday closest to the November 30 feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle to prepare for Christmas. It is a celebration of the coming of Christ.

Advent is 4 weeks and represented in the church with a wreath made of a circle of evergreen branches to symbolize eternal life. There are 4 candles in a circle on the wreath. Each week a new candle is lit. The candles all represents something different. The first candle is The Candle of Hope representing God’s people shining in a dark place and the hope we have in Jesus. The second candle is the Candle of Peace, representing the old testament prophets and the peace we find in Jesus. Third is the Candle of Love, representing John the Baptist and the love we have for Christ. the last candle is the Candle of Joy, representing Mary, the mother of Jesus and the joy we find in Jesus. In the center if the circle is the Christ Candle, lit on Christmas Day. It represents the birth of Christ and reminds us Jesus is the light of the world and if we follow Him, we will never walk in darkness, but have the true light of life.

The Advent calendar was possibly created in the 19th century by a housewife who was tired of being asked when Christmas would come. The 24 openings have a picture or small gift for each day beginning December 1. Some towns have entire buildings and celebrations around opening of each window.

Yule logs are a tradition that is said to predate Christianity. As part of the winter solstice celebrations, Gaels and Celts burned logs decorated with holly, ivy and pinecones to cleanse themselves of the past year and welcome the new one. Europe had much ado about the Yule log for many years with different ways of ensuring the burning of the log for the 12 Days of Christmas. Today the yule log is usually a log shaped dessert, very tasty.

The tradition of leaving milk and cookies for Santa Claus is a tradition which dates back to ancient Norse mythology. Odin, the Norse god, had an eight legged horse named Sleipnir. Kids would leave treats for Sleipnir hoping to get treats in return. This tradition became popular in the US during the Great Depression when parents tried to impress upon kids the importance of being grateful for anything they were lucky enough to receive for Christmas.

Evergreen fir trees are universal winter decorations. They were used as a reminder that spring would come again; the Romans placed them around temples to honor Saturn, the god of agriculture. In the 16th century, German Christians brought the trees inside their homes as a symbol of everlasting life.

Germany started the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Decorations for these trees were made by hand. Trees were decorated with berries, popcorn and nuts to feed the birds and the custom continued with indoor trees.

Martin Luther is said to be the first person to put lights on a Christmas tree. Legend has it that he was walking through a forest one night and was moved by the beautiful stars shining through the trees. When he got went home, he recreated what he saw for his family by putting a tree in their living room and placing lighted candles on its branches.

The first president to set up a Christmas tree in the White House was Franklin Pierce, and the first president to establish the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn was Calvin Coolidge.

Christmas Caroling was begun in Europe thousands of years ago before the establishment of Christmas when it was a celebration of the Winter Solstice. The word carol means dance or song of praise and joy. Christmas carols were possible first written in Latin in the 4th and 5th centuries.

Carol singing has come and gone but was revived to include singing at home, church and on the street as well as in plays since the 1800s The first printed publication of Christmas music helped widen interest in carols. It was published in 1833 and included “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen “, “The First Noel”, “I Saw Three Ships”, and “Hark! The Herald Angles Sing”. Almost all Christmas carols have some part of the Christmas theme, whether the birth of Jesus or the celebrations of the season (snow, sleigh rides, etc.).

Each carol has an interesting history. “Silent Night” was thought to have been written n Christmas Eve for the midnight mass in Orberndorf, Austria in 1818. Two priests adapted a poem and introduced it at their service despite their church organ being broken.

“Joy to the World” contains Christian imagery/. Its lyrics originate in the Old Testament in a 1719 translation of the Psalms of David, melody crafted in the 19th century.

The first version of”O Tannenbaum”, “O Christmas Tree”, originated in Germany, maybe as early as the 16th century. This carol pays homage to a universal symbol of Christmas, an evergreen tree.

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” was written by Haven Gillespie in 1934 just after he learned his brother had died. On the subway ride home, remembering his childhood with his brother and his mother’s warning that Santa was watching, he composed the song and had a composer wrote the music.

“Deck the Halls” dates back to the 16th century Wales where its melody and many of the lyrics were from a New Year Eve song. Undergoing several changes such as “fill the meadcup, drain the barrel” to “don we now our gay apparel”, the current version became popular in 1887.

“Jingle Bells” was originally written in the 1850s in Savannah, Georgia. Called “The One Horse Open Sleigh” was a celebration of Thanksgiving. The song was renamed in 1857 and is as we know it today. The song made history in 1965 when it became the first song broadcast in space. The crew of Gemini 6, following reports of seeing Santa Claus, did an improvised version using bells and a harmonica they had snuck on board.

Christmas Pickle – If there’s a pickle among your snowman, angel and reindeer ornaments, you’re likely taking part in the American tradition of hiding the green ornament on the tree, so that the first child to find it gets an extra gift, or has good luck for the following year. The practice’s origins are a bit murky (or should that be briny?), but, it’s likely it grew from a Woolworths marketing gimmick from the late 1800s, when the retailer received imported German ornaments shaped like a pickle and needed a sales pitch.

Candy Canes – Candy canes can be devoured as a treat or hung on the tree as decoration. They date back to 1670 in Cologne, Germany. The most popular account is that a choirmaster wished to quiet the children in his church, Cologne Cathedral, during their yearly Living Creche tradition each Christmas Eve. He reportedly commissioned a local candy maker to create what he referred to as sweet sticks for the children. He specified that they should have a crook at the top of each stick, to remind the children of the shepherds who visited the baby Jesus. He also specified that he should use the color white to teach the children about Christianity and remind them of Jesus’ sinless life. This trend caught on quickly and spread throughout Europe where other congregations began to hand out the candy canes during nativity plays.

The red and white peppermint sticks arrived in the US in 1847, when a German-Swedish immigrant in Wooster, Ohio placed them on a tree. By the 1950s, an automated candy cane making machine was invented. Candy canes are the number 1 selling non chocolate candy during December.

We have so many great Christmas traditions! Many families develop their own traditions to become part of the family story. It’s a great way to connect our family together and to the world. Wouldn’t it be fun to try a different tradition from somewhere in the world and see if that fits your celebration? It’s an easy internet search.

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Lucky Places

Looking for a little luck this year? While you could wish on a star or hunt for a four-leaf clover, there are certain locations around the world that are famous for bringing people good fortune in love, work, family, finances and more. Some even bring better health.

Close to home is Friendship Oak in Long Beach, MS. On the front lawn of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Park campus stands a sprawling oak tree more than 500 years old and nearly six stories tall. It is said that those who enter its shade together will remain friends for the rest of their lives.

At Jade Cove in Big Sur, CA you might find a jade stone. People typically find the dark green jades here. In many cultures around the world, jade is thought to bring good luck.

Hoover Dam, on the Nevada side, there are two 30 foot tall bronze statues known as the Winged Figures of the Republic. Touching the feet is said to bring you good luck.

Abraham Lincoln’s Tomb in Springfield, Illinois has a large bronze bust of Lincoln in front of the memorial. Millions of people have rubbed the nose of the statue for good luck.


The two best known locations around the world are the Trevi Fountain in Rome and the Blarney Stone in Blarney, Ireland.

The Trevi Fountain dates back to the 1700s but the tradition of throwing coins into it became even more popular in the 1950s thanks to the American film “Three Coins in the Fountain”. Visitors fling a coin with their right hand backward over their left shoulder into the fountain. Some say tossing one coin over your back into the fountain assures you will return to Rome. Two coins brings love and three means you’ll get married. Over $1 million in coins is collected every year and donated to a local charity.

If you kiss the Blarney Stone in the Blarney Castle built over 600 years ago, you will have the gift of “blarney” or the gift of eloquence and good fortune in matters of persuasion. By the way, the only way kiss it is to climb to the top of the battlements, lean over backward holding on to a metal bar, scoot yourself over to the edge and kiss the stone.

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, is a 6th century place of worship turned into a museum. It is considered one of the world’s great monuments and it is also a major tourist attraction. The Weeping Column or the Column of St. Gregory is said to “weep” with healing holy water. Visitors can put their thumb into a hole in the side of the column and if it comes out damp, legend says their Illness will be cured. Another legend says that when you put your thumb in the hole and rotate your hand, you will be granted a wish.

Il Porcellino is a bronze boar statue in Florence, Italy, sculpted in 1634, which draws hundreds of visitors a day hoping for good luck. Visitors rub the boar’s snout while dropping a coin in his mouth. If the coin slides back out and falls through the grating beneath the statue, that guarantees good luck and that you will return to Italy one day.


Madron Well in Cornwall, England is purported to have healing waters. Traditionally, visitors would take pieces of rag or ribbon, known as clouties, that were torn from a part of the body where they had an injury or illness. They would tie the clouties in a nearby tree, and as the piece disintegrated, their affliction would also disappear. Today, the tree is still filled with colorful pieces of cloth for blessings and luck.

The Wishing Trees (Banyan trees), Lam Tsuen, Tai Po, Hong Kong are famous for their wish granting abilities. Write your wish on a piece of paper, tie it to a mandarin orange and toss it as high as possible into the tree branches. If the orange gets caught n the branches, the wish will come true.

Nuremberg, Germany has a 14th century fountain, Schoner Brunnen, with tiers of stone religious figures. This is surrounded by a protective railing with two rings embedded in the grate. People believe if you turn the rings, it will bring good fortune to you.


The last one I am going to tell you about is the Laughing Buddha in the Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou, China. There are many replicas of this statue. He is said to the the origin of the tradition of rubbing the Buddha’s belly for good luck.

I don’t know about you, but everything I can do, silly or not, to have good luck or better health, I’m in.

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South East Historic Cities

The United States has many historically significant towns in every state. These cities, towns or villages serve as places with significant historical or cultural events. Travel Pulse, a travel magazine, only documented one town per state.

This article will discuss the Southeastern states.

Of course, Charleston, SC is one of our most historic towns. Charleston was 350 years old in 2020 so has had many firsts. Among them, hosting the first opera in the US, opening the first golf club in the US, introducing the first regularly scheduled rail passenger service and having our county’s first historic district.

Athens, Georgia is home to the University of Georgia, the first state-chartered public university in 1785. They have 31 sites on the National Registry of Historic Places and 21 historic districts.

St. Augustine, Florida is the nation’s oldest city with over 450 years of history. One of it’s attractions is the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the continental US.

Kill Devil Hills in the NC Outer Banks in North Carolina is where the Wright brothers made the first controlled airplane flight in 1903. (As a fun aside, NC is home to the development of the UPC code, Cheerwine, Pepsi Cola, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Texas Pete, BC Headache Powder, Goodys, and Vicks VapoRub.)

The Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia is made up of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. Jamestown was the first permanent settlement in the Americas and was the colonial capital for more than 80 years prior to the start of the 18th century.

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia is one of the most scenic and historically significant town in the Shenandoah Valley. It is remembered as being the site of abolitionist John Brown’s pivotal raid in October, 1859.

Montgomery, Alabama, the first capital of the Confederate States of America in 1861, was the setting of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955-1956 and the Selma to Montgomery protest marches in 1965.

Vicksburg, Mississippi has much Civil War history. Jefferson Davis gave his first address as the first President of the Confederate States of America in 1861 and the Siege of Vicksburg two years later would be the turning point in the war. Vicksburg is the final resting place for some 17,000 Union soldiers.

New Orleans, Louisiana was purchased by the US from Napoleon as part of the Louisiana Purchase. They celebrated their tricentennial two years ago. Lots of unique history in this city.

Louisville, Kentucky was founded almost 250 years ago. It was a major stronghold of the Union forces in the Civil War. The first Kentucky Derby was held in 1875. Also the first city in the US to introduce the secret ballot.

Jonesborough, Tennessee was founded in 1779, 17 years before Tennessee became a state. In 1820, The Emancipator published from Jonesborough became the first periodical dedicated exclusively to the issue of the abolition of slavery.

Washington, Arkansas served as the Confederate capital of Arkansas from 1863-1865. There’s also a strong case to be made for nearby Little Rock, which played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement.

There are many other historically significant towns in each state.