St. Nicholas Day.

Today is St. Nicholas Day (the 6th day of December). In this part (South) of Germany, Sankt Nikolaus still comes as a bishop with flowing beard and a bishop's miter and staff (In Catholic Churches). Houses are thoroughly cleaned and children clean and polish their shoes or boots in preparation for the saint's visit. On the evening before St. Nicholas Day, children put letters to the good saint along with carrots or other food for his white horse or donkey on a plate or in their shoes. These are left outside, under the bed, beside a radiator, or on a windowsill in hopes of finding goodies from St. Nicholas the next morning. During the night Sankt Nikolaus goes from house to house carrying a book in which all the children's deeds are written. If they have been good, he fills their plate, shoe or boot with delicious fruits, nuts and candies. If not, they may find potatoes, coal, or twigs.

Get more information about St. Nicholas here

Here are what we  St. Nicholas gave the kids: 

How do you celebrate your St. Nicholas day?

Bietigheim Farmers on Tractors

I like buying fruits and vegetables around my region and I like all the dedicated local farmers around us who make sure we have sufficient and assorted fruits and vegetables to buy. Bietigheim Weekend Market is an age long local market where only fresh food crops are sold by the nearby local farmers. It feels good to know where some of the things I buy are coming from ( it's like eating things that come from my own garden). I also like how one can communicate with these people as opposed to grocery stores. They usually have some tips on how to use or preserve foods and even some traditional mouth watering recipes. 

At the last Horse Market, our local farmers participated at the closing parade where they proudly drove their tractors. I couldn't help but capture some of their  pictures:

Bietigheim Horse Market (Bietigheimer Pferde Markt)

There are so many reasons why I'm loving it in Germany. Bietigheim Horse Market is one of them. Mostly referred as the "Fifth Season of the Year"  by the locals because they see the festival as a season and not as an event.
The Bietigheim Horse Market is a well-known  festival in Bietigheim-Bissingen. It attracts several hundred thousand visitors every year. Despite this large crowd of visitors, however, the festival has retained the charm of a local festival.  Besides the traditional horse market on Monday, a riding and horse-jumping tournament held from Friday until Sunday, other riding demonstrations and a procession and subsequent concours d'elegance on the Monday, there are also an entertainment park with marquees, a large market and fireworks after nightfall on the Sunday. It is full of cultural shows.

A giant statue of a lady in Hamburg

This is a very interesting sight for people who are living in or near Hamburg, Germany. This giant statue of a lady is the work of  Oliver Voss “The Bather”. It currently  floats in Alster Lake Hamburg, Germany.  Oliver Voss's gigantic floating sculpture is designed to look like a woman bathing in the picturesque Alster Lake. According to report, the floating lady sculpture will be on display for only 10 days.

Since I'm living some couple of hours away from Hamburg, we will be heading over to Alster Lake to behold this wonderful sight.

See Photos: