Did you know that Czech Republic has a new name? Its official short name is now Czechia. Back in 2006 we travelled to Prague in the Czech Republic and during that trip lost both of our cameras; one due to brokenness, and the other due to the accidental leaving of camera in McDonald's (ugh.) We always vowed we would make it back to replace our memories, and finally did over the Christmas break, combined with a trip to neighbouring Austria.

The trip was designed to make it to as many Christmas markets as possible, and we managed to schedule the trip around the markets in Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, St. Gilgen, Cesky Krumlov, and Prague. Although markets normally finish by Christmas Eve, the ones in Czechia stay open into the first year of January for an extra dose of celebration, so we can safely say that we maxed out the Christmas fun this season.

European Christmas markets really do not disappoint. They are every bit as fun, twinkly, and festive as you would imagine, but manage to still be very tasteful, and not schmaltzy. We definitely preferred the smaller more intimate markets which sold more hand crafted goods and had uniquely decorated stall fronts, but it was impossible to not be caught up in the air of bustle and excitement of the massive markets. Our romantic idea of casually hanging out and enjoying a hearty goulash for dinner changed quickly as we realised how stone cold goulash quickly gets when you are eating in 0C weather, and so we kept our market food fun to drinks and snacks, including the softest, chewiest, most decadent massive gingerbread man. Perfection. In between the markets, we stayed for 2 nights in Bad Gastein to partake in some skiing and snowboarding. On the second day the village received a huge, much needed dumping of snow, and so we we were treated to that elusive powder. Unfortunately, combined with severe winds, this also meant that we had one terrifying run with white-out conditions and panic that ended up closing a lot of terrain for the rest of the day, so you know, Alps stuff! Luckily Bad Gastein is famous for its thermal springs and we later soothed ourselves in the hot baths and tried to appear as nonchalant as the other Europeans in being nude in the communal saunas (must remember to mentally prepare for this.) After having previously been acclimatised to the London mildness, Prague at just under 0C felt downright freezing, and we were pretty happy to feel like we were basking in Spring when we returned (sorry GTAers, but at least you had some legitimate "snow days"!)