Chritmas time!

Chritmas is fast approaching- This is the time when the city comes to life. Everywhere you have these traditional Christmas markets selling lovely tree decorations n handmade stuff apart from other things. The normal markets are also swarming with gifts and everyone seems to be in high spirits.
A special drink called Glühwein is sold in the xmas markets - to warm you up- its wine( red in Germany n white in Italian) cooked with spices like cloves, cinnamon, lemon rind.
Another different tradition is - Santa Claus comes to give gifts on 6th december here - maybe he cant cover the entire world in one day-lol....6th december is celebrated as Saint Nicolas day with special celebrations for children.

Here in Switzerland, St. Nicolas usually comes to a family and listens to poems the children recite, then he tells them what good things and not so good things they did in the past year, and finally leaves cookies, chocolates, nuts and tangerines. He usually comes with a little helper called "Schmutzli" in Switzerland. If you are very lucky (and have a lot of money to pay St. Nicolas), he will arrive on a donkey.