Good morrow to you, fair ladies and lords, and Merry Advent ! I am beside myself with excitement for this year’s Advent Calendar here, at The Ritual of Reading, since this will be a completely novel experience for our traditional month…
Austrian Advent Calendar Day 24 Hello, dear friends, and Merry Christmas Eve! Welcome to the heart of Christmas in Vienna: the Christkindlmarkt, where centuries of tradition meet contemporary celebration in one of Europe’s most beautiful settings. The name translates literally…
Austrian Advent Calendar Day 23 Hello, dear friends, and welcome to the final book review of our Austrian Advent Calendar. For the past twenty-two days, I’ve shared with you novels and histories, essays and art books—pieces that have composed a…
Austrian Advent Calendar Day 22 Hello, dear friends, and welcome to one of our final Advent reflections. Time has flown, hasn’t it? These twenty-two days have passed like pages turning in a beloved book—each one rich, each one gone too…
Austrian Advent Calendar Day 21 Hello, dear friends, and welcome to our winter solstice episode! If you’ve been following these Advent reflections for any time, you already know I hold particular affection for this symbolic evening. The longest night of…
Hello everyone, and welcome to the 20th day of out Austrian Advent Calendar ! We spoke of Empress Elisabeth in yesterday’s video, so it’s only natural we dedicate today’s episode to her beloved and possibly misunderstood husband, Emperor Franz Joseph…
Austrian Advent Calendar Day 19 Hello, dear friends, and happy Advent! How could we journey through the symbols of Austrian culture without pausing to speak of Sissi—Empress Elisabeth of Austria, one of the most discussed consorts in European history and…
Servus and welcome to our Austrian literary and culinary adventure of the day ! I have to confess that while researching the books I wanted to include in my Advent Calendar, I was very specific about what I did not…
Austrian Advent Calendar Day 17 Welcome to our seventeenth day in the Austrian Advent Calendar, dear friends. Coffee and culture—two words that perhaps best describe Vienna. They’re so intertwined in the city’s identity that separating them becomes impossible. This might…
Austrian Advent Calendar Day 16 Hello, dear friends! Welcome to a brief stroll through the galleries of the Upper Belvedere in Vienna. The Belvedere complex forms an essential part of Viennese identity—two palaces, the Upper and the Lower, connected by…
