The best holiday tradition America never adopted
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Vienna Christkindlmarkt (Paul Motter)
The main corridor of Vienna's Christkindlmarkt in front of City Hall. The Vienna “December Market,” which started in 1294, is said to be the birthplace of the Christmas Market tradition. (Paul Motter)
Viennese children in making cookies in Santa’s workshop. (Paul Motter)
Wool handicrafts in Budapest. (Paul Motter)
Sausage and ham at a stall in Vienna.
Ceiling in the guest gathering hall in the Benedictine Abbey at Melk, Austria, which was founded 1089. (Paul Motter)
A buffet of hors d'oeuvres aboard one of Viking River Cruises' Longboats. (Paul Motter)
Christkindlmarkt in Bratislava, Slovakia (Paul Motter)
Santa's workshop in Vienna City Hall. (Paul Motter)
A main street in Salzburg, Austria near the home of Mozart. (Paul Motter)
Jumbo pastries in Vienna. (Paul Motter)
Apricot and vanilla jumbo cream puffs in Vienna. (Paul Motter)
"Frohe Weihnachten" (Merry Christmas) in front of Vienna's City Hall. (Paul Motter)
Emmersdorf, Austria in December. (Paul Motter)
The atrium of one of Viking River Cruise's new Longboat vessels. (Paul Motter)
The Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest. (Paul Motter)
Coconut bars in Vienna. Shown here (from top left): banana, apple, cherry, cacao, rum, amaretto, marzipan, nougat and praline. (Paul Motter)
A castle on the Danube Rive near Austria-Germany border in the snow of December. (Paul Motter)
Schneeballs (shown here at the market in Salzburg) are raw cookie dough that is rolled, roughly twisted into a ball shape and then deep-fried and dipped in chocolate and nuts. (Paul Motter)
Kakastöke Porkölt. Translation? “Rooster Testicle Stew.” (Paul Motter)