Let it snow, let it snow, let it hurricane.

Orkan Xaver. [Hurricane Xaver]. It might have a fabulous name but that is the only thing I appreciate about it. There were severe weather warnings for all of Northern Germany, so school was closed on Friday (not that I was going to be working anyway) and my walk to the supermarket on Thursday was horrendously windy. Suddenly it became acceptable to open a conversation with a comment about the weather. In fact everyone was so preoccupied with the weather that it felt like I was in England! To quote one news article: "flights, trains, schools and Christmas markets were closed". You know it's serious when the Christmas markets are closed.

On Friday when I opened my front door I was greeted by a little wicker basket filled with chocolate. I was slightly confused, then realised that it was 6th December and the basket had probably been left for me by St. Nikolaus because I had forgotten to leave a shoe outside. In Germany, 6th December is St. Nikolaus' Day. Every year, on 5th December, children are supposed to clean their shoes and leave them outside their doors. Overnight St. Nikolaus appears, filling the shoes of 'good' children with sweets and toys and those of 'bad' children with twigs. A lovely tradition, and one that I was surprised to get the opportunity to experience. I asked my landlady to pass on my thanks to St. Nikolaus!

The happiness and joy of Christmas continued in the most unexpected of places: the train from Bad Salzdetfurth to Hildesheim. As a Christmas present, Nord West Bahn (my local rail company) are giving out train shaped cookie cutters! Brilliant!

Hannover Weihnachtsmarkt // Prezzies from St. Nikolaus // Bad Salzdetfurth Weihnachtsmarkt

Unfortunately the weather was too rubbish to go exploring. I went to Hildesheim to have a peruse around the Weihnachtsmarkt but gave up due to snow and high winds (and fear of the train line being closed). The following day I attempted Christmas shopping in Hannover which was awful. Do not mess with shoppers on a mission. Primark in Hannover on the second Saturday of Advent was the worst idea I have had in a very long time. As for the Weihnachtsmarkt, it will have to be saved for another day as I walked through it but couldn't even see the stalls. In the end I decided that it was much better at home, so finished the weekend with a wander to the Bad Salzdetfurth Weihnachstmarkt... nothing like as impressive but pretty cute.