Guest Post - Christmas Markets of Salzburg by Kiltie Jackson

As the weather begins to grow colder and the mornings of seeing your breath hanging in the air fast approach, thoughts begin turning towards that ‘Special Time of the Year’. When the Christmas Cards appear in the shops and the supermarkets begin to stock all the Christmas treats and goodies, it is quite hard to avoid it.

For many others, however, it will be a time of great excitement as their annual European trip to an authentic Christmas Market begins to draw closer. Christmas Markets in the UK are a fairly new concept – the first being held in Lincoln in 1982. In Europe however, they date back as far as the late 1200’s. Salzburg’s Christkindlmarkt can be dated back to the late 15th century and I suspect that, while no doubt quite spectacular back then, it was nothing compared to the modern day spectacle which I have had the pleasure of enjoying.

Salzburg is a beautifully stunning city in its own right. The addition of the Christmas Markets simply takes it to another level. The Salzburg tourist information tells you the market is held in Cathedral Square. The truth is there are market stalls, or cabins, everywhere and this adds to the pleasure of visiting this city. As you meander along the beautiful streets, admiring the gorgeous ironwork of the signage hanging outside the pretty shops, the joy of turning a corner and finding yet more stalls sends a thrill all the way to your toes. Your senses are assaulted by the hot spicy scent of Gluwein, the sight of a Nussknacker (carved Nutcrackers) stall, your mouth waters at the piles of stollen and lebkuchen and your ears ring with the sound of the beautiful, traditional, Christmas music being played. If you are hoping for a bit of Slade or Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ you will be disappointed.

One sight worth seeing is the very large pretzel stall which offers up a vast selection of big, soft, doughy pretzels in an array of flavours from savoury cheese or garlic to cinnamon, apple or custard filled. The apple is my personal favourite.

If you have the time, a visit to the Schloss Hellbrunn is highly recommended. Several modes of transport are available but, if a three-mile walk does not scare you, then do it for you will not be disappointed, especially if you have love for The Sound of Music within you. You will walk along a quiet, tree covered footpath and, as you pass the Schloss Frohnburg on your left, the eagle eyed will recognise it as being the Von Trapp family home in The Sound of Music. 

When you arrive at Schloss Hellbrunn, take a few minutes to visit the gazebo from the same film, situated just a few minutes’ walk from the car park. After that, yet more Christmas cabins will tempt you with their delights as you stroll up the long approach to the schloss. The Hellbrunner Adventzauber lends itself to more artisan stalls which will not be found in the centre of the city so there is an opportunity to find a more unusual or unique gift. A further delight on this visit is seeing the windows of the schloss dressed to resemble the windows of an advent calendar. A window is open each day to mark the days of advent.

Salzburg is very proud of its Christkindlmarkts and with good reason. They bring the joy of the season to all who visit. If you do not have the Christmas spirit within you when you arrive, you most definitely will when you leave. 

Thank you so much Kiltie for that wonderful taste of the Salzburg Christmas markets. I wish I could hop on a plane now to visit them.

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Who is Sukie McClaren?

A Christmas-loving Cat lover? A Sound of Music Fanatic? A Fiercely Independent Woman?

She is all of the above. And when she is sent to Salzburg for a business trip three weeks before Christmas, she thinks all her dreams have come true. As she packs her suitcase, the only things on her mind are Christmas markets, lots of snow and finally seeing the Doh-Ray-Me steps. Becoming the new best friend of the world’s hottest rock star doesn’t even get a look in.

Pete Wallace is a reclusive, reluctant, rock-star and the world’s Number One, best-selling, male solo artist. It’s been three years since his last tour and he’s now preparing to go back on the road again. A week in Salzburg, schmoozing with the music press, is one of his worst nightmares. 

He can’t wait for it to be over.

When Pete and Sukie meet, it is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Lonely for too long, he begins to remember how it feels to be happy and, for the first time in six years, Christmas feels special again. 

Eduardo di Santo however, whose kid sister suffered life-changing injuries at a Pete Wallace concert, is all set on getting revenge. When Pete’s new tour is announced, he begins to make his plans. Plans that will culminate in Pete's demise.

Will Pete and Sukie’s new friendship die before it has a chance to flourish?

About Kiltie Jackson

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Kiltie grew up in Scotland, Glasgow to be precise. A very unique city with a very unique way of looking at life. When she was old enough to do so, she moved to London and then, after several years of obtaining interesting experiences -which are finding their way into her writing - she moved up to the Midlands.

She currently lives in Staffordshire with five cats and one husband. The cats kindly allow her and her husband to share their house on the condition they keeps paying the mortgage!

Her little home is known as Moggy Towers, even though despite having plenty of moggies, there are no towers!

She loves reading, watching movies, and visiting old castles. She really dislikes going to the gym!

Her biggest desire is that one day she can give up the day job and write her stories for a living.

Kiltie first began writing 'A Rock 'n' Roll Lovestyle' over ten years ago. The project was shelved on Chapter Seventeen as she felt the story wasn't flowing as she would like it to.

In her own words "The images in my head would not come out of my fingers!" Fast forward to November 2016 when, having finished reading Lizzie's Christmas Escape by Christie Barlow, she read more about the author and was inspired with how Christie herself came to be a best-selling author.

In that thunderbolt moment, Kiltie knew - with a deep certainty- that she needed to reacquaint herself with 'A Rock 'n' Roll Lovestyle' and begin writing again. She did this in January 2017 and found the words flowed faster than she could type them. Finally, the time was right for her to write her novel.

Her determination to finish what she had started all those years ago was absolute and the first draft was completed on Sunday 16th April 2017.

Since beginning to write again, the ideas have not stopped flowing. She has begun typing up her second book, 'Of All the Unlikely Places', and book three (not yet titled) has been worked out and is waiting in the wings for its turn in the spotlight.

She currently has a further ten plots and ideas stored in her file (it's costing a fortune in USB drives as each story has its own memory stick!) and the ideas still keep on coming.

She now lives her life around the following three quotes:
"I love having weird dreams, they're great fodder for book plots!"
"Why wait for your ship to come in when you can swim out to meet it?"
"Old enough to know better, young enough not to care!"

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