It’s countdown to the holidays time and while the family gathering is supposed to bring  joy to the world, the anticipation of sleepless nights on the sofabed…or worse yet your old pink canopy bed or fire truck bunk… is not putting visions of sugarplums in your head.   While growing up your old room was magical, but all these years later squeezing you and your spouse into that twin bed is probably not your idea of holiday joy.

So you’ve booked your trip to Antarctica ~ bravo!  Now you face the age-old conundrum; what the dickens does one pack for such an adventure??  This can be especially challenging if you’re preceding the Antarctica trip with a jaunt around South America and don’t want to haul heavy winter clothing with you.  Here’s

Cloves. Citrus. Almonds. Hazelnuts. A hint of cinnamon. Those smells seem to come back to me every time I think of the Vienna Christkindlmarkt (literally translated, “Christ child market”).