Pentecost Weekend / das Wochendende des Pfingstens

This afternoon/tomorrow begins the Pfingsten weekend, a four-day holiday in Austria. Better known as Pentecost in English, it occurs ten days after Ascension Day (last week's holiday), fifty days after Easter, and marks the beginnings of the Christian church. It was on Pentecost that the twelve apostles where praying when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of flames and empowered them to preach the gospel. Apparently some consider Pentecost to be as important a day as Christmas and Easter in terms of religious events. Whether Austrian's feel that way, I am not sure, but the Pfingsten holiday is a big one because it also marks the beginning of the summer season, much like Memorial Day does in the US.

To celebrate, we are heading out of town again, our last major getaway before we head home in July. We are going back to Schladming to the hotel we stayed at in October. Sadly, the weather doesn't look like summer at all. In fact, chance of snow is in the overnight forecast for Saturday and Sunday!