Thursday (the sixth), was St Nicholas Day, when the Saint visits children and lives gifts or choccies in their boots if they've been good.
Clearly I was a good girl (some would say Best), because in the morning I found this:

And after lunch there was more chocolate! (plus a lovely gift from Ralph of 3 journal articles to read).

If you're not good- you get left a stick instead, with which your parents can then beat you. In some versions of the tale, St Nick is accompanied by a creepy, demonic fellow, called Krampus:


Apparently he will lick you, chain you up:

... and beat you, while you desperately try to escape on your rocking horsey:
Less politically incorrect than the Dutch Black Peter ('he's only in black face because he's a chimney sweep we swear') but very very terrifying.

In other news...

Max Planck is looking forward to Christmass