St. Nicholas is called Svaty Mikalas and is believed to climb to earth down from heaven on a golden rope along with his companions: an angel and a devil. St Nicholas visits, and brings good children gifts along with the angel, and for those children who are bad, the devil is said to come with switches. St. Nicholas carries a basket filled with strudl and traditional Czech pastries, which are enjoyed throughout the season. Sweets are a favorite! Vánoèka, Christmas bread, is in his bag. This bread has a few magical powers. Feeding a piece of vánoèka to the cows on Christmas Eve will ensure that there will be lots of milk all year, putting a few vánoèka crumbs in front of the bee hive will make sure that the bees will produce enough honey during the following year, and throwing a piece of vánoèka into the well will ensure good quality of the water.