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Monday, December 24, 2012

Christmas Markets in Germany

Gengenbach
Emily and I took advantage of the holiday season in southern Germany to check out a bunch of the best Christmas markets available.  The above scene is from Gengenbach, a village in the Black Forest that boasts the world's largest Advent calendar, seen on the right.


Emily enjoying a Schoki in the Gengenbach market, and then getting smacked by an endemic "Hexe" (German for "witch").   Time and time again we ran into Hexen toys, paintings, and statues...it was scary.


Here's the gate on the edge of Gengenbach with Emily running from stand to stand, searching for final snacks.

Heidelberg
The Christmas market in Heidelberg began right after Thanksgiving.  There were a handful of markets spread across the old town, and above on the left you can see the castle on the hill.  On the right is Emily with Kurbiscremesuppe - pumpkin soup, which quickly became her favorite.


Here on the left is the tower gate on the Old Bridge across the Neckar river.  The main market in Heidelberg took place outside the cathedral.

Ludwigsburg
One night we took the S-Bahn from Stuttgart to the small town of Ludwigsburg, which is famous for its Baroque Christmas market.


We came across some Alphorn players in Ludwigsburg, which prompted Emily to try a beer from a Trinkhorn.


Ludwigsburg probably had the most gorgeous decorations of all the markets we saw.

Stuttgart
The Christmas market in Stuttgart was very large and snaked around much of the downtown area.


Not the greatest smelling stand in Stuttgart's Weinachtsmarkt, but pretty cool anyway.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber
One weekend we headed to Bavaria to the popular town Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  The old walled town is a gorgeously preserved.  We headed to the Christmas market and grabbed some waffles...


We wandered up and down the cobbled streets in the snow.  Rothenburg was impressive even though it was packed with tourists.

Nuremberg
From Rothenburg we continued east to Nuremberg, which is a major destination during the holidays.


Okay, so they're no Hexen, but skeletons strangling one another on the back of a giant winged iguana were really off the deep end.  We swiftly moved to the markets...


Right after we parked, the snow started coming down.  Here is the view of Nuremberg's main Christmas market.  We didn't last long in the frigid city, and took off for Baden-Württemberg.


Thanks for checking out this Christmas Market post, and in case you missed our Christmas trip to Munich last winter, here are those posts: Merry Krampus from Munich and Christmas in Bavaria.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Ein herzliches Dankeschön: Our German Thanksgiving



We had a nontraditional Thanksgiving... I spent my Thanksgiving in two countries, traveled on the busiest travel day of the year without having to worry about traffic, ate schnitzel instead of stuffed turkey and tiramisu instead of pie. I flew from England to Germany to be with Dave on Thanksgiving (he's been doing some work in Germany). I considered cooking a traditional meal to bring along in my suitcase, but with only a microwave to work with once in Germany we decided against this option. Besides, getting past customs with a bird is a little risky (although some airlines allow you to travel with up to 5 live birds in the main cabin- yes, I looked it up) . We missed our family terribly, friends dearly, and football very much (well, some of us missed that last one more than others). Nonetheless, there was one tradition we could keep alive no matter how far from home; stuffing our gullets with food. We took the advice of tripadvisor.com and hit up a restaurant ranked #1 in all of Stuttgart, the Busnauer Hof im Wildpfaldstuble. Here we are at our Thanksgiving table. Dave's enjoying his beer and I'm... enjoying Dave.
We had originally planned a trip to Prague for the weekend after Thanksgiving. We were hoping to meet up with some friends near the border of the Czech Republic and tour the city together. As it turned out, our friends couldn't come and Dave was on call that weekend, making the 12 hour round-trip drive much less appealing. Late on Thanksgiving night we decided to put off our Prague trip and stay local. Instead we visited a picturesque monastery, our first Christmas market of the season, and the Wilhelma Zoo. The town name, Maulbronn, means "mule fountain" and it is said to be founded by German monks who followed a mule to the area in search of clean water. Below is the Maulbronn coat of arms.
 
The monastery in Maulbronn, Maulbronn Abbey is the town's claim to fame. Founded in 1147, it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These are some pictures from Maulbronn Monastery.
There were two facts from our audio-guided tour of the Monastery that we found memorable. One is that maultaschen, or Swabian ravioli, was invented in an attempt to hide meat that monks were eating during lent. The other fun fact was the way that Elfinger wine, a local vineyard, got its name. In the center of the Monk's Refectory inside the monastery, there is a column where a barrel of wine would be fastened and left to drip slowly down the column. The monks were then allowed to taste the wine by dipping their fingers into the trickling wine and licking a drop off each one.
 
Legend has it that one monk enjoyed the wine so much that he wished aloud "if only I had eleven fingers", that way he could have another drop. And that's how Elfinger or "eleventh finger" got it's name. Dave and I thought that this story was hysterical and found many excuses for repeating the quote "if only I had eleven fingers" (in a creepy voice, of course) throughout the weekend. On Saturday, we spent the entire day enjoying the Christmas market in Heidelburg. The best thing (in my opinion) about the  market was that there wasn't a krampus in sight (if you don't know what I'm talking about see Merry Krampus from Munich).
I had some delicious pumpkin soup, my second in 24 hours (we also had some in Maulbronn). Dave had some "Opa" Glühwein, mulled wine with added rum. Check out the effects...
 We stayed until dark when the lights of Christmas became truly enchanting...
Lastly, here are some pictures from the Wilhelma Zoo...
 We both got to see our favorite animals! Can you guess which is whose favorite? They had some pretty cute animals... including two baby gorillas!
That's all for now, thanks for checking in! 
We wish you all a Wonderful Thanksgiving :)

Monday, November 12, 2012

Dachau Concentration Camp and Hitler's Eagles Nest


The presence of World War II memorials seem to be rightfully scarce in Germany, but I decided to check out two major sites from the war that destroyed much of Europe.  Dachau Concentration Camp was the model for many subsequent camps, and it is one of the few remaining sites that one can still visit.


The gate at Dachau held the common message for such camps, "Arbeit Macht Frei", or "Work Sets You Free".  I am not positive as to its purpose, but it seems that initially the statement was one of false hope for new prisoners, and later it would have been perceived as a sarcastic mockery as time passed.


Here's an example of anti-Semite propaganda from the 1930s that spurred distrust and resentment in Bavaria.


At the far end of the camp was the seemingly benign "Brausebad" or "shower".  Prisoners who had lost the ability to work due to malnutrition, disease, or injuries were led to this gas chamber.


At the back of the building was the Krematorium, denoted by the chimney.


The gassed corpses were then disposed of in the furnaces.  The straightforward, systematic layout of the camp showed the cold resolve of the Nazis, contrasting dramatically with the message of the Genocide Memorial Centre in Kigali, Rwanda, which expressed the events as being more chaotic and volatile.  Both struggles were incomprehensibly evil, but were carried out with disparate methods.  The phrase "Nie Wieder" (Never Again) that was posted at Dachau rang hollow as I remembered walking among the skulls of the victims in Rwanda. 


Over the course of the relatively somber, contemplative weekend, I did make time to take in Bavaria's beauty.  Here is a scene from Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden, a village in the far southeastern corner of Germany.  This church is commonly found in postcards of quintessential Bavaria.  I only wish I could have been there in the summer to see the green landscape.


From Ramsau, I drove to Königsee, which the locals boasted as having the clearest water in Germany.  It is an electric-motor only lake, and at the far southern end is a famous church, called St Bartholomew's, which is another postcard-worthy location.  I jumped on a boat for the 35 minute ride to the church.


St Bartholomew's did not disappoint.  In the background is the Watzmann, the second tallest mountain in Germany.


A great view of the distinctive church.


After my time at Königsee, I drove over to Berchtesgaden, and found the Berchtesgaden Hofbrauhaus.  The beer was pretty good, and my meal hit the spot.  I didn't have any other plans, so I stuck around, enjoying the people watching and trying to follow the German conversations around me with my limited language skills.  A group that was sitting nearby noticed I was by myself, and pulled up a chair for me.  The group was very hospitable, with three Austrians, to include an Austrian soldier, a local Berchtesgadener, and two Poles.  We spent a few hours chatting and laughing, with my German improving with each successive beer.


The next morning I set out to hike to the top of one of Hitler's crown jewels, the Kehlsteinhaus, or Eagles Nest.  Probably 99% of those who visit the Eagles Nest take a bus to the top, but that wasn't even an option for me since the site shuts down in the winter.  Since I was working with a compressed time schedule, I decided to make the trek nonetheless.  The path to the top was blocked early on - I enjoyed the skull and crossbones, but they had me at "Lebensgefahr" (Life Danger).


After a couple hours of trudging, half up wooded logging trails and half up snowy switchbacks, the clouds broke slightly and the alps came into view.


I had the Eagles Nest all to myself for about a half hour.  It was boarded up and winterized, but the surrounding view was the reason for the trip.  The stillness of this place was refreshing.



One of my favorite hikes


On the way down, fog enveloped the trail.  I started to see why the path is closed in the winter, and I was ill-prepared for snow that in places came up to my knees.  Hours later, I made it back to the trailhead, aching but whole.


The trip was outstanding yet sobering.  I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to see these important historical locations which I'll cherish for many years.

Friday, November 9, 2012

More of Austria and Bavaria


Emily just posted her pictures from our weekend roadtrip to Plansee and Lermoos, Austria and Ettal, Mittenwald, and Grainau, Germany.  The above picture is from Plansee, near the border.


King Ludwig's Linderhof Castle - unfortunately, the amazing gardens and landscaping were covered up for winter.


Ettaler Kloster (Abbey) made up for the Linderhof's shortfalls.  The exterior was just as impressive as the interior.

The intricacy of the abbey was amazing


Our next stop was Mittenwald, in between two mountain ranges in Bavaria.  Everywhere we went in the town we were cognizant of the looming mountains on either side.


It helped that the day was so clear...


Here is our hotel, the Alpenrose, in downtown Mittenwald, with the church at the end of the stony street.


Mittenwald is known for its viola craftsmen


The next morning we drove to the base of Germany's largest mountain, Zugspitze, on a whim.  At the base on the German side is the Eibsee, a little lake, that we hiked around.


On the far side of the Eibsee, you can get a clear view of the summit of the Zugspitze, here on the left.


Another view of the Zugspitze...


The most grand view of the Zugspitze is on the Austrian side - we drove around the mountain to Lermoos, Austria for this shot.


As expected, the northern Alps were stunning.