Welcome to my new blog! Following many years of graduate study in musicology (see my bio if you don't know what musicology is), I am finally embarking on my fieldwork portion of my degree, spending one year in Germany. For all the latest updates on Music, Life, and Travel, read on, friends!
The last week has been a whirlwind. I have not posted anything for days, not because the weather was gray and nothing was happening, but because the weather was white, and I haven't stopped since Thursday! I have tons of things to share, but I am going to spread it all out over a couple of posts.
If you all remember, last Friday we were supposed to get snow in Bonn. Although I don't think we got the 10 centimeters we were supposed to, it did snow, and it was beautiful!
At times we even had big, fluffy snowflakes!
This is actually a photo from Saturday morning. Everything was so peaceful!
My main activity on Friday was baking. My German tandem partner picked me up in the afternoon, and we bought the necessary baking ingredients for "Hausfreunden," macaroons, and molasses cookies.
My grandma's molasses cookies! These are my all-time favorite Christmas cookie! I make these for nearly all of my holiday gatherings, and they are loved everywhere I bring them. They taste like Christmas!
"Hausfreunden" are a layered cookie, with sugar cookies, two layers of apricot jam, and thin circles of marzipan. We dipped them in a mixture of milk and dark chocolate. These were a lot of work, but they were worth it! If you are wondering what "Hausfreunden" means, it is basically the lover of a married woman. So, I have been calling these pool boys.
I had never made macaroons before. These we also tasty, and probably the easiest to make, except for separating the egg whites from the yolks. My tandem partner requested that I do the separating.
All of the cookies are gone now, after I took some to Austria with me, as well as sharing them with BuKa friends and my Bible study friends last night.
Did you know that snow makes Weihnachtsmaerkte even more beautiful!
Sorry about my recent absence from Blogland. When I embarked on the challenge of writing about German Christmas markets every day, my wise husband suggested that I avoid repetition. Otherwise I might lose my readers! So, the last few days have been relatively slow - Christmas-market-speaking. I feel like Bonn has been trapped in a wet darkness for a week, and going to the market has either been inconvenient, because I've been working on other things, or completely undesirable, as the rain and wind would make the walk unbearable!
Beethoven is getting sick of the rain and long nights too!
The darkness that blankets Europe in winter reminded me that I actually have it better than my neighbors to the north: Scandinavia! As I type this, I am watching a show about Norway (in the summer, so it actually looks amazing!). I also thought of another one of Rick Steves' Christmas clips! I know you all were wondering how one celebrates Christmas in Norway. Check it out!
Today was an important day during the German Christmas calendar: Saint Nicolas Day, or Nikolaustag! Traditionally, children leave their shoes out on the night of the 5th, and they wake up to sweets or gifts in their shoes! As a child, my mom treated my brother and I to this celebration a few times! (This was a definite nod to my mom's German-ish roots.) I decided to celebrate by surprising my roommate with some chocolates and a personalized greeting from St. Nikolaus himself.
Check it out! I still have mad drawing skills, even they are a bit rusty. It reads, "I wish you a nice St. Nicolas day!"
As I was getting some shopping done today, I spotted him! Live and in the flesh! I think he looks a lot like my drawing.
Today I also went to Koblenz, and as I headed further south, I saw snow! It had even coated the ground a bit, and you could really see it in the mountains around the town. Bonn did not have any snow on the ground this morning, keeping true to its reputation as a semi-temperate locale in winter.
This is a shot from my bus stop at the Uni, located near the Mosel River.
I am really hoping that this preview of snow will be in my near future...
We have a weather warning for snow tomorrow! All day! We could get 10 cm! I am very excited! To make things even better, I am going to be baking Christmas cookies with a friend tomorrow, and possibly visit a new Weihnachtsmarkt!
Stay tuned, world, things just got a lot more exciting in Blogland!
Friday night was Bonn's long night. The market was open until midnight, and a lot of shops near the market stayed open until 10:00 pm, which never happens in Germany. Germany is the land of conservative store hours. If you run out of anything food-wise on Sunday, you are out of luck. You will not be able to buy it until Monday morning. But Friday was all about celebrating and eating! I was accompanied by two friends, an American and a German, who I've met since living in Bonn. I was extremely happy that I had people with whom to experience the market. Both of them actually had not been to the Weihnachtsmarkt yet, so we got to spend a good time taking in all the stands.
I love these strands of lights! I don't think I've posted a nighttime shot of them yet. I saw this style of light first in Toulouse. This is the view from Marktplatz towards the Muensterplatz.
Now we are among the strands!
My friend J and I! Friday was the first night that temperatures dipped to 0 degrees Celsius. Perfect Gluehwein weather!
Friday I had two of the same type of Gluehwein. I liked this traditional version a lot better than the Gluehwein from the other night. My German friend said that the stand we went to allegedly has the best Gluehwein. The red version was also served with a slice of lemon.
J and her Dampfnudel. I still haven't tried this fan favorite. But it is on my list! It is smothered in vanilla sauce and hot cherries.
My new experience was Poffertjes, or Dutch mini pancakes. Now, I enjoy pancakes as much as the next girl, but I am not obsessed with them. These little guys, however, were amazing! I got eight mini cakes, with Eierlikoer and whipped cream on top. And, to make it even better, all was served in an edible waffle bowl! So tasty, so good! How am I going to survive life once the Weihnachtsmarkt is gone!
Poffertjes, aka Dutch mini pancakes. Yum!
We stopped by the department store window. Check out the child-like wonder in J and J's eyes! Gotta love the reflection in the window too!
I also got a sausage! Krakauer, to be exact. Sorry about the angle; I can't rotate images once they get to Blogger!
Saturday I took a quiet trip into town to run some errands, and I picked up another one of the bread-pizza things, but this time I got it with onions and cheese. Also good! Next time I need to try the bread, which is baked in a stone oven. So delicious!
Today I had waffles with one of my choir friends and his family. Also good times, even if there was no Christmas market visit today. In other news, it snowed in Bonn last night, and a bit this morning! I think winter is almost here!
As promised, here is the low-down on the Weihnachtsmarkt in Koblenz. Yesterday, after meeting with my host professor, I headed out a bit earlier to snap some shots of Koblenz's market. As many of you know, I travel to Koblenz once a week to work at my host university. Despite being there almost 10 times, I have not taken the time to see more of the city, besides the train station and the Uni, which is located nowhere near the center of town. So, these shots are not only Christmas shots, but first shots of the city I don't really know.
Koblenz does have some cute houses. The architecture in the city center is more traditional than Bonn's except for the city's new mall, the Forum, which is huge and has a green, fake leaf metal casing around it. (See below.)
There wasn't a lot going on at the market yesterday. Partly that was because the weather was awful, and I was there in the early afternoon. Still the Gluehwein pyramids were ready for patrons!
What, a statue on a market stand? Haven't seen that before!
This was the most popular stand I saw. Koblenz's market is spread out on several different markets. For someone who had never been there before, I just sort of wandered around and hoped I'd find one of the areas with the market.
Nothing says Christmas in Germany like a Bitburger beer stand in the shape of a Dutch windmill.
Here is another Koblenz building, with images from German fairy tales.
Inside the main Catholic church in Koblenz. It was very pretty!
Overall, I was not very impressed with the Koblenz market. To be fair, I probably need to experience it during the evening, but it still had fewer vendors, and it just wasn't as exciting looking as Bonn's! Bonn ist besser! (Bonn is better!)
When my roommate asked me yesterday if I wanted to go to our market, I thought about saying no, citing the rain and my cold as excuses, but then I decided, "I only live once!" I can always be sick on Friday (which I still am).
To aid in comparative testing, I tried regular Gluehwein. It was okay, but not as good as my homemade recipe. I guess I should stick to trying the more exotic types, the ones I don't know how to make myself!
My second dinner: Reibekuchen mit Apfelmus. Potato pancakes with applesauce. This was soooo delicious! I shouldn't have thought otherwise. When ever are deep-fried potato products NOT delicious?
Tonight I am going to the market again, so we will see how crowded it is with the extended hours. Have a great Friday, everyone!
Yesterday, if you can believe it, I DID NOT visit the Christmas market! I know, I felt like a slacker for not eating anything sweet or drinking anything spiked spiced, but I am trying to get over my cold, and I need to be in tip top shape for the "Lange Nacht" on Friday. Only on this day will the Weihnachtsmarkt be open until midnight! I think that will give all cheer-lovers more than enough time to enjoy the market!
Today I only have a few random things to share. First, after my post on mistletoe, I quickly saw this stand, taking mistletoe to a whole new level!
Sticks of mistletoe...on sticks!
Last weekend I also had the pleasure of trying "Gluehbier." Yes, I had hot, spiced beer. I really had no idea what to expect, other than the hot part. Gluehbier drinkers get awesome glasses, which might actually make it worth taking these ones home. Many vendors offer Gluehbier, so I may need to try it a couple more times to make any definitive judgments.
Me and my Gluehbier! (Sung to the tune of "Me and my Llama" - circa 1978, Sesame Street)
I found that Gluehbier tastes similar to Belgian lambic beers, like Kriek (which means cherry, in Flemish/Dutch). And it was hot, not chilled, of course. I am a fan of fruity beers, as they usually have no a lighter beer taste and are sweeter.
Liefman's Gluehbier
(Sometimes I write up my synopsis of something European, and then only afterward do I think to research it. And, as luck would have it, I know more than I realize I know! Liefman's Gluehbier is indeed brewed by Belgians and has cherries and spices! So, it is basically spiced up Kriek. It takes two years to brew Gluehbier, so I am guessing it is pretty expensive as an import in the USA.)
Finally, after my video post on animatronics, I remembered where I saw something similar. So, without further adieu, here is your second link to Rick Steves' Christmas Special: France. Around minute 3:00, you'll understand what I mean!
Friends, get excited, because today I am visiting my second Weihnachtsmarkt - in Koblenz, where my university is located. I'll have lots of new impressions and photos tomorrow!
