The three kids and six to eight black men

I am sorry for the long dry spell of minimal posts and even fewer photos.  Between holiday bussinesss and my newly diagnosed asthma giving me a run for my money, it has been hard to find the time to uplaod photos and type things out.  School and work (ie, normalcy) resume on Tuesday and then I hope to get back to posting several times a week, starting with some posts from MundoMar and Port Aventura in Spain.

In the meantime, I want to tell you a little about the visitors who came to our door today.  Mid morning today, the doorbell rang and when I answered there were costumed kids and an adult who started reciting a story, then singing, and waving incense into the house.  This yearly, blessing of the home, is a sweet tradition that happens every year in the days around Epiphany (Jan 6, the 12th day of Christmas).  The kids are dressed as the three kings, or wise men. and the blessing includes putting the letters CMB (for Christus Mansionem Benidicat, meaning Jesus bless this house)  and the year above the door.  This used to be written in chalk, but has been on a sticker the last three year.  In return, a donation is made by us homeowners to the special collection for the year (this year it is for the Philippines).

One thing that feel very strange from the American perspective is the portrayal of one of the kings as black by using "black face."  Once we had a group which included a black child portraying a king, but otherwise, one always has on black face paint.  This is quite clearly not meant to be, or views as, racist or offensive in this context in this culture, but boy does it feel odd to us.  I was not sure how to politely interrupt the singing and reciting to ask if it was okay to take a photo of the group today (always four, the three wise men and a shepherd), but here are a couple of photos from online that are very representative.

While talking about how odd it felt (and explaining what black face means in US culture to the kids, who have not grown up seeing that to know it has nay connotation beyond the three king'S costume), one of our favourite David Sedaris skits came to mind, so we listened to it over lunch and had a god laugh.  it is not about Germany at all, rather about Holland, but it IS hysterical, I hope you take the time to listen and enjoy it as much as we did.

Have a good weekend, and all of you in the deep freeze in the US and Canada, please stay safe and warm.

--Hadley

A German New Year's Eve Celebration

Last night was only the second time we have been in German for the new year.  The other was our first year here, and we spent the evening alone at home; this year we were invited to a friend's house and really enjoyed the time and a bit of German tradition.

Much like at a typical at home celebration in the US, we started off with some drinks and then moved into a dinner.  One of the traditional German dinners for New Years Eve is cheese fondue, we had a slight variation of that with another melted cheese type item, raclette.  The table was all decked out with lucky items for the new year, money themed napkins and little "gluckschwein" (lucky pigs) for everyone.

After dinner, we all settled down to partake in a uniquely German new year's eve tradition, watching the British comedy sketch called "Dinner for One"  This is shown, in English, every New Year's Eve in Germany and is consequently the record holder for most repeated television broadcast.  No one seems to be able to explain to me WHY this is mandatory viewing in Germany on NYE, but it seems to be!  It was cute, but I think must be funnier if you have already had a few drinks.  Here is an article which discusses the show's traditional airing in Germany and has a link to watch it on youtube if you are interested.

www.thelocal.de/20131231/16465

By the time the show was over, it was nearly midnight.  This time we were expecting what we learned on our first New Year's Eve here:  a huge number of fireworks exploding all around at midnight.  Yes, on New Year's Eve, the normally quiet, reserved, waste adverse and safety obsessed Germans do a complete and total 180.  They launch insane amounts of very large and loud fireworks, with essentially no safety precautions, taking over local streets.

While there were a few random fireworks being set off here and there from about 6:00 pm on, the big celebration starts at midnight.  For a full 35 minutes it was NONstop with LARGE fireworks as well as smaller ones, Roman candles, etc in every direction as far as you can see.  At any one time there were at least 5 large explosions in the sky, and many smaller ones at ground level or smaller bottle rockets, and often 10 or more going off.  The streets were filled with people and debris from already shot off rockets, and more go off by the second.  Just on the one block long street we were on, there were over a dozen groups of people launching things (often using the empty champagne bottle from midnight toasts to launch them from, though others had entire cases of bottles set up to do multi rocket launches), and of course all of the streets around us were doing the same and the sky was lit with it all.  I have never seen so many fireworks for so long ANYwhere else, not even at Disney World.

Here is one image I got about 20 minutes in that shows just one direction looking down the street, and several going off at the exact moment the camera snapped.  I am surprised there is not anything IN the street, though I guess that was more looking the other direction.

After 35 minutes of this insanity, there was another good half hour of less intensity and then the final fireworks were still going off now and again until three or four in the morning.  It is really an all out celebration, and mayhem that is hard to describe, and that is so very different than the otherwise orderly Germans.  It is something to be experienced, for sure.

Today, I reached back to our American roots and made sure we had black eyed peas with lunch!

Wishing you all a healthy and happy 2014,

Hadley

Schwetzingen Weihnachtsmarkt

Sorry for the long hiatus.  Like many of you, I spent the last couple of weeks frantically tying up loose ends and wrapping up loose gifts in anticipation of the holidays.  Friday and Saturday were mostly spent in the car as we drove down to our current location near Alicante, Spain, and yesterday we were bust celebrating Rio's 15th birthday (the days go by so fast).

You can look forward to some Spanish posts soon, but today I wanted to get to posting about the last Christmas Market we visited this year; just down the road from Heidelberg in Schwetzingen.  Even though this town is one short bus ride away (and a lovely bike ride away n nicer weather), this was the first year Dave and I made it to their market set in the main street that leads up to the palace, and in the forecourt of the palace itself.

It is a fairly small market with stalls in a one block area as well as the palace forecourt, as well as one of the larger ice rinks (but elevated and heard to see into if you are not skating).  The stalls were all white tents, without the pretty lighting effects that those in the Heidelberg castle had.

It was pretty, just not as knock your socks off pretty as the others we have visited this year.  One thing that made it unique and interesting though was the stage.  There was an elevated  stage set up with a variety of good live bands taking it in the two hours we were there.  Tables set up with a view of the stage, and several stalls selling light snacks and drinks nearby made it almost like an outdoor bar scene.

I have to share one final, semi related, photo:  In the plaza across from the palace (where half of the market was) there is a statue of a spargel seller and a little girl buying the white asparagus the region is famous for.  Someone has bundled both the seller and the little girl up in scarves for the winter, which was surprisingly sweet :)

Wishing you all the merriest of Christmases,

--Hadley

Heidelberger Schlossweihnacht

On just 12 afternoons and evenings, this year the 5th to 17th of December, Heidelberg has a second Christmas Market that takes place up on one of the castle terraces. Here you can see one of the market stalls from down in town.

 Today, the kids and I headed up to visit that market for the first time.  Marika and I met Rio downtown right after school, which meant he still had his backpack to carry around, so we did opt to take the funicular up the hill rather than hike up the various staircases.  For reference, the funicular costs 6 euro for adults and 4 for kids and is a roundtrip ride.

There is no cost for the market itself.  It is a smallish market, there simply is not a lot of room on the terrace, but it is a lovely little one.  The stalls are white tents, with various colored glowing lights inside that lend a magical feel, and there are many lit trees scattered about.

Of course, we had to have crepes!

The castle was so lovely lit up with colored lights:

But the piece de resistance is the overlook of the city by night:

I am so glad we made the time to go up and check this out.  I do recommend making your way up to the Castle Christmas Market if you happen to be in Heidelberg while it is open.

--Hadley

Weihnachtsmarkt in der Ravennaschlucht

A few years ago, I was bemoaning the lack of snow in Heidelberg on my birthday.  It just does not feel right to me to have dry land for my December holiday--at least not if we are somewhere cold.  Cold should mean snow; it rarely works out that way in Heidelberg.  So, looking for a snowy activity to enjoy on my big day, Dave stumbled across information about a small Christmas Market held in the Ravenna Gorge, right in the middle of Germany's Hell Valley, and a love affair was born.

This small Christmas Market, tucked in the trees, with the train trestle going overhead, live music and only handmade goods, is far and a way my favourite of any I have visited in Germany.  Which means, that every year on the weekend nearest my birthday, I drag my family on the two and a half hour drive, and we enjoy a lovely few hours in the market, and hiking along the trail that runs through the gorge.

This year has been warmer and drier than most, and there in the Black Forest, the market that normally has at least a foot of packed snow, was on dry land, with just a few random patches of ice and snow along the trail.  It was still a lovely evening though.

There is no town at the entrance to the gorge, but there is a small collection of shops and one hotel, whose restrooms are open for market attendees.  NOTE: you can park at one of two nearby towns and take a free shuttle bus in, or pay online ahead of time to reserve a three hour parking spot right there.  We were more than happy to pay 5 Euro for the ease of parking onsite, and three hours really is enough for this small market.

Here are some photos of the entry area:

The entry to the market is on a path that runs around behind the hotel, off on the left hand side.

The region is known for its goats; there is always a goat drawn sleigh in the hotel courtyard for children to ride in.

One of the peculiarities of this market is that it has an entry fee.  It is a reasonable 3 euro per adult, kids under 18 are free, and the 5 euro parking fee includes entry for one person.  As soon as you round the corner of the hotel and start down the path towards the market and payment area, you see the train trestle rising above the gorge:

I WAS disappointed in the lack of snow.  I think I need to lodge a complaint with Mother Nature: my aunt had several inches of snow on her porch in Fort Worth, Texas, and yet here, in the Black Forest was bare ground?!  On the bright side, no snow meant it would be easy to hike quite a way on the trail, further than we have been able to go before.  We headed straight there to get some hiking in before sunset.  The trail heads off from between a break in the stalls at the back of the market.  The lowest section is sanded (when there is snow) and lit by colored lights and called the fairy tale path, but the real beauty is higher up.  This summer we hope to go for a day and hike the whole thing.  We got to see quite a bit of it this year, and it really is lovely.

We turned back at just the right time, and were arriving back in the market area right as it got dark out.  Isn't the train bridge lovely all lit up at night?

Most of the goods (all handmade for this market) are on the uphill side (back) and the food is on the downhill side.  In between, running at the bast of the trestle are the band and a few more stalls, including a wood fired oven making flammkuchen.  There are some more unique food offerings here, including many goat cheeses and goat sausages, and freshly melted (raclette style) cheese served on baguettes sliced longways, with or without ham.  

After shopping for a while, and warming by one of the many campfires and burning logs, we stuffed ourselves full of flammkuchen (sort of like a very flat pizza with a sour cream based sauce, from the Alsace region) crepes, raclette, and more, and sipped hot caipirinha's (a drink I have only seen at this one place, but I fully admit to preferring it to the traditional mulled wine.  This is the one and only market from which David drives home instead of me, so I can enjoy this tart treat).  

We did notice that there were quite a few more attendees this year (and last year was more than the previous).  I think word is getting out about this idyllic little market.  It's also likely that the dry roads and clear weather contributed to the large number of visitors this year.  Even with the crowds, this market is well worth a visit though.

--Hadley