Winter!

Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry to the coconut contest.  The winner was me.  Answer: 10 days before my 19th birthday, Cambodia.  Freshman year, folks!

Winter officially begins on 1 December in Germany.  The sky seemed still dark at 7:45am yesterday as I peaked through my eyelids and smacked OK to silence my phone alarm.  When I finally rolled out of bed half an hour later, it wasn't much lighter.  Outside looked like this until about 4:15pm, when it got dark again.

The view out my window

Weihnachten (the holy nights, i.e. Christmas Eve and Christmas) arrive soon.  Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas Markets) have already arrived, some as early as 24 Nov.  There is no Thanksgiving here to 'split up' the holiday craze.  The holiday craze, however, can be more merry than commercial, depending where you go, what you do, and who you're with.  Of course that's true anywhere you are, but the Weihnachtsmärkte make it easy to feel non-Scroogey without being overwhelmed by jingles, imitation Santa Clauses, and killer shoppers.  You can get that feeling if you search for it in a mall of course.  Aside: There is no black Friday.  Stores do not have extended hours.  They do not open before dawn (grocery stores don't open before 8am).  At Weihnactsmarkt, you can be overwhelmed by people densely packing the aisles between stalls of Glühwein, Bratwurst, Reibekuchen, Feuerzangenbowle, Dampfnudeln, Früchtebrot, candies, dozens of stands selling ornaments and crafts, including knits, carved and colored rocks, creatively blown glass, jewelry of silver, wood, stone and/or shells, silly marionette like dolls that hang from springs, wood carvings, neat wax shapes, dishes and cooking utensils with need wood patterns, teas, spices.  I don't know if Germans balloon like we do during the holiday season, but it probably helps that one usually travels on foot to the Weihnactsmarkt and spends a good amount of time losing as much heat as they are consuming.  

Most towns have their own Weihnachtsmarkt, some major cities have multiple markts, and some cities are renowned for their Weihnachtsmarkt.  We'll have a look at my samplings, but first, let's compile a glossary of the consumables of the previous paragraph:

Glühwein: the reason to go to a Christmas Market.  Hot wine mulled with spices.  Aside from the standard red, comes in many versions, Weisse (white), Kirschewein (Cherry wine), Heidelbeerwein (Blueberry wine), 'Glühwein mit Schuss' (Glühwein with a shot of rum, amaretto, Bailey's, i.e. SPIKED!).  Keeps your toes warm.  If you are used to drinking warm things, like Chinese tea, quickly, Glühwein is a lot of fun for you (me).  As mentioned in 'Taste the Waste', the drinks are served in a Weihnachtsmarkt mug that you leave a Pfand (deposit) for.  If you want to keep it, then they keep your deposit.  If you want your deposit back, bring the much back.  Weihnachtsmarkt mug are too easy to collect.

Bratwurst: brat = fried, wurst = sausage  Every state in Germany has it's own style and flavor, and the variety is reflected at the Christmas markets.  In Nürnberg (Nuremberg) for example, you can order 3-5 Nürnberger Bratwurst in a Brötchen (bread roll, Brot = bread, chen = little).  They're tiny, much like breakfast sausage.  Most Bratwurst served in Germany are served in a Brötchen much shorter and fatter than the Bratwurst.

Reibekuchen: fried potato pancakes, much like latkes (Jewish).  Unlike latkes, where you can typically make out the potato shreds by eye and texture, Reibekuchen is made from a finer grind of potato flour and maybe other flour too.  The batter is scooped out of its bowl and plopped to swim in some oil before being scooped out and served with two Reibekuchen friends and a generous glob of apple sauce.  

Feuerzangenbowle!!!  Take red wine, some fruit and spices, a splash of orange juice if desired, and heat over a low flame.  Mount a cone of sugar over it.  Douse sugar cone in STRONG rum, light!  Keep adding rum to sugar until entire sugar cone has melted while caramelizing into the wine.  Drink.

(I tried really hard to rotate this, any tips?)

Dampfnudeln: A giant ball of dough served with vanilla sauce.  I haven't tried it yet.  I'm usually full after sampling any two items from the list above.

Früchtebrot:  Take a guess...Früchte = fruit, brot = bread.  This stuff was really abundant and REALLY good in Nürnberg.  It's densely packed with whole dried plums, figs, dates, hazelnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, and presently unidentified other tasty spices (PUOTS ) and topped with some nicely placed almond pieces.  A thin slice eats like a meal.  

Nürnberger Früchtebrot

So, I would like to present the Christmas Markets I have been to, in ascending order by size, with a splash of commentary.  I hope to post more about my first trip to Bavaria (Erlangen, Regensburg, Nürnberg) later. 

London - Ok, not the smallest, just the least German and most annoyingly expensive.  4 pounds + 1 (mug) per Glühwein!  That's more than 6 Euro!  

Erlangen - Had a Medieval style one, with more rustic decorations and crafts for sale.  First taste of Feuerzangenbowle there with Vahid Sandoghdar's research group (amazing at spectroscopy).  

Regensburg - Had multiple Christmas markets.  I spent one night in this town that didn't get bombed, and therefore all its Medieval stuff never required reconstruction.  One market was more 'conventional', selling mostly Christmas themed products, I ate a Wildschweinebratwurst there (Wild = wild, schweine = pig, bratwurst = bratwurst), another one featured local artists.

Mainz - Have attended once with my research group, twice in another day during our department's Christmas party, one more time for shopping without consuming Glühwein (gasp!), one more time with my TOM buddy and his flatmate (like a language partner, these great people still need to be introduced).  Glühwein typically 2.50 Euro here, plus 1 or 2 for the deposit.  Spiking it will cost you another.

Verena, meine Kollege!

Nürnberg - City reconstructed, still awesome, surrounded by a fortress.  Germany's favorite Christmas markets, and possibly the largest, woven among the bridges, Cathedrals, and hills!  Bought a potato made of marzipan.  I am really challenging my sugar tolerance this season.

Lots of Marzipan products, among other treats.  Marzipan potatoes in the middle there

Dolls assembled from dried fruit

Nürnberger Bratwurst sold here

Special Thanks and Coconut Contest

An overdue thank you to all supporters who have collectively viewed this blog more than 1000 times!  (No, that does not include my own views)  (Don't worry, I can't see who has viewed it and when and from where, and I want don't to.  Blogger simply keeps count of pageviews by day, from which operating systems, and from which country it was accessed by day, week, month, and all time).  I have certainly learned a lot by taking the extra time to record and reflect upon excerpts of life and travels that have interested, informed, amused, and moved me, and I hope you make time to try it too at some point, if you haven't already, publicly or privately.  

Beer/wine/chocolate of choice (up to 5€ worth) to the first person who correctly guesses my age in this 'foto' and in which country it was taken in.  Multiple winners possible, depending on time zone.  Polls open now, will close in one week if no one wins before that.  Immediate family members (Mother, Father, Brother) not eligible.  Thanks for the foto, Mom!