Ah, Christmastime in Germany. I'm a huge Christmas-love as is, but this was probably one of my favorite experiences so far. The city centers were all decked with lights, the scent of candied almonds wafted through the air, and bottles of Gluehwein (mulled wine) could be had for as low as 99 cents at the supermarket. Yes, life was good. It also didn't hurt that this area of Germany got more snow in December than just about ever, so there was almost always snowflakes falling or a fresh coating of snow covering the Christmas markets. The markets themselves are incredibly kitschy, but so much fun. I particularly enjoyed the Gluehwein stands, such as the one pictured below in the shape of a windmill/pyramid, which is a replica of the famous carved wood ornaments from the eastern mountains of Germany. Also to be found at Dortmund's market was the tallest Christmas "tree" in Germany/Europe/the world depending on who you're talking to. I put tree in quotations because it was actually a giant wire frame into which they stuck dozens of normal-sized evergreen trees. Watching the construction was pretty hilarious, actually, but kind of ruined the magic ("Mommy, Johnny told me that the Dortmund Christmas tree isn't real, is that true?" "Well, honey, it's kind of real..." "Nooo, my childhood is over!")
The Essen Christmas market had absolutely gorgeous lights covering the trees and hanging over the streets, because Essen combines the Christmas market with their annual "Weeks of Light," which is something a lot of German cities do (light up a part of town or a park for a couple weeks), but usually in the summer. I had a lot of fun walking around the markets and sampling the food and drink (roasted chestnuts, candied almonds, fries, bratwurst, potato cakes and any kind of hot, alcoholic drink you can imagine) with Pascal, friends, and my colleagues from work. Besides food, you can find all manner of handicrafts (usually overpriced, truth-be-told), from hand-carved Bavarian wooden ornaments to Peruvian wool stocking caps, jewelry, candles and soaps, plus some really strange things, like silicone muffin pans. For some reason all my pictures are from the evening, but the markets really do look much more exciting and magical in the dark, so it's probably for the best.
After I got my fill of the Christmas markets it was time to actually celebrate Christmas. I stayed in Germany to celebrate with Pascal and his family, which was very nice, though I did miss my family a lot and all of our traditions. On Christmas Eve we decorated the tree, had a very nice dinner, then opened presents, and then had an impromptu "concert" before going to Midnight Mass. All I can say is, Pascal and I really need to work on our drum-piano duets, and his brother needs to work on his singing. I'd post the video of our attempt at "Jingle Bells" here, but his brother made me promise to never distribute it to anyone outside of our families, so I'm afraid you'll be spared from that particular agony. On Christmas Day some family friends and their kids came over for brunch, and on the day after Christmas (or as the Germans call it, "2nd Christmas Day") we went to visit Pascal's grandparents for several days. Also, there was apparently something really interesting on the ceiling after brunch. The rest of the pictures are winter landscapes from Essen and Sauerland. A white Christmas is very rare around here, so I think it was a special gift to me to cheer me up about not being with my family (it worked) :)
These last two pictures are from New Year's Eve, which Pascal and I celebrate with two of his friends and their girlfriends. One of them brought a "MiniWok" set, which, as you can see in the picture, is just individual pans on a griddle to which each person can add their own vegetables, sauce and noodles. It was very fun and tasty, and then we drank various forms of alcohol while watching ridiculous German New Year's Eve specials on TV (my favorites were the reruns from 70s comedy shows). Toasting and setting off of fireworks ensued at midnight, and now here we are, a whole week into 2011. I hope you all are off to a good start in the New Year and haven't given up on the resolutions yet! I never made any, which is the best way to guard against failure and disappointment. But hopefully you all are more motivated than me! Happy January!
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