Christmas in Charleston

And now for something completely different.

Tiring of our glamorous European lifestyle, we decided to hop across the pond for Christmas in the Deep South. It’s possible that our decision was swayed by the generous invitation of my parents to join them there, but in the end we found Charleston to be a most pleasant place to spend a few days (lack of appropriate Christmas weather notwithstanding). » Read the full post

Tags: Americana, art, Christmas, holidays, restaurants, travel, USA

The most wunderbar time of the year

It’s time for my annual I-love-Christmas-in-Germany post. The Christmas markets opened last week, looking much as they do every year. I’ve noticed a couple new stands here and there, but for the most part everything is in its place. Now if we could just have some snow to make them even cuter, I’d be in heaven.

I’ve written several posts about the markets over the years, such as this one about the best Munich Christmas markets for pretty much everything (or you could just view all my posts about Christmas markets). One stop I haven’t talked about yet (but is worth a mention) is the Alpen Wahn, a cozy little stand outside Der Pschorr serving red and white glühwein until 11pm each night (which is later than most of the other markets are open). Look for it at the north end of the Schrannenhalle, just off the Viktualienmarkt.  » Read the full post

Tags: Bavaria, Christmas, Christmas markets, Europe, German culture, Germany, holidays, Munich

The only jack-o-lantern on the block

Last night we decided to be true to our American roots and got creative with a pumpkin. When I first moved to Europe in the 90s, Halloween-style pumpkins were nowhere to be found, but this year we were able to pick up one at our local farmers market for only €3 (it was even labeled as a “Halloween-Kürbis”). » Read the full post

Tags: Americana, holidays

Scenes from snowy Prague

Greetings from Prague!  » Read the full post

Tags: Christmas, Christmas markets, Czech Republic, Europe, holidays, Prague, snow, travel, winter

Berlin: big city Christmas lights

This year we kicked of the Christmas market season in Berlin, where I fell in love with the market in front of the Rotes Rathaus.  » Read the full post

Tags: Berlin, Christmas, Christmas markets, Germany, holidays, travel

Munich: ’tis the season and all that

There are basically three things I’d like to communicate with this post.

1. Munich is cold and snowy. » Read the full post

Tags: Christmas, Christmas markets, Germany, holidays, Munich, winter

Munich’s most delicious season

Look what opened today! Munich is already a fairytale-adorable city; toss in Christmas markets all over the place and it gets so cute it makes your cheeks hurt. I celebrated the start of my favorite time of year with some roasted chestnuts (which is probably the most Thanksgiving-like food I’ll eat all day).

You can read about my favorite Christmas markets in Munich here.

Tags: Bavaria, Christmas markets, Germany, holidays, Munich

Christmas in Rome, part 1

I’m a bit behind on my travel blogging. I’ll skip over a couple trips all together, but our winter adventures in Italy deserve a little more attention than they have received so far.

We arrived in Rome on Christmas Day to find the metro closed. No signs, no information, just a big metal gate closing off the entrance. Luckily our hotel was within easy walking distance of the train station.

Speaking of our accommodations, Albergo Ottocento is a nice, well-located boutique hotel within walking distance of many places of interest in Rome. And walk we did. The Christmas tree on the Spanish steps was a bit of a disappointment, but the sunset view from the top wasn’t.

The next day we headed over to the Vatican to see their tree and giant nativity scene*, and happened to catch a glimpse of the pope speaking to the crowd from a comically far-off window. I think he was discussing his new plan to get child molestation down to acceptable levels.

We saw a lovely art exhibit at the Chiostro del Bramante and then did some more wandering, including through the Christmas market at Piazza Navona. It was giant and loud and bright and tacky; nothing at all like a German Christmas market but fun anyway. A passing tourist’s remark about the “Panthanon” sent me into a giggling fit that could only be cured by a Campari-laden cocktail at the oh-so-charming Caffè della Pace.

More art at the Villa Borghese, which is a nightmare of rules (reservations required, you get kicked out after two hours, the required bag check refuses to take coats) but they get away with it since their art collection is so wonderful. Bernini statues, I will never get tired of looking at you. There was a special Carravagio Bacon exhibit going on; while I enjoyed the paintings I came out still having no clue what the justification was for putting those two artists together.

I get to the important stuff in part 2 of this post – coming soon.

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* My husband was surprised to see that one of the wise men was black. Guess it’s not like that in Montana.

Tags: art, Christmas, Europe, holidays, Italy, museums, Rome, travel, winter

Spontaneous acts of riverdancing

Those who were passing through Munich’s Marienplatz on St. Patrick’s Day were treated to a little stealth Irish jigging. The ‘flashmob’ performance was pulled off beautifully, starting with a small line of dancers.

Out of nowhere more folks in green shirts appeared and joined in the fun.

The group grew and grew; each time the new participants seemed to materialize out of thin air. One moment they were plain-clothed observers, the next green-wearing dancing machines (or in two cases, sheep-costume-wearing dancing machines).

Here’s a video of the event. It was enough to make one wish for a green pint of beer.

Tags: holidays, Munich

This year’s new carnival costume

As seen today in Munich. It took me a few seconds to realize they weren’t misshapen smurfs.

In other exciting carnival news, the headliner at Munich’s city center festivities was one Lou Bega. It was basically him, three background dancers, and a copy of his CD being played over the loudspeakers. You know the CD he released 1999? That one. The whole experience was pretty depressing-bad, instead of the kitschy so-bad-its-good-bad we were hoping for. And he opened with Mambo No. 5, so there was really only one direction things could go from there. Frankly, the kids from Tanzschule Wolfgang Steuer (the opening act) were more entertaining.

Tags: Germany, holidays, Munich, music