Aloha all,
since we wanted to return for Sandra’s mom’s 90th birthday anyway, we decided to spend all of December in Germany. It was my first “Fröhliche Weihnachten” in Europe after 28 “Mele Kalikimakas” in Hawaii.
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| The Christmas market in Stuttgart fooled me with their fake snow, but later we got real 'White Christmas'. |
Our surprisingly cheap flight included a few hours in London. Since Sandra and I had not been there in over 30 years, we used the time for a stroll along the Thames, a random trip on a double decker city bus and an unusual, but fun Thanksgiving dinner in an English pub. I wonder whether there was some turkey in those 'bangers & mash'.
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| Layover in London |
In Germany we were welcomed with a fun advent tradition at our friends Susi & Ralf: “Feuerzangenbowle und Bratwürste”. I guess it’s best translated as a “Winter BBQ with Flaming Wine Punch”. Surprisingly, even Sandra stayed outdoors for the whole evening, despite the freezing temperature. With a coat and a fire place for warmth from the outside and plenty of Feuerzangenbowle for warmth from the inside, it was actually very pleasant. Those are the moments we miss about winter in Germany…too bad it comes with several months of just cold & grey.
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| Cozy advent BBQ with Feuerzangenbowle |
We also spent a weekend in Munich for a little family reunion and a little college reunion. Since our niece was recovering from a hip surgery, Munich was chosen for a reunion with my brother’s family. Sandra and I also got to play “Eisstockschiessen” for the first time. It’s kind of like curling, without the silly broom. And considering the very spontaneous notice, we were also thrilled that five of our college friends were available to meet us.
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| Sandra at our Eisstockschiessen game in Munich |
Christmas markets have become even more popular in Germany since we left. Every town, even small villages and every neighborhood in the cities seem to have their own ‘Weihnachtsmarkt’. We sampled the Glühwein in Munich, Stuttgart, Esslingen, Mainau and Heudorf.
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| Another hidden talent of Sandra: Bow and arrow practice at the Medieval Christmas market in Esslingen |
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| Four of the many hot Christmas beverages at one of the many Christmas markets in Stuttgart |
Traditionally, Glühwein used to be only red mulled wine. By now, this classic German winter beverage comes in red, rose and white. Some places have a whole menu of hot Christmas beverages. We were most surprised that the Hot Aperol, which we ordered kind of as a joke, was actually really tasty. I guess every hot beverage tastes a little better when it’s freezing outside, but nothing beats Susi & Ralf’s Feuerzangenbowle. All our visits to Christmas markets were before the tragic attack in Magdeburg. So sad that even this fun, peaceful holiday tradition is a target for crazy fanatics.
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| Emma on her 90th Birthday |
The big party for Emma’s 90th birthday was a full success. She obviously enjoyed having so many friends and family members there, regardless of how many of them she could actually speak with or remember afterwards. The festivities included a champagne reception, a lunch, a picture guessing game, a heartfelt speech by Sandra’s sister Petra, a poem (it’s surprisingly hard to rhyme in German!), a clarinet and a harmonica presentation and of course “Kaffee & Kuchen”. No wonder Emma was utterly exhausted after the party, but she recovered quickly.
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| Guess the right order of 'Emma through the ages' |
Unfortunately, due to health and age issues of various family members, Sandra and I had to split up for almost half of the month, including on Christmas. But the main purpose of our return trip to Germany this year was to spend quality time with our families. I am glad to report that my dad is recovering very well from his stroke in the summer. Sandra and I were able to celebrate my parents diamond anniversary with an intimate “dinner and a poem” at a very cute restaurant close to my hometown. Happily married for over 60 years is a fun goal to chase, we’re half way there already.
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| Game Time with my parents |
My dad recovered enough from his stroke that we were able to go to a game of our soccer club together. It was the first time for me since they moved to their fancy new arena. It’s bigger and better than the old one, but I was always tempted to shout: “I’ve seen them play in the second division standing on top of the restrooms in the old funky stadium!”. It was a great match and my dad and I had the perfect view of the most spectacular goal I have ever seen live (for the older German readers: It was every bit as good as Klaus Fischer’s famous Fallrückzieher, which won best goal of the past century). Since Freiburg won 3-2 anyway, we were able to appreciate this goal, even though it was scored by the wrong team.
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| My first SC Freiburg match in the new stadium |
It was also interesting to poke around old family documents at my parent’s house, some dating back to 1875. I have now seen my grandfather’s ‘denazification file’, proving that he was not a Nazi…at least not a really bad one, if there is such a thing. On a lighter note: We enjoyed seeing photos of our parents when they were not even our age. My parents and I also enjoyed random slide shows from our photo library, selected by AI according to various keywords.
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| With my parents and their garden |
For Christmas, I picked up my parents and my brother’s mother-in-law and we went to Switzerland to ensure that my first European Christmas in 28 years was a white one. As an extra bonus, we got to celebrate with my brother and his family. I have developed a gift allergy pretty early in life, but they were all very accommodating in that respect. We ate, drank, walked, laughed and played games together for three days. One highlight was watching an edited version of our wedding video. Just to clarify: We had the most fun wedding ever, but to put it lightly: The painfully long and embarrassing 3 hour home video did not do it justice. Our nephew is a skilled filmmaker, he managed to edit it into a very watchable, but still pleasantly embarrassing 13 minute film.
A lot has changed in the homeland and some of the customs seem weird to us now. Apparently, a new tradition is that Christmas dinner starts at 10pm and includes: Sushi, mac & cheese, raspberry tiramisu and lasagna. I have to admit that it was all very delicious, but in comparison, it seems almost normal that in my family during my childhood, we used to eat a whole cow’s tongue every Christmas.
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| What a Christmas Feast! |
Unfortunately, Sandra and her family was not able to join us for Christmas as planned. There seem to be a lot of diseases going around; I guess the cold weather, the holiday stress and all of us getting older doesn’t help. Almost everyone was sick at some point and some people just don’t know how to time their infections. I took my turn after the birthday, but before Christmas.
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| Almost the whole family together for Christmas |
By Christmas, I was healthy again to go skiing with my brother and my niece in Switzerland. It was a beautiful, but weird skiing experience: The skis my brother gave me were ridiculously skinny, the poles very long and the boots were very light and not fully attached to the skis. On two days, we shuffled around for 27 kilometers on skis without ever finding a lift, even though we had very obvious tracks to follow. The lack of lifts probably explains the suspiciously cheap lift tickets.
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| The not-so-alpine skiing in front of the Swiss Alps |
Overall, it was fun experiencing a European winter, but I wouldn’t mind waiting another 28 years before doing this again. Of course it didn’t help that two days before we left, the heating broke in my parent’s house. I wish I could have taken them with me to warm up on Maui.
And that’s the News from Lake Europe, where all the days are cold, all the Glühwein is good looking and we are looking forward to coming home to Maui more than average.
A hui hou,
Chris & Sandra
