It's the Holiday Season!

      It is holiday time in Germany! Which means Gluhwein and large elbow to elbow crowds.

      First, here is a flashback to my first experience in Berlin at a German Christmas Market in December 2012:

       Upon arrival to the above markets, I enjoyed a mug of the most delicious, warm, somewhat fruity, somewhat spicy, red wine. With the first sip, I knew there would be many more mugs in my future. So this is Gluhwein.  I now know that in German, "gluh" means "to glow". It is "glow wine"...because you glow when you drink this merry magical potion.  And no matter how freezing you are, as soon as you take one look at this drink, you are warmed all the down to your pinky toe. It's fabulous!

       Let's fast forward now to the present...2014! Greg and I have been to four Christmas Markets this season, in four different cities.  Now, the markets are something to see for sure, but totally not the only sites to see in the cities to which we traveled. So before you click the "close button" on your window...just know that this post is about more than just pretty lights, Christmas trees, and Gina and Greg stuffing their faces with market food and goodies.  As much I think that I am a travel food and drink connoisseur, actually, I absolutely am not, and could not possibly fill a whole blog post with such things.

 First up, Munich:
     We went to Munich for the three days after Thanksgiving.  Once we arrived, we went straight to the Christmas Market..where I really stood out as the token genius when I went to a food stall and ordered: "Ich mochte currywurst mit semmel, aber ohne brot". Huge smile of accomplishment for ordering in German. :)
Except for what I said translated to: "I want a currywurst with a roll, but no bread".
Team Hargraves: 0
The German language: 1

 A beautiful cathedral in the town center

Quiz question one: In the above photo, I am actually freezing. What is something that I need that will warm me up immediately?

If you answered "some Gluhwein", then DING DING DING! You are correct!

          The first evening, we went on a "haunted medieval Munich" walking tour. 

In those times, all that it took was an accusation. With that, the one being accused (particularly for witchcraft) would be tortured until they confessed.  There was a story of man, who wanted this 17 year old girl to be his "lady". She wanted nothing to do with him...so he accused her of being a witch, and she was burned at the stake! 

The photo below is the present day site of where the medieval executions were performed.

       On day 2 in Munich, we traveled just 30 minutes away to the site of the first concentration camp, Dachau.  Dachau is the name of a city, not just the camp. A city that according to our guide, has a lot to offer today.  But most people recognize it for the concentration camp, myself included.  It was mainly a men's camp.  Prisoner's were dropped off at the train station in the city, and had to parade from there to the  camp, where they were worked to death in all weather conditions.  There was a gas chamber, but apparently it was never used at this camp.  Once again I've found myself perplexed over how evil people can be (just like how I felt when I toured Auschwitz two years ago...).  The S.S. guards had zero regard for human life.  In Dachau, prisoners were not allowed on the grass that lined the barbed wire fences.  If they stepped on that grass, a guard in a tower above was ordered to shoot them.  It is said that guards on the ground would take a prisoners hat, and throw it on the grass as they demanded for the prisoner to retrieve it. You know what would happen if they stepped on the grass.  This was a game for the guards. So sickening to me.  This is not even ancient history, people are still alive who were around during those times.  That means people in my parent's generation were growing up asking their dads and grandfathers "what did you do in the war?"

 This is a hallway of prison cells. Inside some were boxes where prisoners had to stand for however long in a space about two feet by two feet. Essentially like a standing coffin. 

 Bunks where too many people were put on each "bed".

    Our tour was on a Saturday, and it wasn't so crowded on the grounds.  Our guide explained that this was because it was not a weekday, German schools are not here on a field trip.  He explained that during the week it is packed with students, as it is a requirement for them to tour a concentration camp before they go to a University.

     On our final day in Munich, we did some last minute touring: 

We walked through the Royal Residence, where leaders resided in Munich from the early 1800s on:

I told Greg that I wouldn't mind living in a place like this.  

  

         I know that just about every city in America has their version of the "Hofbrauhaus", but did you know that the first and the real Hofbrauhaus is in Munich? Perhaps YOU knew this, but remember what I said earlier "As much I think that I am a travel food and drink connoisseur, actually, I absolutely am not..." So I only really paid attention to this when I moved to Germany.  I hear it is the "oldest bar". Really not sure if that is "in the universe", "in the world", "in Europe", or "in Germany". I just know it is THE oldest. Below are photos of the outside and the inside:

     We tried to come here for a drink and perhaps some food, but there was never a moment that it was not jammed packed.  Usually I'm too hungry to wait a long time, so every time we checked, we were satisfied enough just looking at it, and simply moved on.  I can't imagine how packed it would be during Oktoberfest...

Quiz Task 2: Attach the name with their drink.

Gotta love those dirty dirt dirty pigeons.

 Santa IS real kids, and this proves that he is MAGIC!

...FINALLY, I got the man to smile nicely.

I'll spare Greg the embarrassment, and not post the 12 photos we took before this, in an attempt to get a nice one.

;)

NEXT CITY: Nuremberg

      We spent last weekend in Nuremberg with a couple of friends.  

Oh, Nuremberg. What to say about you? 

...can you tell how I feel about Nuremberg? 

Whoever posts the funniest guess as to what I could possibly be thinking in this photo, will be the winner. Post to the comment section below at the end of my post.

:p

    I really enjoyed Nuremberg...possibly my favorite German city we have visited thus far. 

Of course, it has it's Christmas Markets:

     Nuremberg really is a beautiful Bavarian/Franconian city!

 The above photo was build in medieval times as a hospital.  There was not enough space on land in the city for it, so they had to build a bridge, and put it over the river!

 The Nuremberg Palace

 ...I want a cute well like this in my yard... :)

Check out that gorgeous scarf! Is it Prada, you ask? No, but thank you. I crocheted it myself, with love, so Greg could stay warm in this Bavarian winter. Brings out his eyes, don't you think?

Seems that every city  has it's "dark side".  On the outskirts of Nuremberg, were the Nazi rally grounds. Hitler would hold some of his rallies here:

This is the platform where Hitler would stand and blab about his nonsense.

 This is the view of the rally grounds from the platform above.

Hitler had his "stage" modeled after the Pergamon alter (which is in Berlin)

The photo on the top is the stage at the rally grounds, the photo on the bottom is of the Pergamon altar which is from Turkey, but was excavated and stored in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

Here is a photo of the altar that I took in 2012.

Once the US got to Germany, the first thing they did with the rally grounds, was destroy the swastika that was on top of the stage.

Like most cities that I visit, the bad news is that most of what I see, is not original...no thanks to wars. 

After WWII, here are some photos of what the destroyed Nuremberg looked like:

The above photo is circa late 1940's, the below photo was about a week ago in the same location:

     Needless to say, just about everything was rebuilt. After the war, in Nuremberg, there was a contest to see who could come up with the best plan to rebuild the city.  One plan included skyscrapers in the middle of the old town...which at the time they considered to be very American. 

    We took a couple of underground tours...one was a tour explaining how they stored beer and whiskey underground in the middle ages.  The other was a tour about Nuremberg art that was hidden underground so that is would be saved of the blows from all the bombs. 

 Underground tunnel in the beer cellar.

 Some barrels of beer.

This is one of the only buildings that was not destroyed in the war.  See that star on the top? In medieval times, what we see as the Star of David today, was also used to put on the buildings that sold beer. If you saw that star, you knew you could get beer there. 

 Here is some of the ruble left from the war

The following are photos of art that was stored in the bunker:

 This is a painting of one of the first emperors of the Roman Empire that ruled from Nuremberg.

So, that was that in Nuremberg! We had good food, good views, good tours! A good time was had by all. 

    The next few cities are smaller ones. What I really enjoy about these smaller cities is that they still have their original medieval charm. For the most part, they have been untouched by wars, they are authentic and lovely!

Dinkelsbuhe:

   We went to this city on our way home from Nuremberg, so it was dark and we only got a few photos.   I will say that as far as Christmas Markets go, Dinkelsbuhe knew how to do it! The food was super delicious, and it was here that I got the biggest Christmas-y vibe. 

 I found this photo in a little shop, and couldn't help but to thing that this would be me in the 1950s.

Esslingen: 

We went to Esslingen on Saturday for some last minute Christmas gifts:

This town is only about 30-40 minutes away from where we live, so very likely we will return.

Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber:

      We went to this medieval city about a month and a half ago.  It's original wall is all enacted, and it is possible to walk all around the town, on the wall. 

     We've seen quite a bit of Germany in the first several months of living here...though of course, there is much more to see.  At the moment, we are a little bit "Germanyed-out". We are ready for some adventures elsewhere! Tomorrow we are headed back to the states, to spend a couple weeks with our families...both in Pennsylvania and Missouri. Then, come February and we are going on a SURPRISE (to Greg) trip! He does not know where it is now....but he will on Christmas morning! So stay tuned! :D

       My husband, Greg, saw that I was creating a blog post today.  He asked "Have you talked about the  move yet?!". Well, I think I did...anyhow, we moved about 5 months ago. He asks...because he has some photos that he took from when all of our belongings were shipped to us back in early October.  Along with the photos, he has a "joke" to tell. 

So just before you leave this post and continue your last minute holiday preparations...please, sit back, relax, and enjoy Gregginton's long awaited (to share) joke:

Greg: "Hmmm, wow! I didn't think that my mail-order-bride would ACTUALLY come in a box to me!

BA-DUM-TING!

Greg's joke everyone, Greg's joke. Thank you, thank you...he'll be here all my life to satisfy your comical needs.

....He sure is one lucky guy, I'd say.

     So everyone, thanks for reading! I hope you have a holly jolly Christmas, and Happy New Year!

OH, and don't forget to comment just below here what you think I'm thinking in that first photo in the Nuremberg section! ;) 

-Gina