I was determined to get the whole family to Christmas Eve Mass here in Ratingen, but it didn't quite work out the way I planned.
First, I did my research and found out online that the big church in our town, St. Peter and Paul, was having two Masses on Christmas Eve; 6pm and midnight Mass with caroling and organ music 30 min before. We all left at 5:15 since it's only a one minute walk from us. We entered the church from the back only to discover people standing about and every seat was taken, EVERY ONE. And even the extra uncomfortable seats that looked like they were made for very short children were set up too and those were taken too.
Steven grumbled that he wasn't standing for two hours and wouldn't stay without a seat. This started a mutiny and Elowyn declared that she too wasn't staying. I glared at both of them and discussed the situation with my sister who agreed that we could come back for the midnight Mass. Steven said he wasn't coming back as he had made the effort and I decided that if the atheist didn't want to return, so be it and we all left.
Back home, we made our seafood dinner with two courses and a break in between while we watched Christmas movies like, 'A Christmas Carol' and my favourite, 'It's a wonderful Life'. We left our place at 10:30 giving A LOT of time to get there, secure seats and admire the nativity crib. Walking quickly we arrived to a darkened church and tried all the doors, but they were locked! WHAT?!? Could I have possibly have made a mistake with the time? We started walking back, but I had a feeling there had to be a Mass, so I said that I'd walk back and wait outside for a half hour since it was mild out anyway. Elowyn declared she was not waiting, so off I went on my own and waited. Other people were trying the doors of the church and started walking away in the same direction as the Protestant Church around the corner whose bells were ringing and bonging, calling people to church.
I decided to go too since I'd never seen the inside of that old church. I walked in and was given a Christmas booklet and entered the inner doors to discover the church lit with candles and with small lantern candles at the end of each pew. It was full of people, but there were still some seats, so I sat near the back in the middle after asking one man in German if the pew was free. I settled in and took in my surroundings.
The church was very plain and looked modern inside. The walls had been stuccoed in white. There were no familiar statues, no stations of the cross, no statue of Mary, the holy water receptacle was dry, no stained glass, and no pews for kneeling. There was no altar either, just stands for people to give a lecture. A big evergreen tree with lights stood in the corner, so that was encouraging, but the rest was very unfamiliar.
As I was looking around, I heard someone hissing, 'Kat, Kat!' I turned around and was glad to see Elowyn and Krista in a side pew to my right. I went to join them. The service began with a song, familiar in music, but not in words. The rest of the hour was spent with people from the congregation getting up and saying a reading. There were no responses from the people and everyone remained seated on the uncomfortable benches. There was a sermon
that went on for a very very long time and I picked out words such as internet and facebook and a lot about sleeping. The minister must have mentioned it at least 10 times!
I started to hear the bonging of the Catholic Church and knew that there was a Mass after all! At that moment I wanted to leave, but it would have been very rude to leave before the service was over.
Finally, the long sermon ended and Stille Nacht was sung and a Fröhe Weihnachten from the priest and out we went.
We hurried to the Catholic Church and found that there were still some seats left, so we sat down and allowed ourselves to gaze around us. It was magical. Strange yet familiar with an enormous Advent wreath crowning the altar high in the air with the strong scent of evergreens from the forest of trees gracing the back of the altar. There was a lifesize scene of the Nativity as well and red ribbons and candles cast a warm glow on the grey stone walls of this 13th century church.
The Mass was in German, but the traditions were the same and we could follow along and knew where we were in the proceedings. Then the singing from the choir began and I felt goosebumps run across my shoulders as their lovely voices soared into the highest reaches of the vaulted ceilings in tune to the cellos, violins and trumpets who accompanied them. We sang along too. It was such a beautiful Mass.
We left after it was all over with a warm glow in our hearts. Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Sunday 25 December 2016
Sunday 11 December 2016
What Every Good Christmas Market Should Have
Think of Germany during the Advent season and their famous Christmas Markets come to mind. People actually come here at this time of year ONLY for a Christmas market tour! There are actual tour buses full of American, Dutch, French, Spanish, and Chinese tourists to name a few that travel around the biggest cities for Christmas Markets! One city a day! Boggles the mind, doesn't it, but then you go to one yourself and get all caught up in the jovial excitement of the people and lights and scents of the market and feel like you're part of it all...until some old German guy with a waxed mustache tries to pommel you for deigning to cut the steady human traffic flow to get to the other side...but that's another story.
I think I'm a bit of an authority on Christmas Markets by now having been to about 15 of them in 7 cities, (so far), and by and large, there are some things that are essential to their success.
1) Glühwein - Pronounced Gloo-wine and otherwise known as mulled wine. This is the time when each market gets to present their own wine and spice mixture. These spices include cinnamon, clove, star anise, orange and/or lemon peel and their heavenly aroma will guide you to the market. The most popular glühwein is red, but at some of the bigger markets, white or rosé wine has popped up as an alternative, as well as a warm yellow drink topped with whipped cream called Eierlikör made from a Dutch liquor called Advocaat. This is a creamy drink that contains dry white wine, dark rum, ground cloves, bourbon vanilla, honey, and a pinch of brown rock sugar and gingerbread spices on top. It is particularly potent, so don't be fooled by that not so innocent whipped cream on top. It comes with a straw to avoid a frothy moustache as you drink that creamy goodness. Some regional markets also have hot ciders or hot apple wine. And for a real pick me up, there is Feuerzangebowle, (fire tongs bowl). Above a vat of glühwein is a metal trough filled with a cone of sugar; rum is poured over the sugar and lit on fire. The fire carmelizes the sugar which drains into the wine below. It's a really cool thing to see being made. And let's not forget that for the kinder (children), there is a kinderpunsch (punch) which looks like and tastes surprisingly like glüwein, but without the alcohol. Finally, there is hot chocolate usually topped with whipped cream when you are all glüweined out or want something sweeter to warm you up.
Each market has their own unique mug with the city name, but also the market area on it. Some are beautifully coloured mugs with lively coloured pictures of the market, while others are shaped like a small boot or a snowman, and then there are the tall, narrow frosted glass mugs with huge handles to hold while wearing a mitten. They are inscribed with gold writing and include golden silhouettes of the city cathedral or Rathaus (city hall). These elegant glasses are my favourite!
Prices of the drinks vary. You'll usually pay about €3 for the drink itself if it's alcoholic with the pfand, (deposit) for the mug on top. The pfand can vary. I've seen it for as little as €1 in our little town of Ratingen, and as much as €3 for the pfand in the bigger cities where the tourists visit, knowing that many of them will take the mug home as a souvenir. The non-alcoholic drinks usually range from €1 to as much as €2.50 depending on the market. Most people drink up and go back for their deposit so they can buy another drink!
2) Regional Food - Ahhhhh! It's all about the food isn't it?!? At the markets, you can smell the roasted chestnuts or marrons before you can see them. They are very popular here in Europe and taste great. Also, the bratwurst in a crispy bun is a staple. In Aachen there were half metre sized bratwurst! Also, there are huge pots of soup, soft pretzels and Gebrannt Mandeln (burnt sugared almonds) whose cinnamon scent wafts over the market. Every market has regional favourites as well. For instance, in Paris, crêpes and raclette is very popular. In Germany, a big favourite for everyone is chocolate covered fruit on a stick and those delicious potato pancakes that are crispy on the outside and steamy hot and soft on the inside. In the Netherlands, smoked or raw herring fish is huge while in Belgium, everyone loves the waffles and the frites. There is always something for everyone.
3) Christmas Lights - What would a Christmas Market be without lights? Lots of them, thousands; the more the better. And a central focus is needed to bind them together in a glorious display. This could be a giant Christmas tree, or a May Pole topped with a golden star with lights cascading down from the centre like flowing ribbons and radiating outward. Or it could be an enormous Printen cookie like Aachen is famous for, studded with head sized almonds. These are not coloured lights either; they are always a warm white to better illuminate the market and to also resemble stars.
4) Music - Not all Christmas Markets have music, but the best ones do. If it's not piped music, it's live music with carolers or brass bands or string instruments. In Essen, a whole troupe was playing Pachebel's Canon and people stopped to listen and stood quietly, lost in the poignant notes with smiles on their faces. Music is also played at all the carousels as children go round and round on brighly coloured horses or magical beasts.
5) Market Stalls - These market stalls come in many designs and usually resemble small huts. The most festive and traditional ones are made of dark wood resembling tiny Black Forest chalets and are decorated with real pine bows, twinkling lights, red ribbons and gleaming gold balls (much like the one in our town). What is sold? Anything and everything from beautifully carved nativity sets and cribs, unique hats, famous blown glass balls and figurines, wooden nutcrackers, lead soldiers and fairy tale ornaments painted with enamel, exquisite paper geometric paper stars with cut outs for lights, tin cookie cutters, beeswax candles, wooden toys, and ceramic domed tealight holders carved with the city's famous buildings and high lights and so much more. The stalls are lit inside and out with fairy lights and decorated with fresh evergreen bows and whatever they're selling. The stalls that sell food have electrical outlets too for ovens, grills and stoves to make food on the spot.
6) Location and Backdrop - All European towns and cities have a big market square, no matter how small they are where people can gather. The squares could have a focal point like an elaborate fountain, or a statue of a prominent local person. In spring, summer and fall, they have tables and chairs and canopies set up by the local restaurants surrounding them and the squares are primarily meeting places for friends and friends to gather. On certain days of the week, they are transformed into fresh food markets, or are places for a concert or to celebrate a festival such as Oktoberfest, Schützenfest, St. Martinsfest, Carneval, the first of May, or Easter...the list goes on and on! But from Advent on, it's solely for the Christmas market. In some cities like Köln, Rothenburg, Aachen or Dresden, the magnificent cathedrals and churches are the background with the elaborate stone or half timbered Rathaus included. The guildhall of the masters could also be located on the square and it's always beautiful to see centuries old buildings decorated with garland, wreaths and lights creating a magical backdrop. Ruhr Cities like Essen whose old churches and buildings were utterly obliterated during the allied bombing raids of WWII have no older beautiful buildings and instead try extra hard to be special by having more lights, lots of music, beautifully decorated stalls and medieval artisan areas to generate interest from locals and visitors alike.
7) Carousels - These are very popular in Europe and you will always find at least one in even the smallest market, while the bigger ones in the cities have several. When the markets get crowded at night time and kids start to get cranky, savvy parents head for the carousel and let their little ones ride around and around while they stand, sip their Glüwein and listen to the carousel music and watch the frowns on their kids transform into smiles.
8) Ferris Wheels - Only the bigger cities have one of these, and they are fantastic for getting an overall view of all the lights of the Christmas Market. Bring your camera. Click!
Some of the markets are only open for the four weeks before Christmas, yet others close after the twelve days of Christmas which end on Jan. 5th. Either way, it has been a great experience and something that brightens the dark days before the winter solstice.
I think I'm a bit of an authority on Christmas Markets by now having been to about 15 of them in 7 cities, (so far), and by and large, there are some things that are essential to their success.
1) Glühwein - Pronounced Gloo-wine and otherwise known as mulled wine. This is the time when each market gets to present their own wine and spice mixture. These spices include cinnamon, clove, star anise, orange and/or lemon peel and their heavenly aroma will guide you to the market. The most popular glühwein is red, but at some of the bigger markets, white or rosé wine has popped up as an alternative, as well as a warm yellow drink topped with whipped cream called Eierlikör made from a Dutch liquor called Advocaat. This is a creamy drink that contains dry white wine, dark rum, ground cloves, bourbon vanilla, honey, and a pinch of brown rock sugar and gingerbread spices on top. It is particularly potent, so don't be fooled by that not so innocent whipped cream on top. It comes with a straw to avoid a frothy moustache as you drink that creamy goodness. Some regional markets also have hot ciders or hot apple wine. And for a real pick me up, there is Feuerzangebowle, (fire tongs bowl). Above a vat of glühwein is a metal trough filled with a cone of sugar; rum is poured over the sugar and lit on fire. The fire carmelizes the sugar which drains into the wine below. It's a really cool thing to see being made. And let's not forget that for the kinder (children), there is a kinderpunsch (punch) which looks like and tastes surprisingly like glüwein, but without the alcohol. Finally, there is hot chocolate usually topped with whipped cream when you are all glüweined out or want something sweeter to warm you up.
Each market has their own unique mug with the city name, but also the market area on it. Some are beautifully coloured mugs with lively coloured pictures of the market, while others are shaped like a small boot or a snowman, and then there are the tall, narrow frosted glass mugs with huge handles to hold while wearing a mitten. They are inscribed with gold writing and include golden silhouettes of the city cathedral or Rathaus (city hall). These elegant glasses are my favourite!
Prices of the drinks vary. You'll usually pay about €3 for the drink itself if it's alcoholic with the pfand, (deposit) for the mug on top. The pfand can vary. I've seen it for as little as €1 in our little town of Ratingen, and as much as €3 for the pfand in the bigger cities where the tourists visit, knowing that many of them will take the mug home as a souvenir. The non-alcoholic drinks usually range from €1 to as much as €2.50 depending on the market. Most people drink up and go back for their deposit so they can buy another drink!
2) Regional Food - Ahhhhh! It's all about the food isn't it?!? At the markets, you can smell the roasted chestnuts or marrons before you can see them. They are very popular here in Europe and taste great. Also, the bratwurst in a crispy bun is a staple. In Aachen there were half metre sized bratwurst! Also, there are huge pots of soup, soft pretzels and Gebrannt Mandeln (burnt sugared almonds) whose cinnamon scent wafts over the market. Every market has regional favourites as well. For instance, in Paris, crêpes and raclette is very popular. In Germany, a big favourite for everyone is chocolate covered fruit on a stick and those delicious potato pancakes that are crispy on the outside and steamy hot and soft on the inside. In the Netherlands, smoked or raw herring fish is huge while in Belgium, everyone loves the waffles and the frites. There is always something for everyone.
3) Christmas Lights - What would a Christmas Market be without lights? Lots of them, thousands; the more the better. And a central focus is needed to bind them together in a glorious display. This could be a giant Christmas tree, or a May Pole topped with a golden star with lights cascading down from the centre like flowing ribbons and radiating outward. Or it could be an enormous Printen cookie like Aachen is famous for, studded with head sized almonds. These are not coloured lights either; they are always a warm white to better illuminate the market and to also resemble stars.
4) Music - Not all Christmas Markets have music, but the best ones do. If it's not piped music, it's live music with carolers or brass bands or string instruments. In Essen, a whole troupe was playing Pachebel's Canon and people stopped to listen and stood quietly, lost in the poignant notes with smiles on their faces. Music is also played at all the carousels as children go round and round on brighly coloured horses or magical beasts.
5) Market Stalls - These market stalls come in many designs and usually resemble small huts. The most festive and traditional ones are made of dark wood resembling tiny Black Forest chalets and are decorated with real pine bows, twinkling lights, red ribbons and gleaming gold balls (much like the one in our town). What is sold? Anything and everything from beautifully carved nativity sets and cribs, unique hats, famous blown glass balls and figurines, wooden nutcrackers, lead soldiers and fairy tale ornaments painted with enamel, exquisite paper geometric paper stars with cut outs for lights, tin cookie cutters, beeswax candles, wooden toys, and ceramic domed tealight holders carved with the city's famous buildings and high lights and so much more. The stalls are lit inside and out with fairy lights and decorated with fresh evergreen bows and whatever they're selling. The stalls that sell food have electrical outlets too for ovens, grills and stoves to make food on the spot.
6) Location and Backdrop - All European towns and cities have a big market square, no matter how small they are where people can gather. The squares could have a focal point like an elaborate fountain, or a statue of a prominent local person. In spring, summer and fall, they have tables and chairs and canopies set up by the local restaurants surrounding them and the squares are primarily meeting places for friends and friends to gather. On certain days of the week, they are transformed into fresh food markets, or are places for a concert or to celebrate a festival such as Oktoberfest, Schützenfest, St. Martinsfest, Carneval, the first of May, or Easter...the list goes on and on! But from Advent on, it's solely for the Christmas market. In some cities like Köln, Rothenburg, Aachen or Dresden, the magnificent cathedrals and churches are the background with the elaborate stone or half timbered Rathaus included. The guildhall of the masters could also be located on the square and it's always beautiful to see centuries old buildings decorated with garland, wreaths and lights creating a magical backdrop. Ruhr Cities like Essen whose old churches and buildings were utterly obliterated during the allied bombing raids of WWII have no older beautiful buildings and instead try extra hard to be special by having more lights, lots of music, beautifully decorated stalls and medieval artisan areas to generate interest from locals and visitors alike.
7) Carousels - These are very popular in Europe and you will always find at least one in even the smallest market, while the bigger ones in the cities have several. When the markets get crowded at night time and kids start to get cranky, savvy parents head for the carousel and let their little ones ride around and around while they stand, sip their Glüwein and listen to the carousel music and watch the frowns on their kids transform into smiles.
8) Ferris Wheels - Only the bigger cities have one of these, and they are fantastic for getting an overall view of all the lights of the Christmas Market. Bring your camera. Click!
Some of the markets are only open for the four weeks before Christmas, yet others close after the twelve days of Christmas which end on Jan. 5th. Either way, it has been a great experience and something that brightens the dark days before the winter solstice.
Wednesday 7 December 2016
Paris: The City of Light
The City of Light and even more so now that it's The Christmas season of Advent in Paris. Here it is the end of November and we've been blessed with the most extraordinary weather. Mild temperatures, dry and even sunny at times.
There were going to be four of us so we opted to rent a beautiful old apartment called appropriately, 'Perfectly Paris' for the space and convenience and chose the area of village-like Montmartre in the 18th Arrondissement (or district) which is the highest geographical area of Paris. It is home to many artists and students and small shop owners. The people here are friendly and jovial and welcome you to Paris with open arms.
We took the train to Paris from Düsseldorf. Why? Because it costs about the same, but there are no annoying security checks, luggage inspections or restrictions on liquids or food that you can bring with you. There's free wifi on the train too and a food/bar car if you want to buy lunch.
We arrived at Gare du Nord train station and took a 10 minute taxi ride to our late 19th century apartment just steps away from the iconic Abbesses Métro Station with its scrolling Art Nouveau ironwork frame. Our apartment was amazing! Up one floor along a wide circular wooden staircase to our French blue door. We were welcomed by our apartment assistant Georgina from the Perfectly Paris organization. And it WAS perfect! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms with tub and shower, a full kitchen, full dining room and full living room all tastefully decorated with beautiful cranberry quilts and tapestries, as well as Old Parisian maps, and stylish, but comfortable furniture with Cluny tapestry pillows throughout. It was fully stocked with travel and photo books on France, Paris and other European countries, as well as a good array of other books, DVDs and games.
We settled in and then left to explore the city. Here are some of the many highlights:
1) Le Metro - this is the densest subway system in the world with 16 lines and currently 303 stations and counting. It is also one of the oldest and as such it is unfortunately not accessible for people with a disability as there are A LOT of stairs up and down. There are some escalators too, but most of them go up, not down, and there is the occasional elevator...but don't count on it. If we ever wondered why the Parisians are so slim, one of the reasons is because they do a helluva lot of walking. We clocked way more steps here in this city than in London.
Each Metro line is colour coded like Toronto and has many transfer points and zones. The farther you travel, the more you pay. Toronto is trying to do this as well, making it more expensive for people outside Toronto to come in to work, but making it cheaper for people who live in the city to get to work. This is fair, as people outside of Toronto do not pay taxes to supplement the subway upkeep and improvement costs even though they use it. The Paris Métro is also integrated with the RER lines, like our GO trains except you can use the Métro tickets on the RER.
The stations themselves are sometimes very similar on the same line except for the colour of the tiles, or sometimes, very different with artwork. Like Toronto, the Louvre Museum stop has statues representing what's in their museum like The Venus de Milo.
Some lines like line 1 have solid glass partitions along the entire platform. The train must stop in an exact spot that lines up with the
2) Surviving the Louvre - Lord, this thing is HUGE! You can't see everything in one or two or even three visits, so don't even try to. Why? You'll be too tired, that's why. Just to get into the place is a challenge. We entered through the Métro where you arrive at a department store complex underground, much like the Eaton Centre except these are high end stores like Le Printemps or the chocolate store, Maxim's. You keep walking until you hit your first security line. Bag scan, body scan through a machine, then a pat down and wand scan from security. You are free to go until you reach the glass pyramid area where the second scan of your bag and person takes place in case they missed something. Then up the escalator and just before the exhibits, the third bag check and ticket check before you can enter.
This is the time to choose just one area to look at. We chose the Denon wing that held the Mona Lisa and was mostly Italian paintings. Wander around and take photos which are allowed. We smelled the Mona Lisa area before we saw it as dozens of people were in front of the painting holding up their cameras or iPhones high to snap a photo. This being Europe, the smell of ripe underarm pits hung strongly in the air. Get in, look, and get out was our motto. There were other things to see. Besides, she's under glass, creating a glare, and you cannot get within 20 feet of her as there is a metal barrier. So, move on.
3) Napoleon's Tomb (aka Les Invalides) - You have to see this place; it's the biggest, most spectacular mausoleum that I've ever seen. The massive gilded doors at the entrance tell you you're somewhere important. Love him or hate him, Napoleon left his mark, not just in Paris, but France itself and in the constitutions and systems of countries all over the world. One oddity was Napoleon's taxidermied white horse. Bit of a shock since in all the hero paintings of Napoleon, this stallion is on its hind legs, mane flowing, looking pretty majestic with Napoleon on his back. In contrast, the stuffed horse in front of me was beige, skinny and short...I guess to fit its rider. Still, a little disappointing. Not so, all the old cannon lined up in the courtyard, aged to a patina of verdigris and all facing outward. You could just imagine Napoleon lining them all up and shooting a volley of grapeshot down the streets of Paris, or wherever else he was afoot.
There were going to be four of us so we opted to rent a beautiful old apartment called appropriately, 'Perfectly Paris' for the space and convenience and chose the area of village-like Montmartre in the 18th Arrondissement (or district) which is the highest geographical area of Paris. It is home to many artists and students and small shop owners. The people here are friendly and jovial and welcome you to Paris with open arms.
We took the train to Paris from Düsseldorf. Why? Because it costs about the same, but there are no annoying security checks, luggage inspections or restrictions on liquids or food that you can bring with you. There's free wifi on the train too and a food/bar car if you want to buy lunch.
We arrived at Gare du Nord train station and took a 10 minute taxi ride to our late 19th century apartment just steps away from the iconic Abbesses Métro Station with its scrolling Art Nouveau ironwork frame. Our apartment was amazing! Up one floor along a wide circular wooden staircase to our French blue door. We were welcomed by our apartment assistant Georgina from the Perfectly Paris organization. And it WAS perfect! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms with tub and shower, a full kitchen, full dining room and full living room all tastefully decorated with beautiful cranberry quilts and tapestries, as well as Old Parisian maps, and stylish, but comfortable furniture with Cluny tapestry pillows throughout. It was fully stocked with travel and photo books on France, Paris and other European countries, as well as a good array of other books, DVDs and games.
We settled in and then left to explore the city. Here are some of the many highlights:
1) Le Metro - this is the densest subway system in the world with 16 lines and currently 303 stations and counting. It is also one of the oldest and as such it is unfortunately not accessible for people with a disability as there are A LOT of stairs up and down. There are some escalators too, but most of them go up, not down, and there is the occasional elevator...but don't count on it. If we ever wondered why the Parisians are so slim, one of the reasons is because they do a helluva lot of walking. We clocked way more steps here in this city than in London.
Each Metro line is colour coded like Toronto and has many transfer points and zones. The farther you travel, the more you pay. Toronto is trying to do this as well, making it more expensive for people outside Toronto to come in to work, but making it cheaper for people who live in the city to get to work. This is fair, as people outside of Toronto do not pay taxes to supplement the subway upkeep and improvement costs even though they use it. The Paris Métro is also integrated with the RER lines, like our GO trains except you can use the Métro tickets on the RER.
The stations themselves are sometimes very similar on the same line except for the colour of the tiles, or sometimes, very different with artwork. Like Toronto, the Louvre Museum stop has statues representing what's in their museum like The Venus de Milo.
Some lines like line 1 have solid glass partitions along the entire platform. The train must stop in an exact spot that lines up with the
2) Surviving the Louvre - Lord, this thing is HUGE! You can't see everything in one or two or even three visits, so don't even try to. Why? You'll be too tired, that's why. Just to get into the place is a challenge. We entered through the Métro where you arrive at a department store complex underground, much like the Eaton Centre except these are high end stores like Le Printemps or the chocolate store, Maxim's. You keep walking until you hit your first security line. Bag scan, body scan through a machine, then a pat down and wand scan from security. You are free to go until you reach the glass pyramid area where the second scan of your bag and person takes place in case they missed something. Then up the escalator and just before the exhibits, the third bag check and ticket check before you can enter.
This is the time to choose just one area to look at. We chose the Denon wing that held the Mona Lisa and was mostly Italian paintings. Wander around and take photos which are allowed. We smelled the Mona Lisa area before we saw it as dozens of people were in front of the painting holding up their cameras or iPhones high to snap a photo. This being Europe, the smell of ripe underarm pits hung strongly in the air. Get in, look, and get out was our motto. There were other things to see. Besides, she's under glass, creating a glare, and you cannot get within 20 feet of her as there is a metal barrier. So, move on.
3) Napoleon's Tomb (aka Les Invalides) - You have to see this place; it's the biggest, most spectacular mausoleum that I've ever seen. The massive gilded doors at the entrance tell you you're somewhere important. Love him or hate him, Napoleon left his mark, not just in Paris, but France itself and in the constitutions and systems of countries all over the world. One oddity was Napoleon's taxidermied white horse. Bit of a shock since in all the hero paintings of Napoleon, this stallion is on its hind legs, mane flowing, looking pretty majestic with Napoleon on his back. In contrast, the stuffed horse in front of me was beige, skinny and short...I guess to fit its rider. Still, a little disappointing. Not so, all the old cannon lined up in the courtyard, aged to a patina of verdigris and all facing outward. You could just imagine Napoleon lining them all up and shooting a volley of grapeshot down the streets of Paris, or wherever else he was afoot.
4) Cluny Museum -
5) Orsay Museum - This museum is mainly known for their vast collection of Impressionist paintings, including Realism and post-impressionism, and many sculptures as well.. The collection is housed in an old Parisian train station that they were about to tear down back in the day until someone had the bright idea to turn it into a light filled museum. Imagine seeing all your favourite pieces in one place arranged sporadically: Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Sisley, Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet, Cezanne, Manet, Pissarro, Matisse, Bazille, Boudin, Rodin Seurat, Guillaumin. Also, Whistler's Mother was a big draw. The main thing to remember about the impressionists is that their paintings were full of light, they used short brush strokes and pure, unmixed colours. There were many statues too in the main hall to gaze upon. It was awesome!
6) Orangerie Museum - An Orangerie is like a giant greenhouse full of light used to grow oranges, along with lemons and warm, sunloving trees. They grew oranges to mask the stench of the palace close by. We had to line up for this one, but not for very long. The highlight were two huge oval rooms depicting vast canvases in a circular pattern as Monet painted his waterlilies. One room shows them by day, and the other in shadows at dusk. We sat and gazed in wonder at the range of blues, turquoise, lavenders and purples before us. It had a calming effect. I think they could have added some appropriate classical music for a better experience. There were also many Renoir paintings and a whole exhibit on American painters folk art. There was an American Exhibit from the 1930s too with the iconic portrait of American Gothic by Grant Wood.
7) Rodin Museum - Have to say, this gem was my favourite museum because it was so different from the others.
8) Notre Dame Cathedral -
9) Sainte Chapelle - Lovely little chapel that leaves you utterly gobsmacked with its beauty. It is basically a skeleton of stone with walls of medieval stained glass in brilliant colours reaching almost to the ceiling. Look up and the same ceiling is a sea of lapis blue with golden stars painted on its surface. The pillars and walls are also painted in gorgeous reds and blues with golden patterns of fleur de lis or castles or diamond grids with roses. The altar area stretches up in a series if arches with singing angels while painted wooden statues of ancient kings line the walls beneath the windows. Look down to an intricate tiled floor with patterns and designs.
The best part about Sainte Chapelle is that we came at night time as well to hear a classical concert of Pachebel's Canon and Vivaldi's Four Seasons in the darkened chapel with only the golden dome at the front which lit the harpsichord, three violins and one cello to perfection. An emotional highlight was when the lead violinist stepped down to the centre aisle and slowly walked the length of the chapel while playing the most exquisite music from his violin. We all agreed it was like magic.
10) Sacre Coeur Basilica -
11) Galleries Lafayette -
12) Christmas Windows -
13) The Roue of Paris (giant Ferris wheel) - This giant wheel was at la Place de Concorde where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were assassinated by the guillotine along with thousands of the nobility during the Reign of Terror in the late 17th century.We didn't have a long wait and a bonus was that the young pod operator said I spoke French really well, which I don't, but what a flirt! We secured a pod for the three of us and up we went, oohing and ahhing over the view of Paris by night. The highlight came when we were at the top and the Eiffel Tower suddenly started to twinkle and sparke with thousands of lights. It was awesome!
10) Sacre Coeur Basilica -
11) Galleries Lafayette -
12) Christmas Windows -
13) The Roue of Paris (giant Ferris wheel) - This giant wheel was at la Place de Concorde where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were assassinated by the guillotine along with thousands of the nobility during the Reign of Terror in the late 17th century.We didn't have a long wait and a bonus was that the young pod operator said I spoke French really well, which I don't, but what a flirt! We secured a pod for the three of us and up we went, oohing and ahhing over the view of Paris by night. The highlight came when we were at the top and the Eiffel Tower suddenly started to twinkle and sparke with thousands of lights. It was awesome!
14) Café Angelina -
15) Arc de Triomphe -
16) Champs Élyssées -
17) La Défense and le Grand Arche -
18) Gourmet Food -
19) Salvador Dali Museum -
20) Decorative Arts Museum - this museum of art and design is actually part of the west wing of the Louvre, but the entrance is different.
21) The Left Bank - Called the Left Bank because it is the left side of the Seine River that runs through the city. It is also on the side of the Louvre for easy reference. What this area is known for is the long parade of artists selling their artwork. Many decades ago, most of it was probably original, but today, most of it is mass produced
22) The Latin Quarter -
23) Montmartre -
24) Tuileries Garden - We cut through the gardens on our way to somewhere else. It was deserted, but had statues around. I'm guessing it's a really nice place in spring and summer with flowers and fountains.
25) Cemetary of Montmartre - Wow! Eerily creepy with those tall and narrow hut-like stone mausoleums over the dead; all packed closely together with only a narrow footpath between them. Each had an iron door with an ornate metal grid. Many doors were rusted shut from disuse, but if you peeked inside, there was a stone or wooden pulpit to kneel on and say prayers for the dead with a small stained glass window to look at for inspiration. Even more creepy! Most graves dated back to the 1800s, but there were some recent burials too. When a family's rent runs out, bones are dug up, cremated and scattered over a designated area. You can choose 10, 30, 50 years, or in perpetuity. However, the ancestors are expected to maintain the grave because the ground does heave with frost and stone cracks and windows break. One heartrending grave was the statue of a mother in grief over the grave of 20 year old son. Wild cats slink in and out of the mausoleums, making them their home. As the light started to fade, there's a decided chill in the air and my sister and I both agreed it was time to leave the world of the dead and join the world of the living.
Wednesday 30 November 2016
Locked Out
Well, the 'fun' never ends...ahem!
We live in an apartment with a back door that leads to all the recycling bins in a small enclosed alleyway. Today, I was on my way down to the basement to do some laundry when I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone by throwing out some cardboard on the way. I went down to street level, left the laundry by the stairs and opened the back door to put the box in the blue bin. I noticed another box blown by the wind to an overgrown vine covered area, so leaned over the fence to retrieve it when I heard an ominous click. The wind had closed the door!
I went to open it, but it didn't budge. I had my house keys on me so looked for the key hole...no key hole. At this point, I was looking around for options. I thought of banging on the door, but no one was around except Elowyn who knew I was going down to do laundry, but who also had her headphones on and was watching videos whilst watching TV and all the windows were closed...so no help there. There was an elderly lady on the third floor, but she had gone out shopping for market day and everyone else was at work. Elowyn would have to be my salvation.
The area I was in was approx 1.5m x 4m enclosed by a high wooden fence on three sides and the wall of the apartment on the other. One fence was at waist level. I peered over at a mess of vines and the construction site of deep mud, various digging machines, piles of wood and stone and debris. I looked down at the slippers I was wearing and was fully prepared to lose them in the mud. The construction crew were in the pit pouring concrete and the din of the cement mixing truck did not bode well for someone hearing me.
I contemplated just hanging out until someone else came home to throw out recycling, but it was only 3pm, and it would be at least 2 hours or more before people came home, and being late November, it was chilly outside and I didn't have a coat on. I heard Steven's voice in my head, 'wallet, keys, phone', and cursed having not brought my phone with me. Lord! I didn't want to hear any, "I told you so later".
I looked back at the fence and the vines on the other side. I didn't know what was under said vines, and was wary about stepping on something, so reached over and started to pull them out and toss them in the bio bin close by. This went on for 20 min., but now my nose was starting to run and I felt really chilled.
The construction guys were still pouring concrete all this time and were still in the pit and couldn't see me. What a dilemma. I waited another ten minutes and finally, the engines stopped and one construction dude climbed out of the pit. Knowing this might be my only chance for a long time, I yelled as loud as I could to catch his attention while waving my arms frantically.
Thank God, he heard and saw me and came over looking puzzled. Now was the moment of truth. I had been outside in the cold for 30 minutes planning my escape. I spoke in careful, if very simple German to him of my plan.
"Hallo, wie gehts?" (Hi, how are you?)
He grinned and said he was well. Then asked how I was. This was when it got dicey. I had to make him understand that I wanted him to go to the street in front of the apartment, ring the bell that said my name, K.Hille and wait for my daughter to buzz him in, then to go in, walk to the back of the apartment, open the door, and end my icebox experience. So this is what I said:
"Enschuldigen, mein Deutsch is ganz schlimm. Ich bin sehr kalt, aber Ich hat die papier und denn die tur ist geschlossen. Der ist kein schlossel. Kanst du gehe zum die Hause und klinge die Klinge bei K. Hille? Meine Tochter will anrufen, dann du kommst zuruck und ofen die tur fur mich. bitte. Okay?"
He scratched his head. Because this is what I had actually said:
"I'm sorry, my German is very bad. I am very cold, but I have the paper and the door is closed. He is not a key. Can you go home and sound the blade at K. Hille? My daughter wants to call you, then you come back and open the door for me please, okay?"
I figured hand gestures were the next order of business since he wasn't quite getting it and now the other construction guys were giving him smack and whistling and laughing and here the poor guy was trying to understand me. I repeated words this time, but didn't know the word for bell, so mimicked pressing a bell and saying bzzzzzzzzz! He got it right away this time, about the buzzer pressing thing anyway and I made motions that my daughter would open the front door on the buzz. He got out a piece of paper and wrote my name on it for the right button to press and then after 10 minutes of repeating my very poor instructions and despite the other guy's heckling, off he went.
At this point, I started to say a few 'Hail Mary's for good measure and threw in an 'Our Father' for good measure waiting on pins and needles for what seemed an interminably long time when finally, the back door opened and there stood my unlikely hero.
I broke out into a big smile, my teeth chattering, my nose red and running, my eyes watering from the cold, but oh so happy! I shook his hand and thanked him again and again while he waved to his friends and stuck out his chest. He'll have a story to tell his family tonight!
I was shivering now, but there was my wet laundry still waiting, so I walked to the basement, put it on and climbed up the three flights of stairs to our apartment. I knocked on the door and Elowyn answered.
"Where were you?"
"Locked out!"
"Really?!?"
"Yes!"
"You actually helped by buzzing in the construction guy".
Then I told her the whole story and she looked amazed, then started laughing. "I'm going to tell Daddy!"
"Why don't you make me a tea instead.' 'Plus I'm going to need two blankets to warm up".
Moral of the story, take your phone, keys and wallet when leaving the apartment...even if it's just to do laundry.
Brrrrrrrrrr!
We live in an apartment with a back door that leads to all the recycling bins in a small enclosed alleyway. Today, I was on my way down to the basement to do some laundry when I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone by throwing out some cardboard on the way. I went down to street level, left the laundry by the stairs and opened the back door to put the box in the blue bin. I noticed another box blown by the wind to an overgrown vine covered area, so leaned over the fence to retrieve it when I heard an ominous click. The wind had closed the door!
I went to open it, but it didn't budge. I had my house keys on me so looked for the key hole...no key hole. At this point, I was looking around for options. I thought of banging on the door, but no one was around except Elowyn who knew I was going down to do laundry, but who also had her headphones on and was watching videos whilst watching TV and all the windows were closed...so no help there. There was an elderly lady on the third floor, but she had gone out shopping for market day and everyone else was at work. Elowyn would have to be my salvation.
The area I was in was approx 1.5m x 4m enclosed by a high wooden fence on three sides and the wall of the apartment on the other. One fence was at waist level. I peered over at a mess of vines and the construction site of deep mud, various digging machines, piles of wood and stone and debris. I looked down at the slippers I was wearing and was fully prepared to lose them in the mud. The construction crew were in the pit pouring concrete and the din of the cement mixing truck did not bode well for someone hearing me.
I contemplated just hanging out until someone else came home to throw out recycling, but it was only 3pm, and it would be at least 2 hours or more before people came home, and being late November, it was chilly outside and I didn't have a coat on. I heard Steven's voice in my head, 'wallet, keys, phone', and cursed having not brought my phone with me. Lord! I didn't want to hear any, "I told you so later".
I looked back at the fence and the vines on the other side. I didn't know what was under said vines, and was wary about stepping on something, so reached over and started to pull them out and toss them in the bio bin close by. This went on for 20 min., but now my nose was starting to run and I felt really chilled.
The construction guys were still pouring concrete all this time and were still in the pit and couldn't see me. What a dilemma. I waited another ten minutes and finally, the engines stopped and one construction dude climbed out of the pit. Knowing this might be my only chance for a long time, I yelled as loud as I could to catch his attention while waving my arms frantically.
Thank God, he heard and saw me and came over looking puzzled. Now was the moment of truth. I had been outside in the cold for 30 minutes planning my escape. I spoke in careful, if very simple German to him of my plan.
"Hallo, wie gehts?" (Hi, how are you?)
He grinned and said he was well. Then asked how I was. This was when it got dicey. I had to make him understand that I wanted him to go to the street in front of the apartment, ring the bell that said my name, K.Hille and wait for my daughter to buzz him in, then to go in, walk to the back of the apartment, open the door, and end my icebox experience. So this is what I said:
"Enschuldigen, mein Deutsch is ganz schlimm. Ich bin sehr kalt, aber Ich hat die papier und denn die tur ist geschlossen. Der ist kein schlossel. Kanst du gehe zum die Hause und klinge die Klinge bei K. Hille? Meine Tochter will anrufen, dann du kommst zuruck und ofen die tur fur mich. bitte. Okay?"
He scratched his head. Because this is what I had actually said:
"I'm sorry, my German is very bad. I am very cold, but I have the paper and the door is closed. He is not a key. Can you go home and sound the blade at K. Hille? My daughter wants to call you, then you come back and open the door for me please, okay?"
I figured hand gestures were the next order of business since he wasn't quite getting it and now the other construction guys were giving him smack and whistling and laughing and here the poor guy was trying to understand me. I repeated words this time, but didn't know the word for bell, so mimicked pressing a bell and saying bzzzzzzzzz! He got it right away this time, about the buzzer pressing thing anyway and I made motions that my daughter would open the front door on the buzz. He got out a piece of paper and wrote my name on it for the right button to press and then after 10 minutes of repeating my very poor instructions and despite the other guy's heckling, off he went.
At this point, I started to say a few 'Hail Mary's for good measure and threw in an 'Our Father' for good measure waiting on pins and needles for what seemed an interminably long time when finally, the back door opened and there stood my unlikely hero.
I broke out into a big smile, my teeth chattering, my nose red and running, my eyes watering from the cold, but oh so happy! I shook his hand and thanked him again and again while he waved to his friends and stuck out his chest. He'll have a story to tell his family tonight!
I was shivering now, but there was my wet laundry still waiting, so I walked to the basement, put it on and climbed up the three flights of stairs to our apartment. I knocked on the door and Elowyn answered.
"Where were you?"
"Locked out!"
"Really?!?"
"Yes!"
"You actually helped by buzzing in the construction guy".
Then I told her the whole story and she looked amazed, then started laughing. "I'm going to tell Daddy!"
"Why don't you make me a tea instead.' 'Plus I'm going to need two blankets to warm up".
Moral of the story, take your phone, keys and wallet when leaving the apartment...even if it's just to do laundry.
Brrrrrrrrrr!
Misadventures by Train from Paris
There are all sorts of advantages traveling by train these days: less security checks, no lost luggage or waiting around for luggage to come down a carousel, no restrictions on liquids or food being brought with you, more legroom, wider seats, better scenery and sometimes even less time spent in travel if you factor in the time you have to spend at an airport waiting for your plane, and of course it costs less if traveling second class.
So, that's sounds great, yes? Why wouldn't everyone travel by train then? That's exactly what I thought; especially the part about no restrictions on liquids and food being brought home with you, because we were in Paris after all, so of course we're bringing home cheeses, wine, mustards, fine chocolates, delectable macarons, chestnut and chocolate spreads, jams and sauces; a regular traveling pantry I'd say!
Our journey by taxi was actually enjoyable being picked up by a roomy Mercedes as it were. The friendly taxi guy spoke some frenglish which went well with our frenglish so we got on well and learned a few things. He brought us right up close to the sparkling Gare du Nord, and I say sparkling because the last time I was there 30 years ago, it was a dank, dirty and dingy place with filthy floors, beggars everywhere and very rude vendors who ripped you off for a small, stale sandwich. Now, it's a gleaming palace in comparison with a new glittery red bear like piece of art in front. But, before you get into this gleaming transportation hub, you must traverse 30 metres of being swarmed by pickpockets and so called beggars who really intend to distract and steal from you, and in fact, work in gangs of 5 or more. We learned this from everyone we met and actually had some dicey encounters ourselves, but that's another story.
So, we waded through the these annoyances clutching luggage and valuable Paris delicacies to the 'palace' because once inside, the gendarmerie were an ominous presence and there was nary a pickpocketer or 'beggar' to bother you.
Following Steven's advice (he'd traveled home two days before my sister and I with Elowyn), we got out of the cold and went by elevator upstairs to a Relay Store which is a book/magazine/snack/coffee store. We scored two comfortable seats in the warm store and ordered a coffee while we waited for our track to show up on the digital board. This is shown 30 min. before the train leaves.
When it was, we went back down and queued for security. This was new, didn't queue in Düsseldorf, but we were in Paris who is on high alert for terrorists and was like this in every museum and attraction we visited, so it was part of the new normal. In fact, the week we were there, the police had foiled some kind of terrorist plot and arrested a bunch of people.
Anyway, as luck would have it, our train was attached to another train and we would be separating in Brussels. Because of this, we had to walk a good 200 m all the way to the very last car on the train. Finally got in, stored our luggage and blissfully sank into our seats for the 3hr 55 min ride...or so we thought.
All went smoothly despite a family with four, count em FOUR babies under three years old. Two of them were twins, none of them were happy and all of them wore diapers, smelly diapers. It's hard to have an appetite when crying babies are being changed out of their poopy diapers RIGHT in the train cabin! I later checked out the facilities and in this day and age you'd think someone would design an area for a parent to change their child's diaper in a clean, safe, and well ventilated place! Maybe there was such a place in another car, but for convenience sake of her crying children, the mother changed them right there and everyone else had to suffer through the galling smell while we all covered our noses and breathed through our scarves to survive the diaper exchange. Lord!
The train was fast and arrived in Brussels on time where we separated our train and moved on towards Germany. In Köln, the family with all the babies got off and the rest of us breathed a sigh of relief thinking our troubles were over, but no, they were just about to begin.
We made good time and the train engineer announced we were about to arrive in the hauptbahnhof in Düsseldorf. We packed up our devices, got our coats on, and our luggage and queued in the aisles to get off as the train pulled in to the dark station at 8pm. We waited and waited until suddenly, the engineer said in four languages, "Close the doors, nobody is allowed off!" That was curious! One German guy looked out the darkened window and peered at the signpost and said in German," This is not Düsseldorf!" Now, our whole car was straining towards the window to see if it was true until the engineer said, "Sorry, we are not in Düsseldorf, we are in Sollingen!" WHAT?!? Now our train erupted with everyone talking at once. I asked German guy where Sollingen was and he said it was 45 km Northwest of Köln and no where near Düsseldorf which is straight north from Köln. Now we were in a pickle. What the hell happened?!? At first, we were joking about it and I said that the engineer had too much glüwein (mulled wine) until someone said ominously, "But, this is a FRENCH train!" It was then that we all got silent and worried, especially the Germans.
The engineer came on again sounding exasperated and apologized again and said we'd be at our destination soon. We started crawling along, then stopping and everyone seemed worried. I asked German guy why we were going so slow. He said that the engineer had made a terrible mistake by going on the wrong track and not to have noticed it for 45 km because all the trains were on schedules and now we were not on course and it was dangerous to proceed with other high speed trains on the same track, there could be a collision. I texted Steven and told him we'd be late and didn't know when we'd get in, and that we had missed our connecting train.
Ten minutes later, the engineer announced confidently that NOW we had arrived in Düsseldorf, but German guy looked out his window and said, it's impossible, it takes more than 10 min. to get to Düsseldorf from Solingen especially in a very slow train. And he was right, because a few moments later, an audibly agitated engineer announced this was NOT Düsseldorf after all and to close the doors.
All the passengers were talking at this point wondering if the engineer was incompetent, or 'in his cups' as one guy said. The train crawled on, stopping and going.
We finally arrived at our destination 45 min. late and hurried to catch the next connecting train to Ratingen. By this time, we were tired and it was much colder in the dark evening air, but we caught the next train which goes every 30 min. and settled down for the short ride.
I had texted Steven that we were coming, so he was coming by car to pick us up. We had arrived, went down the ramps, but no Steven.
Where are you? I texted.
Right here by the buses.
What buses?
Right at the only exit.
We ARE at the only exit and there's no one here.
We are on the street. (I texted the intersection names then took a photo of the train station sign too for good measure).
You got off at the wrong stop, you're 6 km away!
Then my phone died. Yeah...
Having a power bar came in handy, but it was buried in my purse, then I had to find the right cord. And finally I said to my sister, let's get back on the next train and go further. So, up the long ramps we trudged to the platform while my phone started juicing up. Then of course, I was locked out of my phone and needed the SIM number. Finally unlocked the dumb phone and texted Steven to stay where he was and wait for us.
Thankfully he got the message and did wait. We got on the next train and arrived home two hours behind schedule. ThalysTrain is getting a letter from me.
Good to be home. Today we try the Beaujolais wine to celebrate.
Would I travel by train again? Yes! But maybe, not a French train!
So, that's sounds great, yes? Why wouldn't everyone travel by train then? That's exactly what I thought; especially the part about no restrictions on liquids and food being brought home with you, because we were in Paris after all, so of course we're bringing home cheeses, wine, mustards, fine chocolates, delectable macarons, chestnut and chocolate spreads, jams and sauces; a regular traveling pantry I'd say!
Our journey by taxi was actually enjoyable being picked up by a roomy Mercedes as it were. The friendly taxi guy spoke some frenglish which went well with our frenglish so we got on well and learned a few things. He brought us right up close to the sparkling Gare du Nord, and I say sparkling because the last time I was there 30 years ago, it was a dank, dirty and dingy place with filthy floors, beggars everywhere and very rude vendors who ripped you off for a small, stale sandwich. Now, it's a gleaming palace in comparison with a new glittery red bear like piece of art in front. But, before you get into this gleaming transportation hub, you must traverse 30 metres of being swarmed by pickpockets and so called beggars who really intend to distract and steal from you, and in fact, work in gangs of 5 or more. We learned this from everyone we met and actually had some dicey encounters ourselves, but that's another story.
So, we waded through the these annoyances clutching luggage and valuable Paris delicacies to the 'palace' because once inside, the gendarmerie were an ominous presence and there was nary a pickpocketer or 'beggar' to bother you.
Following Steven's advice (he'd traveled home two days before my sister and I with Elowyn), we got out of the cold and went by elevator upstairs to a Relay Store which is a book/magazine/snack/coffee store. We scored two comfortable seats in the warm store and ordered a coffee while we waited for our track to show up on the digital board. This is shown 30 min. before the train leaves.
When it was, we went back down and queued for security. This was new, didn't queue in Düsseldorf, but we were in Paris who is on high alert for terrorists and was like this in every museum and attraction we visited, so it was part of the new normal. In fact, the week we were there, the police had foiled some kind of terrorist plot and arrested a bunch of people.
Anyway, as luck would have it, our train was attached to another train and we would be separating in Brussels. Because of this, we had to walk a good 200 m all the way to the very last car on the train. Finally got in, stored our luggage and blissfully sank into our seats for the 3hr 55 min ride...or so we thought.
All went smoothly despite a family with four, count em FOUR babies under three years old. Two of them were twins, none of them were happy and all of them wore diapers, smelly diapers. It's hard to have an appetite when crying babies are being changed out of their poopy diapers RIGHT in the train cabin! I later checked out the facilities and in this day and age you'd think someone would design an area for a parent to change their child's diaper in a clean, safe, and well ventilated place! Maybe there was such a place in another car, but for convenience sake of her crying children, the mother changed them right there and everyone else had to suffer through the galling smell while we all covered our noses and breathed through our scarves to survive the diaper exchange. Lord!
The train was fast and arrived in Brussels on time where we separated our train and moved on towards Germany. In Köln, the family with all the babies got off and the rest of us breathed a sigh of relief thinking our troubles were over, but no, they were just about to begin.
We made good time and the train engineer announced we were about to arrive in the hauptbahnhof in Düsseldorf. We packed up our devices, got our coats on, and our luggage and queued in the aisles to get off as the train pulled in to the dark station at 8pm. We waited and waited until suddenly, the engineer said in four languages, "Close the doors, nobody is allowed off!" That was curious! One German guy looked out the darkened window and peered at the signpost and said in German," This is not Düsseldorf!" Now, our whole car was straining towards the window to see if it was true until the engineer said, "Sorry, we are not in Düsseldorf, we are in Sollingen!" WHAT?!? Now our train erupted with everyone talking at once. I asked German guy where Sollingen was and he said it was 45 km Northwest of Köln and no where near Düsseldorf which is straight north from Köln. Now we were in a pickle. What the hell happened?!? At first, we were joking about it and I said that the engineer had too much glüwein (mulled wine) until someone said ominously, "But, this is a FRENCH train!" It was then that we all got silent and worried, especially the Germans.
The engineer came on again sounding exasperated and apologized again and said we'd be at our destination soon. We started crawling along, then stopping and everyone seemed worried. I asked German guy why we were going so slow. He said that the engineer had made a terrible mistake by going on the wrong track and not to have noticed it for 45 km because all the trains were on schedules and now we were not on course and it was dangerous to proceed with other high speed trains on the same track, there could be a collision. I texted Steven and told him we'd be late and didn't know when we'd get in, and that we had missed our connecting train.
Ten minutes later, the engineer announced confidently that NOW we had arrived in Düsseldorf, but German guy looked out his window and said, it's impossible, it takes more than 10 min. to get to Düsseldorf from Solingen especially in a very slow train. And he was right, because a few moments later, an audibly agitated engineer announced this was NOT Düsseldorf after all and to close the doors.
All the passengers were talking at this point wondering if the engineer was incompetent, or 'in his cups' as one guy said. The train crawled on, stopping and going.
We finally arrived at our destination 45 min. late and hurried to catch the next connecting train to Ratingen. By this time, we were tired and it was much colder in the dark evening air, but we caught the next train which goes every 30 min. and settled down for the short ride.
I had texted Steven that we were coming, so he was coming by car to pick us up. We had arrived, went down the ramps, but no Steven.
Where are you? I texted.
Right here by the buses.
What buses?
Right at the only exit.
We ARE at the only exit and there's no one here.
We are on the street. (I texted the intersection names then took a photo of the train station sign too for good measure).
You got off at the wrong stop, you're 6 km away!
Then my phone died. Yeah...
Having a power bar came in handy, but it was buried in my purse, then I had to find the right cord. And finally I said to my sister, let's get back on the next train and go further. So, up the long ramps we trudged to the platform while my phone started juicing up. Then of course, I was locked out of my phone and needed the SIM number. Finally unlocked the dumb phone and texted Steven to stay where he was and wait for us.
Thankfully he got the message and did wait. We got on the next train and arrived home two hours behind schedule. ThalysTrain is getting a letter from me.
Good to be home. Today we try the Beaujolais wine to celebrate.
Would I travel by train again? Yes! But maybe, not a French train!
Monday 21 November 2016
Paris Day 1: The WC Incident
Today we woke up at the crack of dawn, oh did I say 'woke up?' More like got out of bed. I just can't sleep well before a trip. Toss and turn, mind going a thousand miles a minute trying to remember if I packed what I should have. And of course you'll always forget something...at least that's how it goes in my family.
Luckily, Steven gave us (me, Elowyn, and my sister who is visiting for a few months), a drive to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station for regional or international travel - DB). We got there early, really early, so had breakfast at one of the many bakeries. We walked up to our train platform to wait in the waiting room. Then, with only 10 min before our train was to arrive, E suddenly has to go pee. Wait for the train I said, but no, it was a 911, so off we went in search of a German toilet.
I saw the signs and turned the corner and saw these huge pillars declaring they were toilets. I had seen something similar to these on TV in Paris so started pressing it to find the opening, much like a secret door. Daughter started laughing at me, and the more I tried to find the hidden door, the more she laughed. Finally, I looked at her in exasperation and said, 'WHAT?' She pointed down the hall to an entrance that said WC. I glared at her and walked past.
Flustered now, I fished in my purse for change, because you know, in Germany, the toilets are NOT free. Finally found some change, quickly got a ticket, went through the glass doors which slammed shut behind me and turned a corner only to see a man peeing in one of a long line of urinals. I looked over at the wall and saw that the stick figure had two legs. Dawning horror! Oh God! I quickly walked back before Elowyn too ended up in the wrong place. Through the glass I pointed to the woman stick figure a few metres away and Elowyn's eyes grew round in surprise, then the little weasel roared with laughter...AGAIN!
Sigh....I routed in my purse, no more euros. The glass door was closed. Trapped! Our train was coming soon. I made a snap decision and thought gender neutral thoughts and turned back into the men's WC. Incredibly, the man was STILL peeing! I was thinking maybe he had Austin Powers' bladder, but he wasn't facing me so I scurried into an empty stall. The cleaning lady of the WC was humming a tune and occasionally breaking out in song. Happy in her work.
Elowyn was waiting for me with a big smile on her face. Say cheese! Click! She practically skipped up the steps on the escalator dying to tell my sister about my misadventure; the big news as it were.
And yes, I was humiliated once more with Elowyn providing embellishments in a rather loud voice in the waiting room. And for a country of people who don't seem to speak a lick of English when you ask them a question, there were plenty of Germans openly grinning. Yeah....
One small mercy, thankfully, they weren't on my train. Elowyn says that she'll go to the bathroom with me ANYTIME. Finally, I had to laugh. These things always seem to happen to me. I know I will be reliving this as Elowyn will be sure to spread the word, so I'm one upping her and giving it to you straight by writing it myself.
Teens!
Luckily, Steven gave us (me, Elowyn, and my sister who is visiting for a few months), a drive to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station for regional or international travel - DB). We got there early, really early, so had breakfast at one of the many bakeries. We walked up to our train platform to wait in the waiting room. Then, with only 10 min before our train was to arrive, E suddenly has to go pee. Wait for the train I said, but no, it was a 911, so off we went in search of a German toilet.
I saw the signs and turned the corner and saw these huge pillars declaring they were toilets. I had seen something similar to these on TV in Paris so started pressing it to find the opening, much like a secret door. Daughter started laughing at me, and the more I tried to find the hidden door, the more she laughed. Finally, I looked at her in exasperation and said, 'WHAT?' She pointed down the hall to an entrance that said WC. I glared at her and walked past.
Flustered now, I fished in my purse for change, because you know, in Germany, the toilets are NOT free. Finally found some change, quickly got a ticket, went through the glass doors which slammed shut behind me and turned a corner only to see a man peeing in one of a long line of urinals. I looked over at the wall and saw that the stick figure had two legs. Dawning horror! Oh God! I quickly walked back before Elowyn too ended up in the wrong place. Through the glass I pointed to the woman stick figure a few metres away and Elowyn's eyes grew round in surprise, then the little weasel roared with laughter...AGAIN!
Sigh....I routed in my purse, no more euros. The glass door was closed. Trapped! Our train was coming soon. I made a snap decision and thought gender neutral thoughts and turned back into the men's WC. Incredibly, the man was STILL peeing! I was thinking maybe he had Austin Powers' bladder, but he wasn't facing me so I scurried into an empty stall. The cleaning lady of the WC was humming a tune and occasionally breaking out in song. Happy in her work.
Elowyn was waiting for me with a big smile on her face. Say cheese! Click! She practically skipped up the steps on the escalator dying to tell my sister about my misadventure; the big news as it were.
And yes, I was humiliated once more with Elowyn providing embellishments in a rather loud voice in the waiting room. And for a country of people who don't seem to speak a lick of English when you ask them a question, there were plenty of Germans openly grinning. Yeah....
One small mercy, thankfully, they weren't on my train. Elowyn says that she'll go to the bathroom with me ANYTIME. Finally, I had to laugh. These things always seem to happen to me. I know I will be reliving this as Elowyn will be sure to spread the word, so I'm one upping her and giving it to you straight by writing it myself.
Teens!
Sunday 20 November 2016
Christmas Markets in Germany
This is it, the reason you come to Germany in winter, and it's not for the weather which is usually grey, damp, and drizzly without much snow or sunlight, (at least in the North Rhine Westfalia Region). And because of this dreary weather, the Germans, and much of Europe, created a fantastic coping mechanism to see them through the next seven weeks or so...the venerable Weihnachts Markt or Christmas Market!
They don't spring it on you all at once, oh no! What's the pleasure and anticipation in that? It starts with city officials stringing all the Christmas lights across your street with big hanging stars, plump cupids or trumpeting angels as the most popular ornament. They don't turn them on yet except maybe to test them, but you start to feel excited about what's to come.
Then comes St. Martin's Day on Nov. 11th which is celebrated in many European countries and is a Catholic holiday in Germany, especially if you live in southern Bavaria. Martin was born in Hungary in 316 and lived in Italy where he became a Roman soldier. He was commissioned to Gaul (France) and he later was baptized and became a monk. He was a friend of children and a patron of the poor and did many kind deeds to people everywhere he went. There is a famous story where he was traveling with two other soldiers and was about to enter a city when he saw a poor beggar who was too weak to call for help and freezing in the cold during a storm. Martin was wearing a long, thick Roman cloak of red and he got down from his horse and using his sword, cut the cloak in half, giving one part to the poor man, thus saving his life. That night, Martin dreamt that the person he had shared his cloak with was Christ, who thanked him for his kindness. This dream convinced Martin to leave the army, get baptized, and become a monk. Eventually, the stories of Martin's compassion spread and church officials wanted to make this lowly monk a bishop. Martin didn't want the position, and legend says that he tried to hide from the throngs of good intentioned church officials by hiding in a goose pen in a barn, but the gaggle of geese gave him away. He did become a bishop in Tours, France and continued to be a patron of the poor and to children in his new role. To this day, people celebrate St. Martin's Day with a feast of goose with all the fixings like red cabbage and dumplings!
It is traditional for children to create paper lanterns in kindergarten or primary class in remembrance of St. Martin. Hundreds, if not thousands of little kids gather in parade like formations with their lanterns accompanied by teachers, volunteers and parents on the night of the 11th.The lanterns are fantastic creative designs. I saw rounded pink pigs (schwein is VERY popular here in Germany), big glowing yellow suns, whimsical jellyfish, big blue whales, bulging frogs, oranges, stars, and many more, each set more stunning than the next group as well as traditional lantern shapes, but with stained glass cut outs of scenes from St. Martin's life or pop art spiral designs which were all hand crafted by the kids. The lanterns are supposed to symbolize the light that holiness brings to the dark comparing the hope and love that St. Martin's good deeds brought to the people.
In the past, these lanterns were lit by little tea candles. Now what could possibly go wrong with kids carrying paper lanterns with lit candles you may ask? Well, picture rambunctious Hans swinging his lantern a little too vigorously and seeing the whole thing going up in flames while people start screaming until some responsible kill joy douses the flames leaving a charred mess on the cobbled street and a crying, wet kid in its wake. Pretty exciting don't you think; part of the appeal, no? And so, battery operated candles were invented just for this parade (wink wink)! And then they created special sticks to hold the batteries with dangling wires with a light at the end to light up the lantern. Yeah, it has definitely become less dramatic than all the accidental burnings in the past.
Luckily, I had seen some pre-made lanterns at the supermarket and bought a couple of them not knowing about St. Martin's Day, but thinking they'd be great for the Winter Solstice Festival of Light in Kensington Market in Toronto on Dec. 21st. When we saw the parade forming outside our front window, I knew what to do and hurriedly assembled the lanterns, lit them up and hurried Steven and Elowyn out the door to join the parade and follow it down to the market square.
The parade in our town opened with a black and white police cruiser that looked suspiciously like an American cruiser. I hurried to catch a glimpse of the make of the car and sure enough, it was an American Ford with California license plates! Very strange! I mean, the first question is why? German police cars look quite quaint in comparison with their diminutive size, friendly white colour and bright neon yellow and orange stripes for high visibility. Quite puzzling to see not one, but two of the American cruisers except the car bringing up the rear of the parade had German license plates!
Right after the cruisers, a white horse ridden by St. Martin led the procession in full medieval looking bishop's garb with lots of gold trimmings wearing a long red cape that draped in flourish over the rear of the horse. He also carried a bishop's crozier and waved to the crowds much like Santa during the Santa Claus Parade in Toronto except instead of 'Ho ho ho', he said, 'Gruß Gott' (God's greeting to you).
Along the parade, all the kids were singing more or less in unison songs that I had heard my father sing to me and my siblings as kids. Songs like 'Laterne Laterne!' I thought of dad singing and how much he would have loved to be here right now. He would have been singing and swinging his lantern too and finally experiencing the childhood that he missed during wartime Germany.
At the town square entrance, the regal white horse suddenly lifted his tail and started taking a massive dump right there on the cobbles without missing a beat and creating a three metre long trail. About 3 classes of kindergarteners with their parents waded right through this steaming trail until some kid shrieked and the procession suddenly stopped while the volunteer officials put on a brave face and quickly stood in front of the 'horse apples' as my dad would call it and directed the procession around it. We were right there at the entrance and watched the whole spectacle with great amusement with the other bystanders and shrieked with laughter and horror when the occasional adult trying to cut through the parade to get a beer on the other side walked right through the stuff with their expensive shoes. Lots of 'scheiße' swearing followed and shoe scraping while parents admonished the swearers to mind their language in front of their wide-eyed lantern holding kids. We left after the parade and went home for our own hot feast of potato soup, crispy buns and wurst while we talked about our great evening and the fact that there would be a lot of smelly shoes to clean that night by disgruntled parents!
Right after St. Martin's Day, things start ramping up in the market square. Suddenly the lion fountain is drained and filled with fresh evergreen trees, then a fence of evergreens is set up around the square and finally, trucks arrive with wooden huts that resemble Bavarian ski chalets, all lined up on the periphery and inside the square in a circle. All the inhabitants inspect these goings on daily and stand around and admire or discuss it, and sometimes a wily senior offers his advice or expertise to the workers on hanging the oversized fat cupid over one of the gateway entrances, or hanging the strings of lights just so. Throughout the week, you can see the whole market getting built until the day when the stalls are filled with Christmas ornaments and baubles, mugs to fill the spiced Glüwein, and racks and griddles for the bratwürst and crispy potato pancakes with apple sauce.
Many markets this year opened the week before Advent which is the case in our town of Ratingen, but most open traditionally the Friday before Advent. German Christmas Markets have their origin way back in 1393 in Frankfürt and even earlier in the beautiful jewel of a city, Dresden. They were originally set up in front of the local cathedral or market square as an encouragement for people to attend Mass every day during Advent and then after Mass to indulge in the market. It was there that craftsmen sold their beautifully crafted wooden and tin ornaments that they had fashioned and for people to mingle and indulge in some mulled wine (introduced first in Köln), to eat local baked specialities like lebkuchen, stöllen, printen, dominoes, spekulatius cookies and much more like pretzels and würst, potato fritters, dumplings and scweinhache.
We of course went to our very first Christmas Market in our town. The most popular hut is also the biggest because it's the place to buy mulled wine. It's packed with people as a meeting place to warm up with Glüwein and have a warm meal. Each market fashions their own mug with the year and pictures of the town or area. Cost is usually €3 for the mug with another €2 or more deposit for the mug. If you bring it back, you get your deposit back, otherwise keep the mug and use it throughout the holiday season and on New Year's Eve. The wine and spice mixture also varies from each market and now includes white or rose wine and also non alcoholic wine for children which Elowyn was really happy about. There is also a creamy yellow egg liquor called Eierlikör or in Dutch, Advocaat which has a custard like flavour with rum. I haven't tried yet, but will in the coming weeks.
Here's the recipe below if you feel like indulging. It can be drunk as is or pored over ice-cream or plain cakes or as a base to flan topped cakes. So yummy!
http://www.texanerin.com/
Anyway, we went straight to the Glüwein area and received our steaming mugs of goodness. Tastes great with the bratwurst and potato fritters that we had too. The trick is start early while it's still daylight and to wander from stall to stall before it gets too busy, stop and eat something which in our case is usually bratwurst or schnitzel on a bun,, roam some more and watch crafts people at work carving wooden ornaments, drink more Glüwein, take a Ferris wheel ride to see your city up high in lights, wander some more, buy interesting ornaments, eat some yummy roasted chestnuts or Gebrannte mandeln (sugar-coated toasted almonds flavoured with cinnamon and vanilla), listen to live music, take a bunch of photos of everything, drink your last Glüwein and keep the mug, then call it a night before it starts to get horrendously busy by 8 pm. Go home, put up your feet, snuggle up in a blanket and watch a movie while drinking hot tea.
Yesterday we went by train to Düsseldorf which boasts seven different markets each with their own theme and items they sell as well as different Glüwein. And each market has it's own unique mug for you to use and take home with you. The best one was a snowman mug. It was there where we went on the enormous Ferris wheel and got to warm up in the heated pods while going four times around and seeing the city in its lighted glory overlooking the Rhine River. By the time we left around 8pm, it was hard to move through the shoulder to shoulder crowds as night time is the most popular time to go to see the lights and meet up with friends after a busy work day.
Here's a website devoted to some of the more famous Christmas Markets in Germany to give you a sense as to what they're all about. It is magical here at Christmas time and the markets really do help you get through the short, dark days. Luckily, Toronto is opening its second Christmas Market at City Hall this year. Check it out, along with the Distillery District to enjoy your own Glüwein and German delicasies!
http://travelaway.me/best-
Tomorrow, we travel to Paris for eight days to explore the city of light and to also indulge in the unique Parisian Christmas Markets.
They don't spring it on you all at once, oh no! What's the pleasure and anticipation in that? It starts with city officials stringing all the Christmas lights across your street with big hanging stars, plump cupids or trumpeting angels as the most popular ornament. They don't turn them on yet except maybe to test them, but you start to feel excited about what's to come.
Then comes St. Martin's Day on Nov. 11th which is celebrated in many European countries and is a Catholic holiday in Germany, especially if you live in southern Bavaria. Martin was born in Hungary in 316 and lived in Italy where he became a Roman soldier. He was commissioned to Gaul (France) and he later was baptized and became a monk. He was a friend of children and a patron of the poor and did many kind deeds to people everywhere he went. There is a famous story where he was traveling with two other soldiers and was about to enter a city when he saw a poor beggar who was too weak to call for help and freezing in the cold during a storm. Martin was wearing a long, thick Roman cloak of red and he got down from his horse and using his sword, cut the cloak in half, giving one part to the poor man, thus saving his life. That night, Martin dreamt that the person he had shared his cloak with was Christ, who thanked him for his kindness. This dream convinced Martin to leave the army, get baptized, and become a monk. Eventually, the stories of Martin's compassion spread and church officials wanted to make this lowly monk a bishop. Martin didn't want the position, and legend says that he tried to hide from the throngs of good intentioned church officials by hiding in a goose pen in a barn, but the gaggle of geese gave him away. He did become a bishop in Tours, France and continued to be a patron of the poor and to children in his new role. To this day, people celebrate St. Martin's Day with a feast of goose with all the fixings like red cabbage and dumplings!
It is traditional for children to create paper lanterns in kindergarten or primary class in remembrance of St. Martin. Hundreds, if not thousands of little kids gather in parade like formations with their lanterns accompanied by teachers, volunteers and parents on the night of the 11th.The lanterns are fantastic creative designs. I saw rounded pink pigs (schwein is VERY popular here in Germany), big glowing yellow suns, whimsical jellyfish, big blue whales, bulging frogs, oranges, stars, and many more, each set more stunning than the next group as well as traditional lantern shapes, but with stained glass cut outs of scenes from St. Martin's life or pop art spiral designs which were all hand crafted by the kids. The lanterns are supposed to symbolize the light that holiness brings to the dark comparing the hope and love that St. Martin's good deeds brought to the people.
In the past, these lanterns were lit by little tea candles. Now what could possibly go wrong with kids carrying paper lanterns with lit candles you may ask? Well, picture rambunctious Hans swinging his lantern a little too vigorously and seeing the whole thing going up in flames while people start screaming until some responsible kill joy douses the flames leaving a charred mess on the cobbled street and a crying, wet kid in its wake. Pretty exciting don't you think; part of the appeal, no? And so, battery operated candles were invented just for this parade (wink wink)! And then they created special sticks to hold the batteries with dangling wires with a light at the end to light up the lantern. Yeah, it has definitely become less dramatic than all the accidental burnings in the past.
Luckily, I had seen some pre-made lanterns at the supermarket and bought a couple of them not knowing about St. Martin's Day, but thinking they'd be great for the Winter Solstice Festival of Light in Kensington Market in Toronto on Dec. 21st. When we saw the parade forming outside our front window, I knew what to do and hurriedly assembled the lanterns, lit them up and hurried Steven and Elowyn out the door to join the parade and follow it down to the market square.
The parade in our town opened with a black and white police cruiser that looked suspiciously like an American cruiser. I hurried to catch a glimpse of the make of the car and sure enough, it was an American Ford with California license plates! Very strange! I mean, the first question is why? German police cars look quite quaint in comparison with their diminutive size, friendly white colour and bright neon yellow and orange stripes for high visibility. Quite puzzling to see not one, but two of the American cruisers except the car bringing up the rear of the parade had German license plates!
Right after the cruisers, a white horse ridden by St. Martin led the procession in full medieval looking bishop's garb with lots of gold trimmings wearing a long red cape that draped in flourish over the rear of the horse. He also carried a bishop's crozier and waved to the crowds much like Santa during the Santa Claus Parade in Toronto except instead of 'Ho ho ho', he said, 'Gruß Gott' (God's greeting to you).
Along the parade, all the kids were singing more or less in unison songs that I had heard my father sing to me and my siblings as kids. Songs like 'Laterne Laterne!' I thought of dad singing and how much he would have loved to be here right now. He would have been singing and swinging his lantern too and finally experiencing the childhood that he missed during wartime Germany.
At the town square entrance, the regal white horse suddenly lifted his tail and started taking a massive dump right there on the cobbles without missing a beat and creating a three metre long trail. About 3 classes of kindergarteners with their parents waded right through this steaming trail until some kid shrieked and the procession suddenly stopped while the volunteer officials put on a brave face and quickly stood in front of the 'horse apples' as my dad would call it and directed the procession around it. We were right there at the entrance and watched the whole spectacle with great amusement with the other bystanders and shrieked with laughter and horror when the occasional adult trying to cut through the parade to get a beer on the other side walked right through the stuff with their expensive shoes. Lots of 'scheiße' swearing followed and shoe scraping while parents admonished the swearers to mind their language in front of their wide-eyed lantern holding kids. We left after the parade and went home for our own hot feast of potato soup, crispy buns and wurst while we talked about our great evening and the fact that there would be a lot of smelly shoes to clean that night by disgruntled parents!
Right after St. Martin's Day, things start ramping up in the market square. Suddenly the lion fountain is drained and filled with fresh evergreen trees, then a fence of evergreens is set up around the square and finally, trucks arrive with wooden huts that resemble Bavarian ski chalets, all lined up on the periphery and inside the square in a circle. All the inhabitants inspect these goings on daily and stand around and admire or discuss it, and sometimes a wily senior offers his advice or expertise to the workers on hanging the oversized fat cupid over one of the gateway entrances, or hanging the strings of lights just so. Throughout the week, you can see the whole market getting built until the day when the stalls are filled with Christmas ornaments and baubles, mugs to fill the spiced Glüwein, and racks and griddles for the bratwürst and crispy potato pancakes with apple sauce.
Many markets this year opened the week before Advent which is the case in our town of Ratingen, but most open traditionally the Friday before Advent. German Christmas Markets have their origin way back in 1393 in Frankfürt and even earlier in the beautiful jewel of a city, Dresden. They were originally set up in front of the local cathedral or market square as an encouragement for people to attend Mass every day during Advent and then after Mass to indulge in the market. It was there that craftsmen sold their beautifully crafted wooden and tin ornaments that they had fashioned and for people to mingle and indulge in some mulled wine (introduced first in Köln), to eat local baked specialities like lebkuchen, stöllen, printen, dominoes, spekulatius cookies and much more like pretzels and würst, potato fritters, dumplings and scweinhache.
We of course went to our very first Christmas Market in our town. The most popular hut is also the biggest because it's the place to buy mulled wine. It's packed with people as a meeting place to warm up with Glüwein and have a warm meal. Each market fashions their own mug with the year and pictures of the town or area. Cost is usually €3 for the mug with another €2 or more deposit for the mug. If you bring it back, you get your deposit back, otherwise keep the mug and use it throughout the holiday season and on New Year's Eve. The wine and spice mixture also varies from each market and now includes white or rose wine and also non alcoholic wine for children which Elowyn was really happy about. There is also a creamy yellow egg liquor called Eierlikör or in Dutch, Advocaat which has a custard like flavour with rum. I haven't tried yet, but will in the coming weeks.
Here's the recipe below if you feel like indulging. It can be drunk as is or pored over ice-cream or plain cakes or as a base to flan topped cakes. So yummy!
http://www.texanerin.com/
Anyway, we went straight to the Glüwein area and received our steaming mugs of goodness. Tastes great with the bratwurst and potato fritters that we had too. The trick is start early while it's still daylight and to wander from stall to stall before it gets too busy, stop and eat something which in our case is usually bratwurst or schnitzel on a bun,, roam some more and watch crafts people at work carving wooden ornaments, drink more Glüwein, take a Ferris wheel ride to see your city up high in lights, wander some more, buy interesting ornaments, eat some yummy roasted chestnuts or Gebrannte mandeln (sugar-coated toasted almonds flavoured with cinnamon and vanilla), listen to live music, take a bunch of photos of everything, drink your last Glüwein and keep the mug, then call it a night before it starts to get horrendously busy by 8 pm. Go home, put up your feet, snuggle up in a blanket and watch a movie while drinking hot tea.
Yesterday we went by train to Düsseldorf which boasts seven different markets each with their own theme and items they sell as well as different Glüwein. And each market has it's own unique mug for you to use and take home with you. The best one was a snowman mug. It was there where we went on the enormous Ferris wheel and got to warm up in the heated pods while going four times around and seeing the city in its lighted glory overlooking the Rhine River. By the time we left around 8pm, it was hard to move through the shoulder to shoulder crowds as night time is the most popular time to go to see the lights and meet up with friends after a busy work day.
Here's a website devoted to some of the more famous Christmas Markets in Germany to give you a sense as to what they're all about. It is magical here at Christmas time and the markets really do help you get through the short, dark days. Luckily, Toronto is opening its second Christmas Market at City Hall this year. Check it out, along with the Distillery District to enjoy your own Glüwein and German delicasies!
http://travelaway.me/best-
Tomorrow, we travel to Paris for eight days to explore the city of light and to also indulge in the unique Parisian Christmas Markets.
Sunday 30 October 2016
Elowyn an German School Number Two
Well, we're the second week in to E's new school and she regales us with stories every night over dinner about life in German school.
At first it was all doom and gloom and blame, blame, blame on why we brought her to this country and she doesn't understand a thing, and all the kids in her class worship the Bieber...but now she's getting into her groove. Not full stride mind you, but there's tentative movement afoot.
First, she's a bit of a celebrity right now being the only Canadian and English speaker to boot. Plus, her English teacher gave her a bit of a plug by telling the entire class to speak to her at recess to practice their English...and they do.
Yesterday, she was doing a career day test at another place. I had asked her teacher about it and Herr Lamb said she should meet at the school. Then E comes to me with an address the day before said test and told me that a different teacher said to meet there. I asked E if all the kids were meeting at school and was she sure that's what the teacher said.
"I don't know, she was speaking in German!" "Well, why didn't you ask?" Then a lot of eye-rolling and it was useless to continue the conversation, so I pulled out my handy (which is cell phone in Germany) and looked up the address. Hmmm, 3 kilometres one way, 36 min according to google maps; not bad. I could get my exercise for the day.
So off we went by 8 am in the cool morning air, a little late since said daughter couldn't roll out of bed until 7:17, then insisted on taking a shower. We had to be there by 8:25 and would already be late, but we walked quickly using my handy as a guide.
Steven was still in Amsterdam, so I was on my own with E. You know when you're trying to navigate your way to a new place and your sidekick is questioning your every move and you just want to scream...yeah, it was one of those journeys.
Finally we get to a bridge that goes over railway tracks except there's no walkway on our side and a sign clearly saying do not cross. I was all for turning back and crossing at the light, but daughter splurged on ahead climbing stairs that went down under the bridge. I followed saying that she was going the wrong way, and sure enough, 10 minutes later, we stop at a metal fence with no crossing the tracks.
Sigh...we walk along the fence until we come to a ramp and up we go and find ourselves on top of the bridge except on the pedestrian side.
More walking. Lord, where is this place?!? The sun had now come out fully and was low in the sky, shining directly into my eyes. I couldn't see squat. We were clearly in the commercial/industrial area of town with factories and big trucks rolling by. A city bus passes us.
Hey, a bus! I yell to Elowyn to pull out her Schokoticket (bus card for kids)! But no, daughter forgot it at home and blamed me of course. So more walking until we came to a busy round-about. Now, there's absolutely no way to cross a round-about safely, which probably means that no one in their right mind walks in that area except ignorant Canadians. We had to walk down the road, then sprint across when the coast was clear.
At this point, I was sweating in my heavy clothes, my feet were hurting and we still had a long way to go, but we finally reached our destination, 15 min late. They all looked at me as if it was my fault, but I gave Elowyn a withering glare and told them the truth which resulted in more glaring from daughter. The teacher said to be back at 2:30 to pick her up. WHAT!?! Whatever happened to traveling together as a class?!? After walking 45 min in no man's land, I had no intention of doing the trip a third and fourth time, so out comes the handy to tell husband that he has to leave work early to pick up Elowyn because she was out in the sticks. Daddy saved the day, and my feet!
Tonight's entertainment centred on a new extra-curricular class. The school admin told Elowyn she would be taking chemistry, so off she went with a gaggle of girls to learn science. Ahh, but she soon found out it was the chemistry of cooking!
She came into a class with girls carefully creating a chocolate concoction. They waved her over and spent the next 10 min gobbling chocolate from their recipe stash and grilling Elowyn on how well she knew Justin Bieber, until the teacher drifted over and saw by their chocolate covered mouths that their recipe might be in trouble.
Now, Elowyn is not a big fan of the Biebs; Steven's careful musical education of Elowyn is by taking her to hear icons like Paul McCartney, Dillon, the Beach Boys, Madonna, Ringo Starr, Leonard Cohen, Stevie Wonder, Rush, Pink Floyd, U2 and the like; he made sure of that. Still, she wanted to fit in so played up the Canadian connection saying she did see him perform, (halftime at the Grey Cup), and no, she doesn't want to marry him. This was met with total disbelief and outright gasps, so she quickly recovered by saying she wanted to go out with Steve Mendis, and the group was duly satisfied and treated her like an old friend.
Baby steps.
Saturday 29 October 2016
The London Experience in a Nutshell
I started writing this while at London City Airport waiting to board and had a moment to finally sit and give you the highlights of travelling to London Town. Just finished it now.
Some highlights:
First off, their transportation system is ace for the ancient system that it is. And yes there are delays, and the occasional bomb scare (just happened on Thurs.), and trains and people having to be rerouted...BUT! They let you know. Announcements, a person at every entrance helping to direct people to get where they're going. This, despite there being temporary maps of how to bypass and written instructions too. People appreciate being in the know.
Now, yes the system is a labyrinth with like 12 different lines crisscrossing and running under other lines, but there are signs everywhere and you'll eventually find where you're going. Eventually....
Signs on every crossing painted in big white letters to look LEFT! Or look RIGHT! Of course we looked both ways, but really, everyone ignores traffic lights. I mean, I was pretty shocked living in Germany where obeying traffic lights is the norm. Mind you, German traffic lights last like 30 seconds, so no one seems to mind waiting a bit. London, on the other hand has traffic lights that go on for like 3 or 4 minutes, which is an absolute eternity to busy Londoners, so they merely look, and wait for the next opportunity to scoot across on the red. Soon, we were Londoners too, except a few close calls with a double decker bus soon cured me of that insanity on busy roads.
Did I mention that Londoners also move fast! Really fast! No leisurely stroll in the park when you're trying to get somewhere. Or maybe it's the tourists moving like schnell too. Gotta do five different attractions in one day to get more bang for your buck with the London Pass.
There's a really cool Oyster card for the transportation system that we've been using. Load it up with money and you tap in and out at each destination and the fee is automatically deducted. Works on tubes, district trains, buses, even boats. Fast and efficient. The farther you travel through zones, the more you pay. What I'm puzzled about is that Toronto has a TTC commissioner who is from London, so...why isn't he doing the same thing for Toronto? I've heard about all the problems with the Presto card.
London is busy, I think busier than New York! There is a building boom everywhere you look; cranes in the air in every direction, but especially in the docklands where the O2 Olympic stadium is. A lot of people from the Continent want to live in England. Look what's happening in Calais! Plus, the City of London is very multi-cultural. Go on the tube and you'll hear German, Dutch, French, Italian, Chinese and Russian (lots of Chinese and Russians!) Serbians, Indians, Croatians, Greeks...and yes, even a few likeable Canadians.
There's lots to see and do in London and we tried to do it in a week, but our feet gave out and we only scratched the surface.
1) Shakespeare's Globe Theatre - Not so imposing from the outside as a 20 sided white plastered polygon with silver grey weathered timbers, but then you step inside and you are gobsmacked with wonder. Everyone said "Wow" almost in sinc as we looked around and then up at this incredible masterpiece of ingenuity made to the exact measurements of the old one which burned down 500 years ago on that very spot. It rises up to 3 stories, with wooden benches all around to the covered stage which juts out into the audience who are standing in the cheap £5 seats and in the open air. Back in the day, the smelly rabble would stand there for a penny to see great theatre while for a penny more you could sit higher up on a wooden bench on the outskirts that was covered from the elements, because rain or shine, the show went on! Then, for another penny you could secure a cushion to comfort your bottom. Plus, the higher up you sat, the less affected you were by the ripe smells below...and they were ripe coming from most of a populace who bathed once in their lives on the day they were born. The pillars, walls and stage are painstakingly painted to look like marble with figures painted as well to look like statues. Food and drink would be served by wandering waiters and it was loud and noisy with the crowd very much participating and showing their pleasure or displeasure with laughter, yelling, swearing and the like. We wanted to see a play, but it was late October and the season was finishing and everything was sold out; nary a seat to be had until the whole thing starts again in April. So said our rambunctious tour guide, a burly actor who actually worked there. Just an excuse to come back to London!
2) Westminster Abbey - Old as dirt and seems to be more of a cemetery of who's who than a cathedral. There are over 3000 bodies of importance lying beneath the floors and crowded into walls and niches. Everywhere you look is someone's tomb. Most revered is King Edward the Confessor's tomb, high above and behind the altar. He was canonized a saint back in 1076 or so. He was a benevolent king who was married, but childless, so there was a fight for his throne between his brother-in-law Harold, and his Norman cousin William (aka William the Conqueror), who lived in Normandy, France. You can see the whole play out of the events in the oldest tapestry in the world, the Bayeux Tapestry which has its own museum in Bayeux, France. I was fortunate to see this marvelous work the week before which is in great condition despite being almost 1000 years old!
Anyway, the Abbey was actually an Abbey at first and there is still the cloister area that are the only remains of the original which is over 1000 years old! The rest of the cathedral is about 600 to 800 years old rebuilt by Henry II to make a more fitting place for the bones of the canonized saint. There is a poet's corner, a statesman's corner, scientist corner (Sir Isaac Newton), writer's corner, military corner and of course all the royals like Elizabeth I, her half sister Mary I aka Bloody Mary fir her scourge of Protestants, also Mary Queen of Scots, cousin to Elizabeth I who she imprisoned for more than 20 years until she executed her by the axe which was a grisly affair as the first couple of blows didn't kill her. There is also Henry VII and his wife and Henry VIII, along with slews of other kings and queens, princes and princesses and important nobles. No more room though for anyone else I'm afraid. Famously, there is a huge black basalt stone on the floor for Sir Winston Churchill, but he refused the 'honour', stating that 'people had walked over him his whole life and he wasn't about to let them walk over him in death!' He's buried in a church wall close to where he was born instead. One grave that is never walked upon is the WWI tomb of the unknown soldier. It is surrounded by a hedge of bright red poppies.
3) High Tea at Westminster Abbey - All that touring makes you thirsty, for tea that is; high tea! For those of you in the know, high tea is a pick me up between lunch and a later dinner. It consists of crust-less sandwiches cut into dainty squares with smoked salmon, egg, or ham and butter to name a few. Also fresh scones with or without currents with the iconic clotted cream and strawberry jam and an assortment of petit four pastries and of course a pot of steaming, fragrant elderflower tea to give you a boost of energy. The room itself is in the basement of the cathedral, plainly painted in soft cream that highlights the curved vaulted ceiling. Massive, dark oak tables line the walls with benches. On the walls are blown up photos of the cathedral, the ceiling, the choir, a gargoyle, etc. It was small and only seated maybe 20 people at best, but was cozy, warm and an intimate environment with the scent of fresh baking wafting in. We were energized after that lovely diversion to continue our trek through the city.
4) Tower Bridge- Everyone thinks this is London Bridge; at least Robert McCulloch, a wealthy American tycoon of oil and aviation did back in 1968 when he thought he was getting the deal of the century by buying what he thought was Tower Bridge for 2.8 million only to discover later after it was reassembled that it was NOT the ornate Tower Bridge, but the plain old London Bridge. At least that's what legend says and although there is no evidence that it's true, the story persists in popular culture. The bridge was reassembled to span the Colorado River in Arizona in the town of Lake Havasu City, unknown except for its famous bridge. I got to see it this summer. Nothing spectacular, but there it is.
What is special about Tower Bridge is its cantilevered roadway which can be lifted to allow big ships to come in. So, how many times was it lifted? ONCE! Yes! Right when it opened, then never again. Today, from the tower, the walkway above is now enclosed and has a glass floor like the CN Tower. Elowyn was pretty happy lying on such floor to take selfies of herself with the road and river below. You can visit the engine room too.
5) Chinatown and Soho - what's not to like? A colourful gathering place with Chinese lanterns and dozens of places to eat in a car free pedestrian area. We had dinner here our first night, then wandered over to Soho which is the entertainment district.
6) Portobello Market - Everyone loves a market! Even Steven who hates to shop, got into the jovial mood of the place. Streaming with people, this is both an indoor market with colourful, painted shops and temporary vendors there for the weekend crowds. It is a feast for the eyes, colours, scents! One stand was full of old silver teapots and cutlery, another had beautiful teapots and cups, there were hats galore to try on and all manner of scarves and unique and antique jewelry. Brick-a-brac and antiques, toys and games, linen and lace, tapestries and clothing, and all manner of curiosities to wonder at mingling with vendors of fresh food, buskers and musicians all vying for your attention. Where to look, what to buy, how to bargain? In a word, it was AMAZING!
7) Tower Of London - Had to get up early for this gem, under loud protest from morning adverse Elowyn who'd much rather sleep than sight-see. It was worth it. A lot had changed since I was there last over 20 years ago. More crowded for one thing. Beefeaters still there giving their tours. Crown jewels still there albeit in an upgraded interior showcase for the queen's 90th birthday as well as her diamond jubilee. Graffiti etched in stone from famous prisoners like the 15 year old terrified Elizabeth I and teenaged Lady Jane Grey who was only queen for 9 days when Mary I beheaded her and her young husband, pawns of the Protestants in the religious wars.
There was a zoo there too. A ZOO! Why a zoo? Well, the royals were given all manner of exotic beasts as gifts who tragically met their demise in the cold, damp, polluted atmosphere of coal burning London at the time. Elephants, rhinos, monkeys, birds, a lion no less could at one time be found there. Now they show off their skeletons. Yeah....
Highlight was seeing an interactive play that encouraged audience participation and moving all around the grounds of the tower. It was a play depicting the events of the Bayeux Tapastry again and the events leading up to the famous Battle of Hastings in 1066 when William the Conqueror became king of England and then asserted his unpopular Norman influence in Saxon Britain.
The tower itself is really the keep of this fortress and contains not former prisoners, but the armoury; the ammunition and cannon, guns, crossbows, arrows, swords, pikes, and all manner of suits of armour for man and horse can be found there. Pretty interesting!
There used to be a moat around the fortress, but it stank something fierce what with it being a chamber pot with dead bodies of animals and humans and a home for mosquitos and flies. Finally, the man in charge of it was so disgusted that he asked the young Queen Victoria to have it drained. She consented and so it was. You can still see the dirty water mark on the stone which was about 3m high. Now, grass grows there lushly, and as the Beefeater said, naturally fertilized!
8) Buckingham Palace - We knocked, but the queen wasn't in. She spends Mon. to Wed. at Windsor Castle and stays at the palace from Thurs. to Sunday. It's grandiose, has high security and a statue of Queen Victoria sits on her throne in front, sternly looking out from her perch on the crowds below her. Look to the left and there is a magnificent park with a nod to Canada with its ornate iron gate, gilded with gold showing the coat of arms of all the provinces. Called appropriately, Canada Gate. Inside are old stately trees with wide paths and comfy benches. Again, another beautiful and touching monument to Canada showing two tilted stone triangles with water running down it and scattered maple leaves engraved on it. There are maple trees all around and since it was fall, the red, orange and yellow maple leaves mingled with the engraved ones in the water. A path cut through these two triangles looking like trenches as they were deep. It was a monument to Canada's soldier's sacrifice during WWI; a poignant reminder of the loss of life.
9) Victoria and Albert Museum - This is an extra-ordinary old building which features art and celebrates design in everything from clothing to furniture to statues to shoes p, to stained glass and knickknacks through the ages with amazing plaster casts of original sculptures taken over 100 years ago. Some of these copies are in better shape than the originals and show more detail. Here you can see fabulous 17th century dresses in the age of Louis XVth with silk taffeta and intricate silk embroidery that is wider than three metres! Or the famous Bed of Ware, lovingly carved and massive in scale with a roof and heavy silk curtains. Or a mini Hall of mirrors like Versailles with Rococo ornamentation gilded in gold leave. This museum is a work of art itself and features a peaceful outdoor courtyard with lounge chairs around a reflecting pond with fountain. Low enough walk in and wet your feet and a draw for young children delighted to be near water. Aside from the glorious things to see, there are three enormous rooms, each differently decorated that are gorgeously Art Nouveau with painted ceilings, huge chandeliers or glowing orbs, painted tiled walls and intricate tiled floors and frescoes, all to enjoy while having a hot lunch of steaming soup, spicy pasta, curried chicken or of course the ever popular tea with currant scones as big as your fist served with clotted cream, marmalade and butter. Sit in one of these beautiful rooms, rest your aching feet, sip your hot tea, gaze around you and feel blissfully content.
10) River Cruise on the Thames - Now this was a treat, to see London while resting our feet. Sitting on an open air ferry sans roof and chugging away upriver against the current towards Tower Bridge while the captain's mate pointed out buildings of interest along the way while we sat and snuggled together from the wind and the fast moving tide that was coming in like a roar.
11) Eye of London - Well, it had to be done; can one go all the way to London and NOT go on this giant Ferris wheel? I think not! We booked tickets beforehand with a pre-selected time and for an extra fee, a chance to stand in the fast-paced line. Totally worth it as the sky was blue, the sun was shining and everyone and their uncle thought Sat. would be the perfect day to go on the Eye. The crowds were enormous! It was marvelous. The great wheel on the river never stopped turning. Kind of like a ski lift, hop on quickly and either sit down on a middle bench or secure a spot along the glass enclosure. Look to the North bank of the river for the best views of old London with the Parliament Buildings and Big Ben, St, Paul's Cathedral and the Monument to the Great Fire of London in 1666 which burned almost the whole city down. It was amazing and what views! Turn around and view a sea of cranes to the Portlands as London is growing and fast by the looks of it with the jagged Shard building, gleaming with glass and with the distinction of being the highest building in the EU at over 1000 feet with 95 stories, or the beloved Gherkin building with its rounded shape contrasting sharply with the straight edged buildings around it.
12) British Museum - What's not to love about antiquities with its extensive Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Asian, Babylonian, Assyrian treasures all with a dark side as Colonial Britain basically plundered this booty and took it home. The famous Rosetta Stone is here too which paved the way to translating hieroglyphics. There is also Medieval armour and Renaissance treasures too. Cannot see it all in one day. You'd need a week! Definitely has a wow factor.
13) Tate Modern - Gallery of Modern Art in an old powerstation building. Londoners and visitors LOVE this building and the masterpieces it contains from Picasso, to Dali, to pop artist Bridgit Reilly, and even a two chalkboard sized painting of Monet's waterlilies painted during his last years that takes up a room of its own.
14) Piccadilly Circus - Aah... something's always happening around this buzzing area full of lights and people; a monument with steps for people to sit down on and mingle and watch the world go by. I learned something too. Circus does not actually mean circus like I thought it did with performing elephants and lions and trapeze artists when I first visited as a kid only to be sorely disappointed when an actual circus failed to appear. No, it rather means where two roads meet with an open, public space. Apparently, circus comes from the Latin circle and I quote: " Piccadilly Circus is a round open space at a street junction."
15) Shopping at Marks and Sparks or Sainsburys - Oh yes, for all sorts of delicious goodies! Just roam the aisles filled with locals buying their pre-made lunches or dinners, or visitors buying clotted cream, scones, tart lemon curd, chocolate biscuits, in fact, anything chocolate from Minstrels to Flakes to Cadbury bars because they taste better in Britain (the milk is creamier, the chocolate richer). Also Scottish shortbread, and marmalades, and English chicken pies and savoury pastries, all sorts of spices and curries and chutneys and the best soups and sharp English cheddars. Mmmmmmmm! Oh, and of course all the varieties of tea. Our current favourite is elderflower lemon.
16) Oxford Street - Shopping Central, the high street of couture and boutique shops and more. I kept popping into different shops while the shopping adverse Steven and Elowyn listened to street musicians outside. Of course there are way too many other museums and things to see, some of which Steven and Elowyn went on, while I rested up one day with flu like symptoms caught no doubt by the close confines on the tube and the sneezing on board. They went to our friend Barry's exquisite hotel bar for lunch, Covent Gardens and Harrods for dinner, toured Churchill's Wartime Office and took a Rock and Roll Walking tour of Britain's greats like the Who and the Beatles.
Elowyn is now fully versed in the sights of London for the most part. We clocked up to and beyond 20,000 steps a day, which is about 15 km according to Steven's Apple watch, but felt more like a million steps with us falling to bed exhausted by day's end.
We loved it so much that we're returning in the spring in early May for the famous Harry Potter Studio Tour that was sold out, (we're all fans of the books and movies, especially Elowyn), also to see a play at the Globe and to revisit some of the museums and some we didn't see, then getting out of London to show Elowyn the English countryside and meet up with family and friends. And this time, I'm checking my luggage, so I can bring back clotted cream and lemon curd, among other things.
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