Food, Glorious Food!

Just in case you were afraid I was starving here in Germany (ha, ha), I decided to compile a little list of some of the food (and drinks) I have enjoyed at the many Christmas Markets.  Enjoy:

Kartoffelpuffen, or potato pancakes.  These are deep-fried, served with applesauce, and are apparently my Oma's recipe.  Strangely enough, my grandmother has never made these before.  Maybe the sign makers got me confused with someone else?

This Eierpunsch, or eggnog, is also Oma's recipe.  But my grandma has never, ever served me anything this heavy with alcohol!  This was extremely delicious, warm, and rich.  A couple of these, though, and you'd probably be knocked out for the rest of the day.  Which means no more Weihnachtsmarten, so I would advise stopping after one.

  

This was either a cheese ball or a Quark ball (another sort of cheese) -- I don't remember.  It was just a delicious ball of fried pastry, with just the hint of a cream cheese flavoring and sprinkled with powered sugar.  They typically sold for about 80 cents each.  I ate a few.

I really wish I could remember what these were called.  More bits of fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar, I guess!  The best (and probably only good) part about attending lots of Weihnachtsmarken alone?  You don't need to feel obliged to share or let anyone have a taste of your food.

Shokolade Russische, or Russian hot chocolate.  This just means that it has a shot or two of rum in it.  What I've learned during my time in Germany -- anything can be improved with a shot of alcohol.

Dark chocolate-covered apple.  It was tasty, but I'm still partial to caramel apples myself.

Last, but not least, Glühwein, the stuff that holds Weihnachtsmarkten together.  This can be served alone, or with a shot of rum or amaretto.  You can also get the non-alcoholic version, which is called Kinderpunsch (kid punch), but it's typically the same price, so why bother?

Conclusion?  There's more to Germany than beer, sausages, and pretzels.  At least during the holiday season.

Berlin, Berlin, Berlin

Yes, I realize it has been well over one week since my last entry.  Never fear -- it's not that I haven't been doing some amazingly interesting things. (Actually, I'm quite boring, come to think of it, so what might be exciting to me, may be rather yawn-worthy to the rest of the world.)  I've just been quite busy.  Keep in mind that even though I have been doing my best to cram in all the sightseeing I can over the weekends, my weekdays are dedicated to the second graders I am currently teaching.  My week nights are spent preparing for the next day, working on all the junk my university is making me do (sheer busywork, I tell you), and checking in on high schoolers, making sure they are getting their homework done.  Now, I have been busier in the past, doing work that is much less rewarding.  Still, I haven't been finding a whole lot of time for blogging.  Throw in a yucky virus I've been fighting the past week and you can figure out the rest.

BUT -- what have I been doing on my weekends, in spite of everything else?  Well, I'll tell you.

Two Saturdays ago, I took advantage of the free tour of Berlin (see my previous post about Munich).  I had already seen most of the sites before, but this also gave me a chance to briefly check out the amazingly underwhelming Checkpoint Charlie:

That's right -- people come from all around just to buy overpriced souvenirs and take pictures with fake U.S. soldiers.

Early into the evening, I took the train to the town of Teltow as I had been invited to dinner at the home of the person I am student teaching for.  It was understood that I was to call from a payphone when I reached the train station.  As luck would have it (at least my sort of luck, anyway), the only payphone was broken.  I thus set out to find a working telephone.  In broken German, I asked to use the telephone at a grocery store and a very, very smoky bar.  Both places said "nein", and not so very nicely either.  Thankfully, the third place I tried was a Burger King where I was promptly taken to the back office (through the food prep area) and given somebody's cell phone to use.  Burger King is now my favorite fast food place.  To commemorate my experiences, I snapped a photo:

If you're ever stranded in Teltow, Germany without a phone and with a very limited understanding of German, they will help you here.

 The person I am student teaching for is from Scotland and her husband is from Germany.  They have three kids -- two boys who are in first and second grade, and a three-year-old girl.  I know I've mentioned this before, but multilingual European children are the cutest.  After dinner, they (the children, not their parents) performed traditional Scottish dances for me, with a little bit of Bollywood mixed in.  Very entertaining.   I paid them in Kinder Eggs (which I am now addicted to).

The next day I visited Berlin's Jewish Museum.  I don't have anything too major to report from there besides this awesome Friends yamulke:

I feel like I understand the Jewish people of Berlin so much better now.

 Oh, that's right.  I also stopped by the cemetery where the Brothers Grimm are buried.  I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I was sort of disappointed by the utter simplicity:

Note to self: Research the other two people buried with them.

There was a very pretty sculpture next to their grave site.  I like to think it is somehow related to them, therefore my visit wasn't entirely a bust:

I mean, depending on how you look at it, it could be a couple of fairytale princesses.

 

That brings us to this past weekend, which is when the Christmas Markets (or Weihnachtsmärkten) opened.  Here's the thing.  Germans know how to celebrate Christmas.  These things are set up all over town.  There are food stands, rides, things to buy, etc., etc., etc.  It's basically like the Minnesota State Fair on every other street, but in the winter with lots of lights and Christmas music (and no questionable shirtless people). 

Pretty lights!

They have Coca Cola in Germany too, you see.

There are a lot of sausage stands in Germany.  I tend to stay away from them.

I tend to stay closer to candy stands like this one.

The Christmas Market by the Schloss Charlottenburg (which I also toured) was particularly nice.

Do you know why Germans brave the cold weather to attend all these markets?  One word -- Glühwein, which literally means "glow wine", referring to the glow it brings to your cheek after drinking it.  Basically, it's just mulled wine. You can also ask for your Glühwein with an extra shot of rum or amaretto.  I have yet to try it with amaretto, but it is especially delicious with rum.  At a Swedish Christmas market I also attended, Glögg was served.  This is mulled wine as well, but is served with chopped almonds and raisins actually inside the drink.  I enjoyed that too.

 Next weekend marks my final in Berlin (the weekend after that being Paris).  I am thinking that more Glühwein and Christmas Markets will be involved.

München und Salzburg

I have to say that  had a pretty great weekend last week.  I flew to Munich on Friday morning.  When I got there, I went directly to Marienplatz, the city center, with its beautiful town hall, complete with Glockenspiel, a clockwork display of mechanical figures (think It's a Small World) that runs two times per day (3 times in the summer).

I joined up with the Sandeman's free tour of Munich and got to see a number of sights right away.  Upon doing some research, it seems that this company also does free tours (in English) in Berlin and Paris.  I think I'll be taking advantage of them as well.  My tour guide was entertaining and knowledgeable, plus he kept the plugging of the company's other paid tours to a minimum.  Seriously, I would recommend checking this out if you ever find yourself in a European city.  There seem to be a number of tours offered:

http://www.neweuropetours.eu/

In fact, I plan on checking out the Berlin tour shortly.

Here's the thing about Munich:  it feels like a theme park.  I can't quite explain why, but most of the time I felt like I was in EPCOT.  Also, if you are traveling alone, things start to feel a little lonely after 8pm when all the shops close and you walk past the beer halls filled with people talking and laughing (and drinking beer).  Thankfully, I had a big day ahead of me, so I wanted to make it an early night anyway.

On Saturday, I took a train to Salzburg, Austria.  Yes, the home of both Mozart and The Sound of Music.

I dare you to walk down this path without fighting the urge to sip and sing "Do Re Mi."

Also in Salzburg was the Festung Hohensalzburg, a huge medieval fortress looking over Salzburg.  It was quite a climb to the top (and even once I got there, more stairs and hills were awaiting me), but when I did make it all the way up, I saw this:

And this:

And this:

I even got my picture taken:

Sunday was spent once again in Munich where I visited the Alte Picakothek museum (one of the places specifically mentioned in Betsy and the Great World), the Englischer Garten (sort of like Munich's Central Park), and some other places.  Before taking the train to the airport, I sat at a cafe facing the great town hall of Marienplatz and had the most German dinner I could think of without eating sausage: potato salad, a pretzel, and beer.

It Runs in the Family

So, one of the greatest joys of this trip so far has been snapping photos for my aunt of this apparently very popular German children's character that bears a striking resemblance to my 10-year-old cousin ... If my cousin sported a very nice goatee, that is.

Where's my Joey?  There's my Joey!

 Seriously, this guy is immensely popular in Germany.  In every shop I visit, there are a number of items that bear his image.  The above photo was taken at the fancy KaDeWe department store in Berlin.

Anyway, I took another trip to Potsdam on Sunday and walked past this really cool building (which I later found out was a film museum of some sort):

Right outside of the building was this sign:

Sandmann auf Reisen.  So that's what this character was -- the Sandman.  For the sake of my family, I knew I had to go in.  I was intrigued.

Upstairs (and free of charge) was a little exhibit dedicated to a stop-motion production company, reminiscent of our Rankin-Bass.  Apparently the Sandmann character was created in 1959 and has been appearing in things ever since.  In fact, a new movie was just released this past September.  The exhibit was quite charming and the best part was finding my very own cousin around every corner.

Everything's so cute and tiny!

I'm assuming they did a Snow White short at some point.

Riding a car...

Hang gliding...

Steering a boat...

This was the children's craft corner.  If you look closely, you can see little Joeys everywhere.

Alexanderplatz's Television Tower?

Mail for the Sandman!  (Or Joey.  However you want to look at it.)

Yet another great thing about this museum?  Free bathrooms.  (These are pretty rare around Berlin, you see.)


**Disclaimer -- Joey, if you are reading this (and your mom had better be showing you my blog), don't be upset with me.  Rather, be proud that you look like such an esteemed German figure.  And you'll be happy to hear that I am being very, very safe.**

In Which I Am WAY Out of My Comfort Zone.

On my first day or so at the school, I found out that there was going to be a grand gala celebrating the 20th anniversary of the school.  Apparently they have one each year anyway, but this was going to be even grander than usual.  Since RSVPs had already been made a while back, it was assumed that I would not be able to attend.  And, when I heard all the talk in the staff room about the formal attire people were scrambling to put together, I decided it was for the better anyway.

As it turned out, one of the teachers had an extra ticket.  And that extra ticket went to me.  Obviously, I did not pack my evening gown (not that I own one), nor was I in the mood to put any money towards fancy clothes when I have so many other things, like travel, I want to spend money on instead while I am here.  So, daringly, I pieced together the few things I had - a black skirt (I had taken a fancier skirt out of my suitcase at the very last minute back home), a satiny top, gold belt, flower-patterned tights, and a sweater with fancy buttons that I am particularly fond of.  I managed to pull my hair into a side updo with a few braids, put on some pearls, a few bracelets, and more mascara and lipstick than usual, and decided that that would be it.  One of the teachers was bringing a clutch purse for me to use, so the few items I brought along were stuffed in my coat pockets.

Thankfully, the principal of the elementary school had arranged a bus to pick up teachers and staff who lived in the area.  Traffic was horrible driving into Berlin and it took forever to get there, but it was better than dealing with public transportation in pouring rain.  I think those who were wearing heels and fancier apparel were even more thankful for the bus than I.

So, we arrived safely and dryly.  The event was being held at a an old train depot in a pretty posh area of town, fairly close to Alexanderplatz.  My first thought upon entering was that I should probably turn around and go home.  There were women were in evening gowns, gloves, and wraps.  Men wore tuxes.  My black flats, flowered tights, and sweater did not belong.  There was even a red carpet, for crying out loud, where people from the press were snapping pictures of guests arriving.  Plus, there was a place set up where people could get their hair and make-up touched up prior to entering.  I couldn't resist -- I had to take a few pictures:

I wonder if the "orbs" in these pictures signify bad lighting or haunted-ness.

Forget to do your hair?  These people can help you.

There were even token students to pose with.

    
Fortunately, I found a couple of equally amused/uncomfortable teachers to "walk the red carpet with" (I'm pretty sure our photo won't be ending up in any magazine).  Once inside, we made our way to the closest drink stand where we were able to laugh at the ridiculousness of everything.  And I have to say that part of our laughter may have stemmed from the fact that we are not, and probably never will be, among the ranks of these people, but I'm pretty confident in saying I am okay with that.

The U.S. ambassador (all of whose children attend the school) was slated to attend and give a speech during dinner.  However, he was for some reason unable to attend and we instead got some other guy, who mostly was making excuses for the ambassador not being there.  Quite frankly, I wasn't really paying much attention to him.  By this time I had had a lot of wine (the waiters kept filling it up), and my table (one of the teacher tables, reserved for those who did not pay to get in) was way off the the side, so we couldn't hear or see much of the action anyway.  Besides endless drinks, dinner consisted of  five courses, all of which were tiny.  This must be how the rich and famous stay so thin.

After dinner, things got a little less classy.  An Elvis impersonator got on the stage to perform and the dance floor opened up.  I saw the most extravagant of people, now more than a little tipsy, of course, make fools of themselves on the dance floor or slouch drunkenly at their dinner table.  It was not pretty.  At one point I made my way over to the smoking lounge where I heard they were pouring out pink champagne (It all sounds so retro!) but that meant  hanging around a lot of men smoking cigars, so I did not stay long.  Shortly after, I found out that two staff members who were heading the same direction as myself were getting a ride from one of the high school teachers (who wanted to make it an early night).  I wasn't quite ready to leave yet, but recognized that it was a very safe and responsible decision to go.

On our way out, we were given a gift bag.  I haven't looked through all the contents yet, but I do know it contains some fancy face cream and tiny bottles of brandy.  What a night.

Potsdam Palaces

So, pretty much every moment I ask myself, "Why did it take me so long to do something like this?"  But I won't worry about that now.  I'm here now and that's all that matters.

Sunday, I took a trip out to Potsdam.  It's this wonderful, old-fashioned village with a huge park that is filled with palaces.  That's right -- palaces.  Apparently Frederick the Great (I can't really tell you for sure which Frederick that was; it seems that nearly every male royal figure in Germany's past was named Frederick) used this town as a summer vacation spot back in the 1700s.  Thus, he built a number of palaces, some for himself, some for family members, and others for visitors.  Seriously, it's basically just a neighborhood of palaces.  Plus this really awesome church (called Peace Church):

Peace Church was a very peaceful place.

There were even real, live swans.

 
I took a tour in a horse-drawn wagon of the area, but the only palace I went inside this time (I will be back) was the Schloss (Palace) Sanssouci.  It was high up on a hill with loads of steps and none of the pictures I took quite did it justice.

See?  It looks so tiny up there.

It's a really cheery shade of yellow.

"Sans souci" -- French for "without care/worries."  Apparently Frederick the Great was obsessed with French culture.

It was good Frederick could be there.  I bet he was telling these nice people all about French stuff.

The place was filled with fancy gold-embellished rooms like this one.

My very favorite was the final room of the tour.  It was a very "naturalistic" style for the time period and incorporated moldings of flowers and animals.

I loved the flower-covered chandelier.

I've really been liking yellow lately.  It's just a nice, happy color.

See the monkey?

Potsdam is one of my new favorite places.  I definitely plan to visit a few more times while I am in Germany, if only just to tour this, the Neue (New) Palais: