Räuchermann are German Smokers, figurines that you place incense in and then the smoke comes out of the figure, in this case, Santa's mouth where a pipe hangs from. I got this beautiful one in the medieval town of Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber. This type of crafting is from the same area of Germany that created Nutcrackers, Christmas Pyramids, and Schwibbögen. Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.
We had been traveling for hours in the cold. Over 4 hours to be exact. On trains, and metros, and taxis. We wanted to get into our comfy rented apartment and crash before heading back out to Munich's Christmas Markets. But it was December 23rd in Germany, and most everything would be closed for a few days over Christmas. So we dropped our bags at the entrance and went off in search of food and supplies. After getting plenty of provisions, we were ready to climb the 4 flights of marble stairs (luggage in tow). However, our German housekeeper was...quite
Walking around Rothenburg ob der Tauber I kept seeing these snowball-sized round balls. They are called Schneeball (Snowball) and are a local creation. It is pie dough wrapped into a ball, deep fried, and traditionally covered in powdered sugar. As you can see, many different varieties are now sold! Try one if you find yourself in Rothenburg!
Today is the first snow in Colorado. I prefer to be warm over fashionable in winter. That means lots of layers and completely bundled up. The above photo was my look for Germany in 2011. But the further back I go I see more examples. For example, I sported this stunning blue look in Venice 2005. To be fair it was running and snowing on NYE, and so it was especially cold. However, my mother is always fabulously dressed, so I wonder where I get this... Oh yeah from Dad! He looked even more intimidating at night with his hood on. Also
Traveling in winter can be tough. The gardens of the summer Linderhof Palace were especially frozen in December. This hedge wall was covered in frost, and looked glistened in the light. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.
On December 23rd, 2011 I was with my family, enjoying the last evening of the Christmas Markets of Munich. This year we had decided not to buy each family member a present, but instead this year we'd do a "Secret Santa" where we would pull a person's name out of a hat, and only buy them a gift. However, that person couldn't know who was their "Santa". This secretiveness, combined with just the amazing sights of a real German Christmas Market, meant I was especially distracted and awestruck. Throughout the night I did fall behind, or dart around to another
We'll continue our Travel Missteps series in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of the best preserved Medieval towns in Germany. While this town is primarily touristy, it was beautiful decorated and thankfully deserted for the holidays when I was there in December 2011. Me posing with the Night Watchman. One of the key attractions is taking a "Night Watchman Tour" ( 7 EUR) to learn this history of the town. We had planned on doing this on the first night we got there, but as what commonly happens, we were too tired and so kept putting this tour off until the
Travel is all about the journey and sometimes that journey is unexpected. In December 2011 I was traveling through Germany with my family. I am the navigator in my family, it is my duty to plan out all methods of travel to make sure we get where we need to go. After spending Christmas in Munich we were making our way to the Medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber by train. Our first train was packed and so we had to spread out. My mother sat next to an old German woman who spoke quick German to my very confused
A decorated Christmas Tree in Munich. A little large for what I was looking for. My little sister had been teaching in Kenya, so the family decided to meet "halfway" in Germany for Christmas 2011. I felt like Kevin McCallister in the "Home Alone" movies, worried we wouldn't have a real Christmas tree. So I had researched ahead of time where to get a little Christmas tree and Odeonsplatz in Munich was recommended on a ex-pat forum. The key issue with this plan is we were staying two U-Bahn stops away from Odeonsplatz, which would make for an interesting subway ride if