14 11, 2015

The History of the Christmas Nutcracker

By |November 14th, 2015|Categories: Buying Guide, History, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Nutcrackers at a German Christmas Market. Nutcrackers in some form have been around since ancient times. However, they were much different in design and from from what we consider the Christmas Nutcracker. Those didn’t appear until the mid 1700's when many Germany mines had shut down and the workers had to figure out other sources of income. They turned to the abundant forests and their woodworking skills to craft dolls, toys, Christmas Pyramids, angels, and nutcrackers. The first nutcrackers were made to look like authority figures such as kings or soldiers. These “nut cracking” officials symbolized the

21 09, 2015

Museum Monday: Fayum Portrait of a Young Woman

By |September 21st, 2015|Categories: History, Museums, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Städtische Galerie Liebieghaus in Frankfurt, Germany doesn't just have statues, it also has a few beautiful Fayum Portraits. These portraits were often painted during life on wood, and were placed over the mummy upon death. Portrait of a young woman Read more about Fayum Portraits here. Museum Monday is an every other week series about museum news, objects, and reviews.

15 06, 2015

Museum Monday: Athena

By |June 15th, 2015|Categories: History, Museums, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Today's feature comes from Städtische Galerie Liebieghaus in Frankfurt, Germany. It is a statue of Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom. I was struck by the detail the folds of her dress and her helmet. This ancient greek statue would have been painted. Athena goddess of wisdom and war. Close up on the detail of her helmet. Museum Monday is an every other week series about museum news, objects, and reviews.

23 12, 2013

Travel Missteps: Lost for Christmas

By |December 23rd, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

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

8 07, 2013

Travel Missteps: Go to Hell!

By |July 8th, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

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

21 01, 2013

Travel Missteps: Punks on a Train

By |January 21st, 2013|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

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

24 12, 2012

Travel Missteps: A Grave Christmas Tree Mistake

By |December 24th, 2012|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

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