27 November 2010 - Beginning of Advent

("A Few of My Favorite Things" - I prefer the version by Yo-Yo Ma and friends on his "Songs of Joy and Peace" album)

I had thought that at some point in time I had posted a bit about some of the Christmas traditions in Germany. But there are very few postings in December on the blog and none scream out at me about Christmas, so at the risk of being redundant, here goes....

There are a few things about a German Christmas (Weihnacht) that differ from the traditions in the US, so let me explain them briefly.

Greetings

There is no option for being politically correct. It is the Christmas and New Year's season, not "the holidays." More specifically, there isn't a generic "Happy Holidays" greeting. It's basically only "Merry Christmas." I learned this the first year I was looking at the cards from the firm. The options were "Merry Christmas" cards or the same in German ("Frohe Weihnachten"). When I asked if there was a neutral version as I was sending some cards to client who I either knew were Jewish or I wasn't certain or their religion so I wanted to be safe, I was met with a "deer in the headlights" kind of look. Okay, guess not.... So I ended up sending out the German version and plead ignorance, hoping that the American on the receiving end either wasn't Jewish and/or didn't understand German. If you're looking for a Kwanza card, forget about it.

On a related note, while companies send out "Christmas" cards, there doesn't seem to be the same industry around people sending cards to their families and friends, at least not to the same extent as in the US. In the US, of course, you buy cards by the box and only someone very, very special would get a special Christmas card you hand-picked for him or her. Here, it's mostly just one-off cards and inexpensive they are not!

One other note on greetings, generally. While in the U.S. we would usually say simply, "Happy New Year" or something like that, there is a different/additional phrase in German, "einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr" or, roughly, a good slide into the new year.

Adventskranz

Before some of you start wondering, this has nothing to do with being an Adventist. On the contrary, this delightful tradition is more closely with the Catholic faith or the Lutherans. It is generally a wreath that has four candles. The first candle is lit on the first Sunday of Advent and then you light the first and the second for the second week and so on. In some cases, there is a fifth "Christ" candle that is lit on Christmas. There are also variations on what the color of the candles are. There is more information (Wikipedia is ever helpful), but I had just never seen these before, but here you see them not only in churches but also homes and businesses. So this year I bought my own wreath, pimped it out with some evergreen pieces, stuck in some candle bases and now have a "sustainable" Adventskranz that I can take to the US with me and continue the tradition. (That's what you see in the photo....)

Weihnachtsmarkt

By far, my favorite thing in Germany during the holidays (sorry - old, politically correct habits die hard) is the Christmas market (Weihnachtsmarkt). Most sizable cities (and even many small towns) have them, running from roughly around the first weekend of Advent until a day or two until Christmas itself. One of the best known such markets is in Nürnberg, but there are many other great ones (not surprisingly, I am partial to Frankfurt's market) and I am hoping to do a tour of them this year if my schedule works out. So what's the big deal? Everything. First, they are just crowded with people of good cheer. Second, it's usually cold outside, so you warm up with a mug of Glühwein (mulled wine, though there is a non-alcoholic version available also), served in real ceramic mugs with a low deposit that makes snatching those with the name/year of the market very tempting. There are also plenty of other great things to eat, like Flammkuchen (kind of like thin crust pizza, but with a cream sauce instead of tomato), roasted nuts and Lebkuchen (soft gingerbread with a light chocolate coating) and many other goodies.

There is nothing like a Weihnachtsmarkt. Nothing! But if you want to get a taste of it and have the good fortune of living in Chicago, visit the Christkindlmarkt, which is based on the concept of a Weihnachtsmarkt, features some German vendors, is sponsored by Lufthansa (natürlich!) serves currywurst (!!!!) and also has significant input/participation from Nürnberg itself. Highly, highly recommend it. It's located at the Daley Center and the website is even bilingual. Love it!

A weekend in Zurich - November 2011

I headed to Zürich this past weekend as part of a friend's destination birthday celebration. She had lived there for more than a decade and visits frequently, so itwas like being shown around the town by a local. At least I am quite sure that as a non-local I would have missed
two of the primary events we caught.

The first event is the Neue Räume event, which is a sort of an interior design and furniture show. I say "sort of" as all the information (see www.neueraeume.ch) is in German and I am so clueless on these types of things I wouldn't know the proper terminology if it hit me in the face. It's just not something I spend much time thinking about, which is apparently painfully evident to those who have visited my various homes over the years. (But for one brief week or two before I had to pack up for my move to Germany, my place in Chicago was pretty amazing - after I finally enlisted the assistance of a professional. See the pictures here of the transformation pics for a den, loft and great room and you'll see why I needed help!

http://www.creativehavenbymichele.com/gallery_new.html ).

Anyway, the Neue Räume event was in a former ABB factory building near the Oerlikon train and tram station. The stark concrete and metal and high ceilings provided a nice contrast against the items that were on display. There was an interesting combination of furniture, lighting, floor coverings, kitchen and baths. None of the exhibits were particularly large and they didn't really seem to flow together, but perhaps that is some of the charm. And because most had quite modern tables and things, it was hard to determine whether the furniture was the point or if they were the platform for something else entirely.

I have to admit that I was a bit surprised that there weren't more "green" offerings. Perhaps if you can afford this stuff you would have no desire to save the earth and use recycled materials and the like. For example, one of the vendors was focused on admittedly interesting wooden tables and chairs fashioned out of whole pieces of wood that could only come from a really big (read: "old") tree. Another was all about leather flooring. Really?

The second interesting event was Expovina (see http

://www.expovina.ch/neu/index.php?page=Willkommen-Expovina). Or if you ask the locals about the "wine boats" that may be even more readily recognized. Essentially, about a dozen boats that offer cruises on Lake Zurich during the summer months are pressed into service at the pier for about 10 days in autumn.

A CHF 20 tickets gains you admittance to all of the ships as well as a well-organized catalog of the over 120 wine vendors on site. The vendors were primarily importer and distributors, but there were also apparently a

limited number of producers. Each of the identically sized booths in turn offers numerous wines, all free for the tasting. (There were also some food vendors, including fondue and raclette, but the food there was an additional charge. If you are not familiar with raclette, let me know and I might devote a posting about that - it's THAT GOOD!)

So how do you approach this? An American colleague of mine who is based in Switzerland recommended choosing one weapon and sticking with it (e.g. Spanish reds, German whites, champagne, ice wine). Seemed like a sensible strategy and significantly helped focus the plan of attack. What I also learned from the birthday friend who is quite the wine connoisseur was that most of the vendors had more wine than what they put in the

catalog. So if you showed some knowledge of wine, they would pull out some other things they were holding back (primarily because some people would just show up and demand to taste the most expensive wine on the list). So these under-the-counter wines were often on a second list. But in some cases, such as what we encountered with a CHF 98 bottle of Canadian red (who knew?! - Le Veiux Pin 2007 Merlot Reserve from British Columbia for those wondering), the truly special bottles aren't even on the second list, but are things they "write in" on your order form. Fascinating. Overall, a really interesting experience, though I might recommend going with someone who really knows wine so that you can enjoy the under-the-counter wines! But all that said, sometimes the judging-the-book-by-the-cover or wine-by-the-label method also works as El Tractor with its picture of a tractor was easily my favorite.

On a related note, if you do enjoy wine and good food, I would highly recommend a visit to Caduff's Wine Loft (www.wineloft.ch). In addition to tasty staples throughout the year (their vegetarian ravioli are lovely) they have seaso

nal specials, such as the venison four or five course menus during this trip. But the best part is that after you order, you get to go down into their wine cellar to choose your wine. When you enter, you are nearly transported to somewhere else entirely as it is primarily lit by candles adding a romantic atmosphere to the experience. You can also organize wine tastings down there, which I think would be quite fun.

The third noteworthy event (that I think I might have happened upon, even as a non-local) was the Miro, Monet and Matisse exhibit in the Nahmad Collection of the Kunsthaus Zürich. Apparently the Nahmad family had their own collection in addition to being art dealers, but it really is quite amazing. While the M, M & M exhibit was interesting, I was amazed at the number of Picasso's (easily more than 15 on display and many more in the collection based on the catalog) works there. Highly recommend a visit to all who are in the area. You can buy a pass just to the Nahmad Collection and the audio guide is included.