Forgotten Heidelberg

You probably thought that from the title, this post would bring some sort of new insight on some lost treasure or other, and it is! Well, to me anyway. This post was supposed to be published back in October, but somehow it got saved and overlooked. There isn't really a treasure, I am sorry. The treasure was my finding of the post. Here you are.

My first trip to Heidelberg! One of the most beautiful cities that I have seen and one of the most amazing castles!!! It is a bit of a hike to the top, you can however, take a small train type transportation to the top. I decided to take the hike and I am so glad that I did. It was beautiful! It's just in the midst of the Fall season! The leaves are full of colour and laying all over the ground! I could write about it all day, but I will just leave you with the fact that if you're ever in Germany, you really need to make it one of your stops! This city is huge, and has every shop you could ever want when it comes to holiday shopping! I think I even managed to see a Pizza Hut and a Subway somewhere in there. Who would have thought? I believe that I managed to buy quite a few things including the first of the Harry Potter books in German, a new calendar, some Christmas presents, and a new watch! I think my favourite part of all of it were most definitely the castle and the cathedral. Now on to the castle!!!!

Well worth the hike up there I think! Ta ta for now! Bis dann.

Stille Nacht

I hope that you all had as good a holiday season as I did! Having Christmas and New Years in another country was a little scary, but there is so much going on all the time that it took my mind off of it a bit. Being away from my family is alway a hard thing to take in, but during the holiday season, it was even more difficult. I do,however, have the privilege of living in the always fabulous technology age and can see my family through facetime and skype quite often, so it made the season a bit better. As you may have seen from my previous post about Christmas markets here in Germany there was plenty for me to do this season!

I cannot believe that I am living in another country! I do believe that during this season it is just now dawning on me. As a Christmas gift from my host parents I was given a 2 way flight to England. I had discussed wanting to go at the end of January and told them the dates, and as my gift they bought the tickets! How completely amazing is that?! I got two homemade blankets, a huge puzzle (that I finished in 6 days), a new jacket, a very pretty candle, and oh did I mention that the gift to my mother and myself from my father was that my mother gets to come over here for two weeks? Yeah, completely out of this world! I am pretty sure that we already have the majority of the trip planned. We are going to be in Germany, Paris, Scotland, and Ireland in those two weeks and I could not be more excited!!!! (You'll notice the four exclamation points, one for each country.) I also got the conformation that my friend Lacey will be coming here in March and we are going to make a round trip of Germany! (I am never allowed to complain about wanting to travel again.)

Anywho, back to Christmas!

During the month of December there were many people in and out of the house, including Stefan coming back from Australia! I decided to throw a small party for Sophia and a few of the friends that she chose to come. What did we do? We, and by we I mean they, built gingerbread houses! It was a blast! Each of them made at least three small houses, and ate half the decorations, had a small break between and came back for more. I will most definitely be doing this again in the future. This was also my first Advent. I am not Catholic like my host family, I am Christian, just not Catholic. I thought it was really cool to be able to see two different religions in two different places. Going to the Church mass, where I also found out that Stefan is an extremely talented organ player as well singer and pianist, was an exciting moment in my life and I will never forget it. Ending the service with "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night), just like my university ensemble directer said that he had experienced when he was stationed in Germany. I cried... It was absolutely beautiful! I cannot wait to experience more of this world and the many different customs that it holds.

Just after Christmas we took a trip around to some of the nearby cathedrals to see the nativities that they had displayed. Now, surprisingly enough, I seem to not have any pictures of what we actually went for, but I do have plenty more!

There was also a time just after Christmas when our power went out for over four hours and I have never had a more beautiful night! Sabine had a friend over that night (one of the loveliest women I have ever had the joy of meeting!) whilst she was on her way back to Holland. We lit over 60 candles that night and just sat around reading stories and drinking red wine. It was absolutely wonderful!

Well, not to cut Christmas short, but I would like to add in a bit about New Years. I cannot even begin to try to explain a German New Years Celebration, but I can tell you that it is something similar so America's Independence Day. I met many new people (I am still freaking out a bit because there is an American family currently here and the wife is an Opera singer with the Met, I live with Stefan one of the worlds best Tenors, there was a friend of Sabine here from Holland who is also a Soprano, and I met an opera/theatre director on New Years. The oddest part of all of it is that I get to call these people by their first names!!! Only freaking out a little.) in the span of just a few weeks! Life is just so magical sometimes! (This is how you cool beer in Germany.)

(My first ever taste of mead!! Very good!) Hope that your new year is going well and all your days were merry and bright before that! Until later. Bis dann. Bis später!

Christmas Markets

I know there have been a few people breathing down my neck trying to get me to post some pictures from the Christmas season. Well, here you are! I got to stop by about six Christmas markets this season, and I am already excited for next Christmas. (I would love to come back, don't know if possible, but eventually.) As for now, I will write this post and share what I've seen with you! (Sorry that some of the pictures aren't the best quality, but they were taken with an iPhone in one hand and, more than likely, a crepe in the other.)

The first stop for Christmas markets was Bad Kreuznach! It is the city in which I am currently living and a friend of mine here was bored one day, so we thought we would go into the city. We did not know that the market was already up and running and decided to stop by when we saw it. This was the sign that gave us the hint of there being a Christmas market.

NOW! At these wonderful little hoedowns there are so many different booths! Some of them sell food, some of them sell clothes, and some sell just about the most random things you could think of! My favourites were the booths that had all of the wooden handmade items!

The second stop I made was just down the road in the village that I live in! It was small but still very festive!

Third stop was made in Wiesbaden! One of the largest that I got to see other than Heidelberg. The market as a whole took up about four or five blocks of space. There was a concert going on, a huge carousel, great smells from every direction, and just about every type of gift you could ever think of getting for someone.

Forth stop was in Mainz! Now before coming to this market, I had never been to Mainz. I ended up driving there alone, in the dark, and by myself. Needless to say I got lost. It wasn't the first time that the cars GPS had led me astray, but thank God I have a phone with a GPS! I looked up the market on the internet, searched for a parking house near the market, and started driving. I found the parking house, but still had no idea which way to walk to find the market. If you're ever in a large city alone after dark always look for the large main roads!!! They will literally save your life! Long story short, I managed to walk in the right direction and find the market. It was just outside the most beautiful cathedral that I have seen in Germany so far! (I said this to my host family and they replied with the fact that I have yet to be to Koln.)

Fifth on the list is Rudesheim! Just a ferry ride away from Bingen am Rhein! If you're a fellow musician like me then you will join me in the fact that I still get happy when going to Bingen, not only because it is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful there, but also because of Hildegard von Bingen! Speaking of Bingen, I promise to return to number six, but because we are already in the area, I'll just tell you that I did in fact stop by the Bingen's Christmas market, but I was shopping at the time and had no free hands for pictures.

And as promised, my number six...... Heidelberg! One of my favourite cities visited thus far! Words cannot express how beautiful it was, so I will let my pictures (no matter how poorly taken) show you! There is also a lovely drink that is sold at all of these shindigs called "Gluhwein"! It is similar to a mulled wine and is absolutely perfect for walking around in the cold weather! The wine is served in a cup that has something to do with the city in which the market is being held, it has the name of the city, and of course, something Christmassy! I tried to get a cup from each of the markets even if I did not have the wine (not a very good idea when you've to drive back home), and I have a very cute collection of three cups!

Those are my markets but I promise a second post on Christmas and New Years! Bis Dann!!