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!!

Konzert in Ladenburg, Uno Extreme, and A Whole Lot of Pink

Sabine, Connie (Sabine's mother), Lukas, Sophia, and I went to an absolutely beautiful "smaller" town, for a concert, called Ladenburg. The city was full of old buildings, I don't think that we actually even saw a newer building at all. Very lovely and just waiting to have pictures taken of it!

This is the church that the concert was in.

That's Sabine and Connie.

As I stated, a few times, above, we were there for a concert; what a concert it was too!!! It featured the Corelli-Ensemble from Ladenburg/Mannheim and had a guest soloist Caroline Adomeit on the violin.
Here is the program:
Concerto grosso op. 6 No. 10 D-minor                                                         G. F. Handel
Konzert for Violin and Orchestra in D-Major                                               W. A. Mozart
                                                                       Pause
Konzert for Violin and Chamber Orchestra in D-minor                                F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy
"The Lark Ascending" for Violin and Chamber Orchestra                           Ralph Vaughan Williams
"La Ronde des Lutins" for Violin and Chamber Orchestra                          Antonio Bazzini

Okay, I love Uno just as much as the next person and truly it is one of the best games on the face of the Earth (other than Settlers of Catan), but when you start adding technology to it.... Let me just tell you the story. So, Sabine, Lukas, Sophia, and me were talking about playing, of course I got excited, then they got the game out and they have this little robot thing that you put the cards in as you go. Now, I should probably state that before we start, everyone must record their name into the robot that way when it yells at you to do something you know who it is talking to. WELL, of course this game is in German, which slowly but surely is becoming better for me, and therefore, I had no idea what it was screaming. That is until I see everyone running up the stairs and back down again, I now know what it was saying. After about four rounds including one where I had nothing other than red cards (picture below), we decided to call it quits because everyone beginning to sweat a bit.

I never thought that I would ever touch a Barbie ever again in my lifetime because by the time I have kids Barbies will more than likely be extinct. Anywho! Sophia and I played with her Barbies for a good hour and half one day after she had come home from school and finished her homework. She has some pretty cool Barbie cars, not going to lie! I never thought that I would see a smaller car than that of the Fiat 500, that was until I saw Sophia's Barbie Fiat 500, which was pink. Sabine and Sophia both love pink. It's always fun to go shopping with them. I'm not the biggest fan of pink, but then again it is starting to grow on me. Only a few more years and i'll own something of the colour. Until then, I'll teach Barbies to drive safely.

"Click it or Ticket"

I'm pretty good at parrelle parking, no biggy.

Later!!!! Bis dann!

"I'm Never Eating Again"

As some of you might know there is a holiday similar to Thanksgiving in Germany, but it isn't anything like a real whole family meeting for Thanksgiving and having all the food you could possibly ever want! Which is made with love and years of experience. Well, Germany had a Thanksgiving this year, or at least one family. I was in the kitchen for the entire day cooking and it was so much fun. I did, however, state at one point about always having plenty of time and then saving the "little things" for the end and then everything blows up and the people start coming, you're not finished and then they ask if they can help and you end up with a run-on sentence and an unfinished meal! BUT everything got done and it all tasted amazing. The menu for the evening was as follows:

• One Brown Sugar and Honey Glazed Ham
• Mama's Mashed Potatoes
• Ruby's Sweet Corn (My great grandmothers recipe.)
• Very Easy Mac n' Cheesy 
• Bread rolls
• Pumpkin Pie (My first time doing everything from scratch, not my best pie, but it was good.)
• Shirley Ann's 'Nanner Puddin' (For those non-country folk it translates to Banana Pudding.)

There was also homemade apple cider for the kids and a nice apple cider sangria for the adults!

The following day was the day that we all said goodbye to Stefan. I know what you're thinking, my cooking wasn't THAT bad! Stefan is currently in Australia doing another production of Wagner's Ring Cycle as, you guessed it, Siegfried! In Melbourne to be exact. It was sad and we all miss him, but he said he was liking it okay aside from a few odd directors directions.

Bis Spätter!

Mannheim, Water Towers, and Pumpkin Spice Lattes

Keeping up with a blog is a little more difficult than I thought it was going to be. There are a million things that I would love to post, sadly I just can't think of words for them. But I am trying and I hope that all of you are hanging in there with me! So here goes!

York and Paris all at the same time. If you don't know, Mannheim was bombed in WWII and most of the historical architecture was destroyed. There are a few buildings that are still standing and in the middle of the city stands a water tower..... Think about an American water tower..... now think of a castle tower. Take the castle tower and put water in it and there you have it! This was by far the most beautiful devise for holding water that I have ever seen, and I had a Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass whiskey glass....it broke, we won't talk about it. (Still makes me want to cry.)

This is the water tower!

This is drinking water. Coolest thing ever!

These were absolutely beautiful vine covered walkways next to the water tower.

I was on the water tower. You can walk around it. Gorgeous fountain. 

And now for something completely different...

I don't know how many reading this post know how much I like a good cup of Joe, but you better bet your bottom dollar that you will by the time you've finished reading!!! Upon hearing about the opportunity to have a day in Mannheim, what did I do? Looked up if there was a Starbucks! I was very glad to see that they did, and very sad when I didn't write down where it was. I don't know who the genius is that decided to put coffee and pumpkin together, but whoever it is, God Bless them for being such angles. Now, the closest Starbuck to me right now is 45 minutes drive away. I went from living in a college town where I could walk to Starbucks and get back to class on time. I love the holiday drinks there, and like to get one of each every year...I am a gold card holder if that tells you anything.

Pumpkin spice latte with a blueberry cheesecake muffin.

Apfelrollen with a coffee. I swear I'm not addicted.... That's all for now. More to come this week! Wednesday is a big day!!! Wish me luck!

Bis bald!

Forgotten photos and Adventures Out the Whazoo!

Alright folks! Here are the pictures that I promised in the last post and forgot to post!
 The following are very random but I will do my best!

Stefan, the birthday boy! We had a tour through the city. It was awesome!

FUN FACT: Carl Marx was married in this church!

That's a cannon ball....

This is the church that Sabine and Stefan were married in! 

The following are from a different time, not the tour.

Chari will just lay on my feet if I stand somewhere for too long.... Jut thought you ought to know because it's absolutely adorable!

This is from the concert! Stefan walked in at the right time... This is the church.

I got excited that I was really dressed up and decided to have my own photo op when no one was looking.

The next ones are from a trip that we took to a historical village that is similar to Cade's Cove (for those of you who know) or like colonial Williamsburg.

Lukas and Alex, an exchange student from London.

Almost caught up! Promise!!!! Next up is my very first big production opera! Wagner's Flying Dutchman!

This was the view from my BOXSEAT!!!! How Stefan landed these tickets I will meet know, but it was great!

I will be posting a desperate blog for Mannheim. Coming shortly. So shortly that you shouldn't even blink. Keep breathing, just don't blink.