Wednesday, December 1, 2010

December....time for the beauty of Christmas

I just had to post these photographs from Germany........Christmas is so beautiful there.  The top one, I know, is Munich, I don't know where the others are.   I hope these lovely shots get you in the Christmas mood!  I had to post them to welcome in December!  
z

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are lovely Z. They are Christmasy! Thanks.

Pris

cube said...

Beautiful shots. Also beautiful to hear it called Christmas and not a holiday.

Linda said...

Christmas is in the air! Our family all ready celebrated, but I still love the season. Jesus is the reason for the season! As I read somewhere today, Jesus still touches the hearts of people even after 2000 years!

FrogBurger said...

Beautiful. I remember Xmas time in Darmstadt and it was gorgeous.

Z said...

thanks, Pris!

cube...you won't hear HOLIDAY around here....what makes me laugh is HOLIDAY TREE when the only holiday that celebrates with a tree IS Christmas! Man, people go to ALL lengths to avoid, don't they. IMagine, in AMerica?

Linda...He sure does!

FrogBurger, I'm glad you've experienced that, it's breathtaking.

Anonymous said...

Oh Tres Chére Zin;

Toutes mes condoléances, je connais trés bien la souffrance de la perte d'un cher, car, j'en ai perdu plusieurs.

Je souhaite la patience pour vous.

SAM

Z said...

SAM, merci...vous avez raison...La patience est le chose plus important pour moi maintenant...et calme...calme.
il me monque beacoups.....beacoups.
z

est-ce que vous etes encore en France?

Ducky's here said...

I'd say the church is Austrian.

That second shot looks like it might have been taken from the tower in Munich.

FrogBurger said...

Snooze Ducky. Can't you just enjoy the pictures without showing off or brag about how much you know.

Z said...

Ducky, it has an Austrian feel but it's in Germany. And the architecture of the buildings in the middle shot is not Southern Germany at all .The flat 'false' fronts are Scandinavian in feeling so it's most certainly a Northern city in Germany...lovely, isn't it.
I lived in Munich and the Christmas Shopping area isn't like that..it's in the Marienplatz and that's not too huge, though it's very sweet to walk through on a cold night with a potato pancake and a slice of smoked salmon in a little waxed paper bag...and some glug wine, if you like it..i'm not that fond.

For a California girl, there was little bliss that tops my having walked home from my German class in the morning, thru the Marienplatz, only to discover the market was up......on the corner was a wurst stand so I ordered a hot sausage in a lovely warm bun (the sausage is so delicious I don't use mustard there tho I love mustard!)..it just started to snow lightly and I remember thinking I'd never forget that moment and I never have......gorgeous surroundings, a little snow, and DEELicious, simple food.

Susannah said...

Gorgeous! Thanks so much for posting - mission accomplished re: Christmas mood!

Susannah said...

Ok. So now I'm hungry.

It's noon here...time for lunch!

Z said...

Oh, Susannah (wait a minute; did I say that?:-)...OH, SUSANNAH... (music accompaniment, please!?...sorry!! I digress...)

That was SUCH a moment..hot lovely spices in the pork and a roll just firm enough to satisfy Germans (God forbid they should eat soft bread!) but soft enough to bite through.....light snow......Christmas lights shining on the lovely little decorations hanging from all the stalls...oh, my. And you can see little German children with wool caps on and their faces reflecting the lights as they look up at all the sweet, mostly homemade decorations for sale. The whole THING is delicious.
I'm quite sure I can't go to Munich again..that was 'our place', Mr. Z took me there early in our relationship and I have loved it ever since, staying in wonderful hotels, then renting apartments, going to German class, etc...flying in with him holding my hand watching my face at my delight every time we were about to land ...too nice.
But...a little too personal. ENOUGH OF THAT! (of course, I'm always so happy to LAND that he'd have probably seen nearly that same delight flying into Des Moines!\...just kidding, but...not much!)

When you start to lose altitude so you can land in Germany in the Fall, you first see fields and fields of RAPS, the BRIGHT yellow plants (we call it rapeseed)...acres of them planted in fields of different directions so they look like patchwork quilt..it's breathtaking from the air.......and, everywhere, there are little villages spotting the landscape with the requisite church steeple, and town square.......fabulous.

FrogBurger said...

Now I want to eat some bratwurst and drink some hot wine.

Z said...

Oh, and FB..my sis just emailed that she's had CHOCOLATE APRICOTS sent to my Mother's to arrive at Christmastime when SHE arrives from out of town with her family..does that sound delicious, or what?
And I'm not even a big sweets fan!

Ducky's here said...

Well not exactly Froggy. z is curious about the locations and apparently would like to generate a discussion.

The decoration on the church is interesting. It would be very unlikely in northern Germany although it's a possibility in Bavaria.

But without knowing the denomination I thought Austria was most probable.

Z said...

I have to stand corrected, the top one is NOT the Frauenkirche in Munich but it's definitely in Germany, Ducky.
All 3 are...however, the tiny church definitely has more E. European touches...almost more Slavik ...just so sweet.

Z said...

except that, on closer look, the illustrations on the building are not necessarily not German...the application is more unGerman, where they are painted.
The style is pretty straightforward German and could very well be a small church in the country or even a memorial to someone...a kind of burial place type of thing.

FrogBurger said...

Alright Ducky, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and should have given you a break on that one.

Z, this apricot thing sounds yum.

~Leslie said...

Lovely pictures Z!

Ducky's here said...

Ah, Froggy such noblesse oblige.

You ever think about doing stand up?

Ticker said...

The steeple on the church is very typical of the Eastern Orthodox Churches found in East Germany. The fresco's also are very much the style of those found on other Greek(Eastern) Orthodox churches.
Could be wrong as I often am but hey, one guess is as good as another.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

I caught myself humming "Frosty the Snowman" this morning.

Bitten by the Christmas bug... dang it.

Trekkie4Ever said...

Christmas in Germany was pretty special and beautiful. My favorite is the church.

Susannah said...

Beam, as long as it's the Christmas bug & not the hum-bug! ;)

cube said...

Thanks to the idiotic PC movement, there is no end to the physically challenging positions the liberals will contort themselves into just to avoid saying the word Christmas, therefore, I make it a habit to say "Merry Christmas" as often as possible.

I think the pleasure I get from that is akin to the pleasure I derive from ordering from Starbucks. When they ask me if I mean (small, meduium, or large) in their idiotic, euro-mishmash-language, I always say, "Yeah, that's what I said, medium."

Yeah, sometimes I'm easily amused ;-)

Susannah said...

Z, your wonderful story of this memory has inspired my post just now. Come see when you have a moment. And I'll say, it's rather poignant.

You're a LOVE!

cube said...

Thanks to three years of high school French, I was actually able to follow your comments with Sam.

:-)

Anonymous said...

"Bitten by the Christmas bug... dang it."

Ah Beamish, if you have to be bitten, the right bug found you.

Merry Christmas!

Pris

David Wyatt said...

Gorgeous, Z! Thank you so much. Would you like to hear some all-Christian Christmas music with German flavor? It will be playing all of December. Just click the "German Live Stream" at the link below. Or choose any of our other 7 languages. God Bless you Z, & Merry CHRISTmas!

David Wyatt said...

Ooops! Forgot the link!

http://www.bbnradio.org/wcm4/english/Languages/tabid/3257/Default.aspx

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

I'm generally not a "Christmas person."

Some years I am, some years I'm not. This year I am, for some reason.

So, fa la la lala lala, y'all.

Z said...

thanks for the link ,David, I'll look forward to that.

Beamish..fa la la to you, too :-)

Chuck said...

They are great.

I live within driving distance of Frankenmuth, MI and we get there on a fairly regular basis. Not quite this nice but it holds it's own.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous pictures, Z.
I'd SO love to go there, especially this time of year.

And your description of the food made me feel like I was THERE!

Z said...

thanks, Jen. I've wanted to, and been encourage to, do a book about these experiences but you need to BE somebody to get published..who cares what I think, right!? :-)

Ticker said...

thanks, Jen. I've wanted to, and been encourage to, do a book about these experiences but you need to BE somebody to get published..who cares what I think, right!? :-)

Then do the book and contact this company. They are VERY reasonable and will work with you to make sure that the editing is exact.

http://www.thelauruscompany.com/

Don't guess a little advertising for the "better half" is unacceptable is it?

She got tired of seeing new authors getting ripped off by publishing companies and formed her own. she has been in the business for over 30 years doing editing, graphics and such and decided to branch out into publishing. She knows her way around the business.

Thanks for letting me put in a plug. Oh and do contact her. The information is on the Website.

Anonymous said...

ohmygosh Z!
I can just see me reading your book and then hoarding my money to start traveling. (and that would NOT be a bad thing!! ;-)

Nothing motivates me to experience life like reading or hearing about someone else's adventures.

Susannah said...

Ticker~ Great tip on the website! I'm on the Board of my local writer's group, & I'm gonna keep this handy -- for future reference. And yes, Z, you should put together your thoughts, memories, advice, enticements on your travels & experiences. What a great read that would be!! :)

Z said...

thanks, Ticker, I just looked and it's very interesting.
Nancy Williams was my best friend's name, by the way.

I need to start writing and might, seriously and with dedication, in January. Everyone who reads snippets of my stuff says "I was right there with you" and I think that's a good thing......let's see what happens.
I noticed the Christian aspect to the company and wouldn't mind throwing some of that in my book, too (Oops, almost mentioned the title!)...
thanks so much...I have to go tell Blogger Leslie about the company...she's a good novelist!