Berlin

January 10, 2008

Alex and I had a fantastic time in Berlin. partly because Alex knows the language and the transportation system, hugely because of spending this special together. We saw the sights and met his friends. He is a joy.

Alex took me to a concert at the Berlin Philharmoniker, a stage on which he played during his exchange year, as an invited youth participant under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle.
It is very clear that Berlin and German history are foremost in the minds of the people as individuals and as a society. The Jewish museum was prominently featured, and the architecture evoked as much emotion as the exhibits. It zig zags visitors through vast and unnatural open spaces, using light and dark, voids, echoes, and artifacts to wind through the past 3 centuries of Jewish history.

The Holocaust memorial was similar in that the art evoked emotion with out a specific interpretation or explaination. It is a very difficult and disorienting place to be with the stones off balance, coming in waves. It was a grey, icy day, which made it even more evocative.

Brandenburg gates a focal point of the city, and symbolized the Cold War as it was disected by the wall. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Reagan, and Clinton all made speaches at the Brandenburg Gates on freedom.

Just as stricking was Check Point Charlie, the only crossing point for westerners into East Berlin. Easterners could not leave, nor look through.

Incredibly, ther Berlin was wall constructed during one night, August 13, 1961 to surprise residents of East Berlin to stem their flight. This marked the closing of the borders.

There are remnants of the wall everywhere – be it the actual wall, information boards, stones embedded into the streets to mark where the wall was, or green spaces where the wall was, with paths marking the location of wall itself with trees and plants landscaped around it.

Alex’s host mom, Marianne, is terrific – she and I got along wonderfully. We had tea at her house and dinner out with her husband, Norbert.

Christmas 2007

Alex arrived first and we went to the Christmas markets in Bern and Strasbourg with a detour to locate the Bugatti factory which we did, in the dark, foggy rain!

We attended a Christmas concert in the Chateau de Prangings.

Marty and Lana arrived on Christmas day.

We went to: the Sunday market in France

Mont Blanc

sledding in the Juras

cooking class with Marty and Peyton, a family friend from South Carolina who is studying in Geneva for 3 weeks.

Other fabulous phto opportunites at the Nyon Castle and in the Alps.

PS, Marty is about 3 feet off the ground in this photo! :-)

Chanukah

December 12 2007
Evelyn came over for Chanukah dinner. My new Swiss friend and my new Swiss menorah!

The Escalade, the Festival of 1602.

December 9 2007
When the Duke of Savoy tried to invade Geneva, Madame Royaume saw the ladders on the city wall and threw the cauldron of hot soup she was making for her 14 children out the window onto the invaders. This roused the watchmen and townspeople to defend the city.

Escalade customs include selling vegetable soup in the streets of Geneva during the celebration and chocolate "marmites", a replica of her soup cauldron, filled with marzipan vegetables and decorated with the colors of Geneva.

World Santa Claus Championships

Monday, December 03, 2007,
We had a fabulous weekend in Samnaun, a little ski village near the far eastern border with Austria and Leichtenstein, at the Santa Claus World Championships! It was a fantastic car trip – the scenery was stunning.

We entered the town at the staging area, full of various versions of enthusiastic teams of Santas.

The parade was terrific, lead by a marching Santa band which was quite good, led by the most energetic conductor we have ever seen.

Each team of four Santas had 60 seconds to impress the judges and make themselves memorable with their introductory presentations and costumes. There were postal Santas in their official yellow, Pontiff Santas, female Santas with short skirts, Santas on motor bikes and lots of silly Santas.

There were also some sort of non-competing sheep-goat monsters who seemed to particpate only by growling at teenage males and grabbing teenage females, lifting them over their shoulders or wrestling them to the ground.

Bribes, uh gifts, were given and then points were awarded accordingly.

The official events included chimney climbing, at which, for some reason, the female Santas drew a huge crowd, reindeer racing, donkey running, sledding and creative ways to ski down a mountain.

It was quite a sight to see Santas on skis, sleds, rollerblades, snow boards and dirt bikes coming down the slopes.

These Santas also know how to party. This little ski town is set up perfectly for fun and partying, with outside bars and music, complete with space heaters and old leather chairs covered with lamb skins and wool blankets to make having a beer, a hot spicy red wine called Glutwine, or hot chocolate in the open fresh air so cozy.

Early in the evening it started to snow, making the whole experience even more wonderful. By the time we fell into our warm, soft beds with those amazing Swiss-German down pillows and coverlets, we felt as if we were in a fantasy, which indeed, I think we were.

Our trip back to Nyon was also full of fun. The most direct route included a train ferry through a long tunnel under a huge mountain!

The other side of the mountain put us on a direct path to a thermal spa where we spent the afternoon. Seriously, when we get back to the States, this is an enterprise that merits investigation. Hot, bubbling water in an outside pool with all kinds of jets, currents and water features with the singular purpose of relaxation and tranquility in a stunning setting. Would this work in the middle of corn fields instead of Alps….yet to be determined…

After the spa, we were able to make it to Zurich in time for the “Singing Christmas Tree”, a platform constructed and decorated to allow little children to take their places, as if wiggly, well bundled ornaments to have a concert. The children on stage as well as in the audience were unbearably adorable.

We still haven't been able to figure out who won the Santa competition, but I think we did. There was something for everyone this weekend!