Marc Chagall, Old Rome, Dinner

Here is a fun day in Nice: we went to the Marc Chagall (one of my favorite artists), some Roman ruins, and dinner at a place called Pelican's. And I wore Amy's hat.


















Amy in the ruins. 




















Israelites crossing the Red Sea, Amy, burning bush, Moses. 

My favorite (part of a series of Song of Solomon illustrations)

Dinner.

Don't give me any of your attitude, Comrade

Hi, folks. We're still in Nice. The temperature has been 50F or warmer the past couple days! Ok, so it's not ideal weather for keeping perishable food items refrigerated on our balcony. But for everything else, it's great!

Yes, we are just oozing with charm and sophistication. Amy freestyles it with our favorite mannequin; I always like to put on my best manners when dining in public. It keeps me from looking ridiculous...

Nothing says Russia like a palm tree.
It seems that many wealthy Russian families liked to winter in Nice in the late 1800s. To provide for thier spiritual well-being, Czar Nicholas I's widow said, "Here, let me give you some land to build a church on. How about the spot where my house is sitting?" Czar Nicholas II gave the cathedral to the Nice Russians in 1912, but maybe he should have stayed a little longer?

Nice to see you

Guess who came to visit me for Christmas?! Yep, it's Amy!
Guess where we are? Nice, France!

Quick Survey (multiple choice; please select most applicable response):
Question 1
Have you secretly been fearing that the blog will hit a bland slump following the departure of Mom?
a) Yes
b) Emphatically yes
c) That was your mom? I thought it was Joan Baez! Um...yes.
d) yer mom

Question 2
Upon hearing that Amy has entered the scene, did you think that this blog will become 82% more interesting?
a) Yes
b) Emphatically yes
c) I really don't give your blog that much thought, Morey.
d) Who is Amy? Who are you? Shoot, wrong blog.

For those of you funsters who answered a) or b) for that last question, let me just say that I still have full control over the contents of this blog, as evidenced by Amy's squashed attempt to post a picture of bird poop earlier this evening. Ha. So don't get too excited.

We did, however manage to agree on a few photos for your viewing pleasure. Hope everybody had a Merry Christmas!











Christmas dinner at La Lorraine: Beef carpaccio and "French hot chocolate," there ya go.



















An evening on the Ferris wheel
















Amy, the moon...so close.


























Nice's pebbly beach: Moreys in the water


















Fisherman in the sunset, Nice beach

Christmas is for kids

Making trumpets with the Christmas lanterns, Dinklsbuhl.












 Getting ready to sing at the Christkindlesmarkt, Nurnberg.




















Department store window display, Munich.










Trio, Ludwigsburg.
























Santa with a little friend and his latern, Dinklsbuhl.

A few days in Munich

Reasons I like Munich:
1. Alte Pinakothek art museum
2. Deutsche Museum (really cool space exploration exhibit)
3. Mini doughnut stand outside of the train station

And many other reasons, not the least of which are the atmosphere in the "Old Town," and the fun beer hall restaurants.

I was in Munich a few years ago with my college orchestra and had a good time, so I decided to take a few days before leaving Southern Germany and see what the city looks like this year. Still cool.









Night tree on Neuhauser Strasse.

With a little help from our friends

My parents have friends near Stuttgart from their glory days in Germany. They have come to visit Montana a few times, and this will make our second visit to them in Stuttgart. Claudia put Mom and I up in her apartment and took us to several Christmas markets (now that's friendship). She even helped us harass the airlines when Mom's luggage got lost! Axel, ever the font of knowledge for where to eat and buy things in Germany, took us to lunch, dinner, coffee, and walked through downtown Stuttgart with us. In the rain.
To all our German Freunden: we had such a good time, Vielen Dank!

Tea and cookies with Claudia and her mom.

Mom and Claudia on a mission to Ludwigsburg

Dinner at Claudia's (Claudia, Uli, Moritz, Cora, Mom)

Coffee with Axel in downtown Stuttgart

We faced the galloping hordes.

Well folks, suffice it to say that Mom and I went to a lot of Christmas markets. I think in total we hit eight of them, nine if you count that we went to the Stuttgart market twice.
One Christmas market phenomenon that warrants a little explanation is gluhwein. Gluhwein is mulled wine, and every market has about 0.5 gluhwein stands for every shopper. When you buy gluhwein there is a "cup deposit" included in the price because it is served in a fun, decorative mug. If you return the mug after you finish your wine, you get the deposit back (usually a couple dollars). If not, well, you have yourself a mug. Interesting tidbit: each Christmas market has their own mug design, therefore the mugs are...*gulp*...collectible. Also, they are travel-friendly. Someone I know recently hauled a whole suitcase of them through customs, no questions asked.

It got a little crowded at the Bad Wimpfen market; Mom had to hold up her wurst sandwhich to preserve its integrity.

Mom and me drinking mead. Ok, it's not gluhwein but we still got the cup.

Dramatic moment leaving the Stuttgart market (the last market we went to): "Mom, it's your last chance for shopping!"

Angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold

My favorite Christmas lights so far were the ones at the Ludwigsburg market. Huge gold angels were everywhere. Not your everyday gaudy angels with glitter. These were elegant, God-y angels with glittery lights. Our friend in Stuttgart, Claudia, took Mom and me to Ludwigsburg for a little evening stroll punctuated by flamkuchen, gluhwein, and me taking pictures of the angels.
















above: angel in lights; right: Ludwigsburg-the general effect

Next Stop: Nurnberg

Once upon a time in the 70s, Neil Young...
No, just kidding! This post isn't about Neil, it's about that other great cultural icon from the 70s... my mom!
You see, back in The Day, Mom visited the Christkindlesmarkt in Nurnberg and bought a load of neat-o Christmas ornaments that would be admired by her female offspring for years to come. (P.S. According to Mom, she was not dressed appropriately for outdoor Christmas market shopping and remembers being quite cold. I'm sure we can all learn a lesson from this).

Anyway, now it's 2006, it's the Holiday Season, Mom and I are in Germany, and so we had no choice but to take a little nostalgic trip to Nurnberg and make sure the right kinds of ornaments are still being sold. Our mission was three-fold: buy cute wooden angels, consume lebkucken and gluhwein, wear weather-appropriate attire.

Mom: She hath returned.

We were lucky (a.k.a. crafty) enough to hit Nurnberg on the day that the market started. There is an opening ceremony of sorts after dark when the Christkind appears to the crowd and declares the market open. Chirstkind actually literally translates as "Chirst Child," but the Nurnberg Christkind is actually a teenage female angel. Go figure. The event takes place in front of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). First, they turn off all the outdoor lights; there's a bit of narration, and a children's choir sings...

And then...tada! The Chirstkind appears in a blaze of light up on a balcony of the Frauenkirche, surrounded by two angel attendants and a brass band! And the kids siiiiiing their little hearts out.



Then the Christkind makes a speech, reciting a traditional poem that welcomes everyone to the market. And she spreads her arms/wings for dramatic effect. And the kids sing some more. And lots of people in the crowd get tears frozen to their cheeks.

And lo, there appeared before two Moreys a few of the heavenly host, some chilly kids, and some German trumpeters, praising God and saying, "Go shopping!"

Dinklsbuhl

Dinklsbuhl was the first Christmas market that Mom and I hit. Although small, Dinklsbuhl has several claims to fame. Besides being cute, having a really well-preserved medieval wall, and serving me and Mom mulled wine, it is also the city where the Christmas carol O Come Little Children was written.
At the start of Advent, the little kids in Dinklsbuhl gather outside the church with paper laterns. They sing O Come Little Children and then parade to the Christmas market with their laterns, following Santa (St. Nikolaus) and two of his elves (riding on ponies-cool!). When they get to the market, the mayor of the town makes a speech, Santa makes a speech, and then the kids get to turn in "good behavior slips" that they get in school in exchange for a treat from Santa.

Heading North

Following my four week fest of all things Italian, I headed up to Innsbruk, Austria where I participated in mountain-gazing, Christmas-market-strolling, and cake-for-breakfast-eating. Yep, the hostel I stayed at is run by the same family that owns the bakery downstairs. People who stay at the hostel get free breakfast at the bakery to the tune of, "Guten Moren, have some rolls, and jam, and cereal, and coffee...and a piece of chocolate cake." Buzzzzzzz.

Innsbruk


Well, after three days in Innsbruk I went to Stuttgart, Germany to meet up with my mom. On the way there, some friendly scientists nominated me for the Nobel Prize. It seems that my suitcase (aka "the beast") recently achieved the status of the densest object ever to exist on planet earth. Scholars everywhere are now pouring over the writings of Nostradomus to see if he may have mentioned Crazy Monica and her Black Box of Doom on wheels.

Somewhere between my arrival in Stuttgart and the eventual return of sensation in my right, "beast-hauling" arm, Mom and I departed on a contemplative gallop around the Christmas markets in Southwestern Germany. Yeehaw!

Ma and I living it up with a couple mugs of Gluhwein and a wurst sandwhich at the Dinklsbuhl market.

And then they left me alone with the Venetians

Bye-bye, friends! Thanks for coming! I miss your crazy selves already!

OK, so ANYway...

After Cinque Terre, Esie, Emily and I went to Florence.

And David made friends with the birds...


And we ate pizza.


And then we went to Venice, and there were a lot of canals, and gondoliers, and a sunset...


And we had one last round of gelato.