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.

Nice Girls in Italy...

Here are some shots from our visits to Siena and the Cinque Terre region. Siena is in Tuscany so we enjoyed vineyards, olive groves, a drive through the countryside with views of castles and hills, and the lovely ambiance of the town itself. This included lots of stair climbing (as illustrated by Monica and Esie) and fence climbing (as illustrated by Emily). Behind Monica and Esie are some Sienese bricks and Sienese trees. Behind Emily are San Domenico Church and typical Sienese houses.

Cinque Terre is a group of five small villages (from South to North: Riomaggiore, Manorola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso) on the Italian Riviera. We stayed in the town of Riomaggiore (we happen to think this is the best of the five) and enjoyed the sound of the ocean, the sound of church bells, and the sound and sight of our yummy dinner being cooked in garlic by a very fine chef. Please view the above photo of us with many varieties of fried and baked sealife. Yum! The sunset photo was taken at the end of our 90 minute hike from Corniglia to Vernazza. One of many spectacular photo opportunities along the way. We hiked our way through all five of the towns, except for the stretch between Manorola and Corniglia which was closed due to a "landslade" from the previous night's heavy rain. We figure if we had stayed maybe another month or so, could work up some calves of steel like the 75-year-old ladies in Riomaggiore.

???

A cold night in Vernazza (Cinque Terre). Inspired by the land of great art (Italy), the girls contemplate the meaning of life...namely, how much longer until the restaurants open for the dinner hour?



After an afternoon of wine and olive oil tasting, the ladies decide it would be a good idea to hit the Irish Pub in Siena. Hilarity ensues.



Uh...following a climb up 400 stairs in the Cinque Terre, Esie demonstrates her ability to remove her bottom layer of clothing without scandalizing the villagers. We can't post what Em did.

And Now A Brief Synopsis For Your Viewing Pleasure

Es.











Em.











Mon.







Here's what we've been doing...


Here's what we've been seeing...

(Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre, Italy)

More pictures to come as soon as we figure out how to get them off of Esie's camera and onto Monica's computer. In the meantime: woohoo! Still having a good time and doin fine. Word to all of our peeps back home. Ciao for now!

Still Alive (and in Italy)

Hi friends!
Well, the internet situation has been a bit precarious lately so the blog has taken a beating. Also, I've been jetting around central Italy with my two friends (and current traveling companions) Esie and Emily. We took in a couple days in Rome, hit Sienna for two nights, and are now living the dolce vita in the Cinque Terre.
We just finished a hike through four of the five villages in the Cinque Terre that included plenty of great scenery, stairs, gelato, and cats. In fact, we are in the company of an internet cafe kitty named Emma as we speak (Emily warns that she is being clawed to death).
So far we are having a great time (Esie proclaims this is definitely going to continue to be the case). We are trying (rather successfully) to eat our way through Italy's gelato supply. Yum, yum! Also, yesterday we had some great fresh seafood (and by fresh we mean the dipped a hand in the ocean, pulled out some critters, cooked them in garlic, and sent them our way by way of a very nice looking Italian cook). Hi to all the moms and dads out there. No worries, we are all fine, wearing sunscreen, taking our vitamins, drinking lots of water, avoiding frisky Italian men, and getting plenty of rest.
Ciao!
Monica, Esie, and Emily (and Emma the cat)

Feed the Birds

Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

Dad to son in St. Peter's Square: "I think those pigeons like you."

There's No Place Like Rome

Well, I'm in the middle of a little siesta in Rome-taking a little break from the nomadic life for a couple weeks in order to soak up one of my favorite cities, and do some research into the fine art of sloth.
When I was planning this trip, one of my pie-in-the-sky goals was to spend a long period of time in Rome and go to St. Peter's every day. I was here for the first time about five years ago, and I've been waiting to go back ever since. Lots of fond, vivid memories. So far, I've been at least to St. Peter's square every day, and have gone into the basilica 6 or 7 times. Nope, I'm not bored with it yet. I absolutely love this place. It's just incredible. Above are some of my encounters with the outside of St. Peter's. More about the inside later...


And now, folks, allow me to get introspective and personal for a few minutes. There has been another force, almost as powerful as the Vatican, drawing me to the Eternal City. A spiritual experience known to throngs of devoted followers as...(chorous of angels)...gelato. That's right, y'all, I'm talking about some serious food here, and the place to go for it is Giolitti's gelateria. Five years ago one scoop of strawberry and one scoop of champagne caused the location of Giolitti's to be forever burned into my brain. Since arriving in Rome I have devoted myself to researching the best combinations of gelato flavors:
Chocolate and Cantaloupe (yum)
Green Apple and Rice (don't cringe, it was tastey!)
Champagne and Chocolate (a classic)
and, my personal favorite, Blueberry and Green Tea

And now, a moment of silence to reflect on the radiance below:

In more recent news: Rome. All Saints' Day

Looks like they all showed up...



St. Peter watches the Pope on the big screen.




Pope in the window (see the window with the red banner in front of it?) addressing and blessing the masses in Vatican Square.

Art (yes, this is still about Florence)

Some of my favorites:

Pieta by Michelangelo. Mary Magdalene (left), the Virgin Mary (right), and Nicodemus holding the crucified Christ. Michelangelo intended this sculpture for his tomb and made Nicodemus his self portrait. It's unfinished-you can see the Virgin's face is still just blocked out. Really beautiful. Really.



Donatello's wooden sculpture of Mary Magdalene dressed in her own matted hair. Pretty boogley from the front, but look at it from the back! Hats off to whomever arranged the display in this room.


Bronze panel from Ghiberti's Doors of Paradise: King Solomon meets the Queen of Sheba.

Florence!!!

Looking down on the nave of Santa Maria del Fiore: they all look so helpless and innocent from up here...

This is what the fresco on the ceiling of the dome looks like up close.



Last year I rented a PBS documentary about the Medici Family (a couple times, actually, it was a thriller!). It included a section about Brunelleschi and the fantastic dome he built for the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence. Why is it so special? Well, for one thing, it's huge! For another, it was a huge moment in Renaissance architecture since, apparently, the technique for building a self-supporting dome got lost during the Middle Ages. Yep. Way to go, Western Society. So poor Brunelleschi had to reinvent the wheel so to speak.
Now, tourists can climb to the top of the dome, which means you get to climb in between the outer and inner shells of the dome just like Brunelleschi's construction crew did. Cool!

Incidentally, I now own a copy of the Medici documentary, thanks to a snaffu with Netflix. So when I get back home, you can all come over and watch it with me! We'll have popcorn, Vanilla Coke, and waffles with peanut butter. Yippee!

above left: stairs inside the dome; right: herringbone brick pattern-nifty!

Florence!!

More faces of the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiori cathedral): Fresco inside the dome of The Last Judgement by Vasari; view from on top of the dome; view from the square of the Baptistery and Duomo (the Baptistery is the smaller building in the foreground).