Frohes Neues Jahr!!

A Gänsemarkt New Years Eve is underway!  Dinner at Rene’s at Seven, then Silwester at Giovanni’s….

Frohes Neues Jahr und ein Guten Rutsch to all of you!

The Mad Monk of Steinstrasse

Na szczęście, na zdrowie, na tę świętą Wigilię!

A traditional Polish greeting for a traditional German Christmas Eve.  Here it’s called ‘Heilige Abend’ or ‘Holy Evening’ in Poland, it’s ‘Wigilia’.  But the same feelings are inherent in all of the languages;

Na szczęście, na zdrowie, na tę świętą Wigilię!

To happiness (luck, good fortune), health, and a holy Christmas Eve!

Here on Stone Street, we’ll be meeting at Giovanni’s Mona Lisa after the individual families have had their meals and ‘Bescherung’ or the opening of the gifts. We may even sing ‘O Tannenbaum’

Christmas Day, or Ersten Feiertag (first Christmas celebration, the second being the 26th, Boxing Day, or as Wencelslaus would say, the Feast of St. Stephen) I’ll be visiting the Schalt family in Eickum to eat waffles.  Sabine and I worked together at Wedeco and she is now dedicated to the joys of raising three children.  Her husband shares the same name as my grandson-Gideon!  All and all, a Frohes Fest!

Künstlertreff: Christmas Edition

LiveArt was held in the restaurant Nil last night and it was one great session!! Pan Flute, operetta, a belter, smooth guitar, a voice that alternated between Armstrong and Mathis, and a very funny stand-up comic, along with ambience, great people and a friend I haven’t seen in awhile all came together.  Thanks and congratulations to Juergen and company for putting together a great show!

Any of you friends and family interested in showcasing your talents, come across the pond, you’ll be in great company…

LiveArt and Künstlertreff

Tomorrow night’s a promise of fun and interesting conversation.  Künstlertreff will be in the Restaurant Nil, a much larger venue than the Café Schiller for a special Christmas presentation.  Many of the Stone Street denizens will be in attendance.  You can get an idea of the way things work from THIS LINK.

Local talent is good.  Very good, in fact, and the audience is lively.  I’ll get back to you later in the week with my thoughts.  In the mean time, I’m filling my head with string theory, alternate universes, dimensions, and cookies.  The cookies help me think.  The rest of it makes me think that it all breaks down to daydreams and the time and place we think we think them in…..

LiveArt and Künstlertreff

Tomorrow night’s a promise of fun and interesting conversation.  Künstlertreff will be in the Restaurant Nil, a much larger venue than the Café Schiller for a special Christmas presentation.  Many of the Stone Street denizens will be in attendance.  You can get an idea of the way things work from THIS LINK.

Local talent is good.  Very good, in fact, and the audience is lively.  I’ll get back to you later in the week with my thoughts.  In the mean time, I’m filling my head with string theory, alternate universes, dimensions, and cookies.  The cookies help me think.  The rest of it makes me think that it all breaks down to daydreams and the time and place we think we think them in…..

Advent is in full swing...

I posted some pictures of the Herforder Weihnachts markt at Facebook.

Mostly for my grandson Gideon, they show the spirit of the season even on a grey day!!  I'll be doing a few other cities in the near future, to give you an idea of the diversity of goods and the great spirit of the Advent Season in Germany.

Return of the Lazy Blogger

aside from a slight, and better off forgotten bruhaha between a few of the neighbors, the street has been quiet, with the exception of the Weihnachtsmarkt revellers.  Here in the Gänsemarkt, things are geared primarily for children.  There's a little railroad that rides them around to the tunes of Bing Crosby, Elvis, and other traditional German singers.  There are several small wooden huts inside of which live animated fairy-tale and christmas characters who tell their stories upon request, a little beer and gluhwein, and of course, bratwurst and french fries.

The Altermarkt is packed with food, everything from Elsasser Flamkuchen to pork chops, hot dogs, and fried mushrooms, not to mention the baked potatoes (did I mention the baked potatoes?)  The Neumarkt is similar, and the Rathausplatz is lined with huts selling tradional christmas articles of wood and glass and yes, it even exists in Europe, plastic.

There's been a little snow, but I'm going to hold off on the photos until there's been a little more (it's promised this week) and then I'll post my impressions.

Life on Steinstrasse: 30 November, 2010.