Just when you start to think: “Man, when are we gunna have another festival?”…

…another one comes. Yes, I know it is hard to come to grips with it, but we are already in the midst of another festival. This one lasts from November 29th just up until Christmas. All downtown is lined with Christmas trees, lights and once again, the huts and log-cabin-esque booths have been re-erected, now sporting winter themed decorations. Lots of portable pubs where you can sample some of the best variations of hot alcoholic beverages around.One portion of the Weinachtsmarkt is along a road that runs along the Weser river called the “Schlachte”. This is where boats docked and they would be unloaded into the warehouses at the top of the river bank. Now these warehouses have been renovated and turned into bars and restaurants and expensive condos, and is usually a nice place to come and have a beer and watch the ships pass on the river. But during the Weinachtsmarkt, it is transformed (especially in the nighttime) into what is called the “Schlachte Zauber” or Schlachte Magic. All the stands here are medieval in appearance and the shop-keepers dress in renaissance-fair types of costumes and even speak an old German dialect to their modern customers. All the trees are up-lit with beautiful blue nights, and the street is just PACKED with people.  
 We visited on Saturday after watching the Werder soccer match in a nearby bar (Werder won and it put them, temporarily, in first place in the German league). We wandered into the crowd and our friend, Tania, took us to a place that sold “Flammkuchen”. It is essentially a German form of a pizza. They take a really flat dough, roll it into an oval, then top it with cream, cheese and onions and toss it for a minute into a wood-burning oven. It was delicious and the perfect treat after drinking a liter of beer at the pub. The next holiday treat we had to try was “Eierpunsch” which is similar to our Eggnog. “Eierpunsch” or Egg Punch is some sort of crazy concoction of eggs, cream, rum sugar and God knows what else, served warm in a clay mug. The warmth provided by it’s actual temperature and it’s liquor was enough to encourage us to keep meandering, even as the temperature began to dip down near freezing.We plan to visit MANY more times! Anything to break the grip of S.A.D. we are experiencing from the sun setting around 4pm every day this month.  Seth has some auditions coming up for German agents. Today he flew to Munich and next week we head up to Hamburg – TOGETHER. It will be a fun little trip on the train, and a welcomed change of scenery.

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