European Travels

(Joe wrote this post a few months ago, but for some reason never posted it. Enjoy!)

Lyon

Nate Hook in Lyon, France

In June Betsy had a conference in Lyon, France.  And I came by train half way though the conference.  It was a chance to meet up with some friends from Boulder.

Rhône and Saône rivers converge in Lyon, and that was a reason why the Romans made it the capital of Gaul.  Therefore Lyon has a lot of Roman ruins to see.  And there are also a lot of Catholic churches we visited.

Barcelona

Sailing in the Mediterranean

Betsy & I bought “blind booking” tickets from the discount airline German Wings.  These cheap tickets are ideal for weekend get-a-ways, because you can choose a few options of what type of place to visit (beach, culture, party, etc.), but the actual destination is not known until you pay for the ticket.  We ended up going to Barcelona, which turned out to be very fun.  Everyday we went swimming in either the Mediterranean or in the outdoor pool used in the 1992 Summer Olympics.  We toured the city by bicycle and public transport.  We also sailed into the Mediterranean for 2 hours.  The food was very good too, and we learned a lot about the Catalan and Spanish culture.

Oktoberfest & Bavaria

Paulaner tent at Oktoberfest

Andy (Betsy’s brother) & his new wife Amanda came to Europe for their honeymoon.  We took them to Munich’s Oktoberfest, known locally as "die Wiesn".  Wow!  Oktoberfest was good to experience, but I don’t have any desire to go back.  It is just like a US state fair, but all about beer – high alcohol content (~6%) - and served by the liter.  We had to go in the morning because we didn’t have a table reservation, which is required for an afternoon or evening.  Oktoberfest has well over 6 million visitors during 2 weeks, and on average each person drinks well more than a Liter of beer.

Venus Grotto at Linderhof Palace

After Oktoberfest we visited Schloss Linderhof which is one of the castles commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria (Herrenchiemsee and the famous Schloß Neuschwanstein are the others). It was very luxurious.  I think the room of mirrors was one of the more spectacular things to see.  Betsy really enjoyed seeing the Venus Grotto, which is an artificial cave/grotto and stage for a Richard Wagnerian opera.

Stuttgart

Last weekend we spent a day in Stuttgart. Because we had not visited anything in Stuttgart (besides the airport and train station), we figured we should spend some time investigating Stuttgart.  We went to the Stuttgart Volksfest, which is the world's second largest beer festival (Munich’s is the largest).

Poltringer Fasnet

It started less then a week after Christmas. We noticed the young men of town out stringing flags over all the main streets. They look like Nepalese prayer flags, but faded by many seasons of use. Then we got a booklet in the mail describing the events for the upcoming Fasnet season. OK, at least we knew a bit of what we were in for, since we'd gone to a Fasnet parade in the nearby town of Rottenberg last year.

Fasnet flags guide the way to the Rathaus.

I still wasn't quite prepared last Sunday, jetlagged after returning from the states the day before, when we started hearing music and Schwäbisch dialogue booming from a sound system as our town prepared for the the Umzug (parade). Just before 1pm we bundled up and turned right from our front door and into prime parade grounds. Traffic was being diverted around the entire town.

The "Bockmoster" from Poltringen

We were surprised by the lineup of 60 "Fasnetsclubs" from neighboring villages that proceeded to march past us. The parade in Rottenberg last year was huge, but it seems that even our little village of just a few thousand could put on a good show. The parade lasted two hours! And each Catholic village near us has put on an equivalent parade in the past few weeks. These fools and witches have been busy!

A kind fool from Bondorf hands out treats.

Tübingen is not a Catholic town, so there is something special to be experienced by living in a village such as Poltringen. Last Thursday (Schmotzinger Donnerstag) we went to the Rathaussturm (Storming of the Town Hall). I enjoyed a Rote Wurst (local sausage variety) and beer as we again watched one of the Fasnet rituals just steps from our house. Under moonlight the children and witches paraded past the Rathaus and finally we saw each of the Poltringer Fasnetsclub groups perform. It was quite eery to watch the masked witches dance with traditional brooms around a burning cauldron. I cannot quite accept this as a Catholic ritual, and indeed my Schwäbisch colleague Karin confirmed that Fasnet is a tradition in Southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria that pre-dates Christianity. It was the people's attempt to scare away winter with these strange spirits!

Fasnet is wrapping up this week. Last Thursday during the Rathaussturm the mayor symbolically gave the key to the town hall to the Narren (fools). But on Tuesday they have to give it back. No more fun, as we go into the Lenten season. Joe and I will head to the Poltringer Fasnetsclub Halle (yes, they have a headquarters) for the Fasnetsverbrennung (Fasnet burning). We're still not really sure what a Fasnet actually is, but this somehow involves burning a witch. By Joe's estimation, witch burning is an adequate representation of Catholic history in Europe.

New Christmas traditions

Last year Joe and I spent Christmas and Paris. I don't think that is a Christmas tradition we will be able to maintain through our lives. This year we're staying a bit more local. Yesterday on Christmas eve we had a picnic lunch in the botanic garden in Tübingen, which was wonderful in nearly 70F weather and clear blue skies. I'm not sure we'll be able to keep this tradition up either.

We had swiss raclette for dinner last night - melted cheese over potatoes, traditionally by a fire or in this case a table top grill. This is a possibility for something we could build into a tradition. We talked with Mike & Kathy about each of our family's traditions for presents, right before we greedily tore into them all. We couldn't wait until Christmas morning. I could see this as a recurring event.

The carnage after presents were opened.

Today we had Dresdener stollen for breakfast. It's a sort of dense fruitcake that cost 12 euro/kilo. This was good, but it may be hard to find once we are back stateside. We then went for a long walk up to our local quarry and back through a neighboring town. We heard bells tolling from a nearby town for part of our walk. This would also be a good tradition. Today Joe and I went to work baking pies, pumpkin and apple, which are just about to come out of the oven. We could do this every year. We'll also take a portrait with Mike and Kathy, something Joe's family has done every Christmas. We will surely keep this up. You can see our portrait from last year in Paris.

We're about to put a turkey in the oven, a first for Joe and I (after last Thanksgiving's duck mix-up), but we have Kathy's expertise to keep us on track. We could also do this every year. But reflecting back on our two Chrismases as a married couple, and the thirty others I've experienced, I have to say I would take family over Paris any time, hands down. So I think that will be the most important tradition we embrace.

Merry Christmas!

Frohe Weihnachten von Familie Smith

Merry Christmas from the Smiths! We'd like to share our Christmas card with you.

We're currently enjoying a visit from parents Smith. We've been exploring our region and will celebrate Christmas at home before heading out for about 1 week of traveling in eastern Germany and Prague for New Year. If you don't hear from us before the New Year, then we wish you a "Guten Rutsch!"

Getting into the holiday spirit

I've had the Christmas carols going for awhile, but now with little over a week to go it is starting to feel like Christmas. For my birthday Joe bought us a Christmas tree. We decided to go with a potted one that can hopefully be our Christmas tree again next year.

It's not much to look at, but we went to the Christmas market in Tübingen today and got a few ornaments, and I wrapped the presents. We bought a tiny pinecone ornament (hardly visible) from the glass blower at the University; his wife makes them. I've gotten to know him this fall as he has made a few custom pieces for my lab work. Maybe the best part of this tree is the angel Joe made out of the foil wrapping of my favorite German beer, Tannen Zäpfle ("pine cone" in dialect). We had to practice with a few bottles, but it was fun to get rid of the beer!

We had a Christmas party with my lab group last night at the boss' house. A good time was had by all, lubricated by our favorite drinks like "Feuerzangenbowle" (rum-soaked cones of sugar lit on fire that drip carmelized yummy stuff into hot wine). We also had an adventurous train ride back home. I realized we have been in Germany too long, because I start to say things like "He is so late again" when referring to the train. The train is gendered male in German, by the way.

One more week of work/school and we're off to eastern Germany and Czech Republic. Parents Smith arrive on Tuesday from Alaska, and we are looking forward to some family time, exploring new areas and a break from our routines.

Earliest sunset! ...and other astronomical events

OK!  Today was the earliest sunset of the year, for our latitude.  So now we can start gaining light in the evening.

This is not to be confused with the winter solstice (21Dec12), which has the shortest total daylight of the year, and just happens to coincide with The End Of The World! a.k.a. the new year of the Mayan calendar.  Coincidence?  Not really, as the Mayan calendar is astronomically based, and the winter solstice marks the beginning of their calendar year, and this year the date rolls from 12.19.19.17.19 to 13.0.0.0.0  Despite using a base 20 number system, at least the new year's day on the Mayan calendar makes more sense than the cobbled together European based calendars (Julian & Gregorian).

Oh, and for our latitude, we have to wait until our new year's day to get past the latest sunrise.

Alright, it has been snowing here.  Apparently only once about every decade is there a white Christmas in this part of Germany.  If the current trend holds, this will be that year.  And to tie this back to astronomical events:  The sun is at such a low angle (currently <18.5 degrees above horizon at solar noon) and above the horizon for such a short time (currently 8hrs:22min), it doesn't seem like it will melt too soon.  ...and since I spend a few days this past summer making the calculations, I can tell you that the current daily clear sky solar energy delivered to a 1sq.meter horizontal surface is 1.4kWh (...or about the same heat energy released as one hour of  the big burner on the stove top set to medium-high, ...but distributed over 10sq.ft), and this energy is only 1/6 of the summer solstice amount. However it is cloudy every day, and the snow reflects most of that energy, we aren't even getting much solar heating to melt our snow.

OK.  In a practical terms this means, the snow and ice are piling up but not melting, and this makes for a difficult commute by bike.  Consequently I am using the train much more frequently than normally.  And so is Betsy; she bought a month pass.  Thank goodness for the trains when the weather is not fit for biking --and that is saying something, when it comes from me.

Thanksgiving, Birthdays, and Winter

...well it has been a month since the last update.
First I must say that it get harder each time I become a student again.  I would have thought that after already earning a master's degree and taking classes at University of Alaska and Colorado for fun, I should have this student gig down.
But I do have one thing down --procrastination!  I have a homework assignment due tomorrow.  I am halfway done, but wanted to do something else for a little while, like write this blog.
...so Betsy had two Thanksgivings this year.  The real one with the Swanners in Minnesota (while on a business trip to America), and then the Ex-pats Thanksgiving in Tübingen.  I only had one, but it was great to have pumpkin pie and turkey.

Hot on the heals of Thanksgiving were our birthdays.  Betsy got me a great present --rain gear!  ...she actually gave it to me a little early, because it rained an inch per day for the 3 days prior to my actual birthday.  And on the 1st of December we went to Esslingen for the Medieval Christmas Market.  All the fun of a typical Christmas market, but with Renaissance-fair costumes.

Betsy drinking Glühwein with Merle & Nina at the Esslinger Mittelaltermarkt & Weihnachtsmarkt

On Betsy's birthday she was skiing in the Alps with her lab group.
This week we got a 3' tall Christmas tree.  And now we are on the look-out for decorations.  We didn't find any at the Tübingen Chocolate market last night, but we did buy some expensive chocolates.

Tübingen ChocolART festival

And what I really wanted to tell people about is that we are now signed up for bi-weekly beer delivery.  I think this is the type of service that only exists in Germany.  We can place our order by phone or internet, and on our appointed day the delivery man drops off our requests of Bbeer and other drinks (mineral waters or fruit-juices), even if we are not home!  Can you imagine how American teenagers would react to such an opportunity?