This did not put me in the Christmas spirit

but the subtitle could be: but it did make me laugh!

My lovely cousins send me a box of random, odd, and fun items for the holidays. Last year I received many different things, but the most odd one was a Santa Claus toy that excretes candies into a chimney*.

What was truly disconcerting, besides the idea of eating candies that Santa had "excreted," was that to set up the toy, one had to cut the zip tie off that attached his head to his body, remove his head, break open his "guts" from their plastic lining, then dump the contents back into his body. The whole time his head was shouting, "ho ho ho!"

I didn't know whether to laugh, or to scream in terror.

*There are so many things wrong with this.

Even more about the Weinachtsgurke!

On the eve before the eve before Christmas (don't get lost in that one), the New York Times even has published an article about the Weinachtsgurke. 

Go take a gander at the article; they even mention Frankenmuth, Michigan, just as I had. (I beat you to the story about seeing it there, NYT. I'm ahead of the curve!).

However you plan to spend the next few days, whether it includes a pickle or not, I wish you peace and happiness.

In which we violate societal norms & start a new holiday tradition

My lovely friends invited me over for some "wichteln," which was very enjoyable (but also a bit confusing, because of my understanding of German, or lack thereof). They had decorated for Christmas and even created a jaunty, if not lopsided, gingerbread house.

We ate dinner, played Dixit (my new favorite tabletop game, though it's certainly not new), and exchanged small gifts. Then something interesting happened. My friend had been joking (or so I thought) about eating the gingerbread house. Imagine our surprise when she brought it to the table on its tray and presented it to us, as one would a glorious turkey.

We actually ate the gingerbread house*! Do people actually do that? Where will Hansel and Gretl live**? Did we violate social norms somehow? Or is this not so unusual? Have you heard of anyone doing this? I did make a joke about Germany being really good about recycling so we were merely doing our part.

Despite it being slightly dry as a result of being displayed for 3 weeks, it tasted good. We knocked off the "shingles" (Haribo random gummies) and then started chipping off the gingerbread facade.

It was so enjoyable that we plan to repeat the experience next year. For some reason they want to build me a Barbie gingerbread house. Of course I had to tell them about the Barbie dreamhouse in Berlin and that whole story. Somehow we decided that we'll make a gingerbread house to eat in June so we'd have something to look forward to, and that it would be a Barbie beach house. I love my wacky friends.



*Not all of it, technically.

**Okay, so they probably ran for their lives or something like that after the witch tried to eat them, but still!

Two of my obsessions combined in a disconcerting Christmas scene

I'm a bit obsessed with roadside candy machines (if you are obsessed too, click the tag for them). I like them because frankly, they effect both curiosity and revulsion in me. I always wonder who'd be cool with eating the candy in them because the machines are outside and don't look particularly clean.

I'm also fascinated by a Santa Claus decoration I've only seen in Europe: a Santa who's usually tacked to the side of a building and appears to be breaking in. What the heck? Is it because many modern houses don't have proper chimneys for him to enter the house? Has he left his life's mission of giving behind and intends to become a burglar?

Imagine my delight when I walked by a Lokal (local bar) in Kaiserslautern and saw Santa using a ladder and a roadside candy machine to scale his way into the bar. He's like the high class MacGyver of home break-ins/or gift distribution.*

*Or he's a bit drunk after visiting the Lokal and doesn't realize that he's next to the door and could have used that instead.

I saw the Weinachstgurke!

I wrote about the time my German friend asked me about the German Christmas pickle, which she couldn't believe was true. I have one myself, and it's a Christmas tree ornament in the shape of a pickle. Americans believe that placing such an ornament and rewarding the first child who finds it with a gift is a German tradition. Ask most Germans about it and they will exclaim in disbelief, "Hä?"  (or even better yet, "Das ist eine Verarschung!," as my friend said) and then tell you that it's not really a German tradition and they don't put them on their Christmas trees.


Imagine my delight when I visited the Pfalzbibliothek and saw the Weinachtsgurke display. The library hid a Christmas pickle in its Christmas tree and included a description of its legend (which might or might not be made up by Americans).
I translated the yellow sign and this is what is says: 

"An old custom is revived

Yes, you have read that correctly. Pickle. More accurately said: the sour pickle.

The “German Christmas pickle” is an old custom allegedly from the 20^th century that is very popular with the Americans. The Christmas pickle is hung in the Christmas tree and must be found without touching the tree. The lucky winner gets to be the first to unwrap his gift.

This tradition allegedly developed in poor families who couldn’t afford gifts for all the children. Whomever found the pickle received the only gift.

The second historical story is based on a legend from the Citizens’ War. John Lower, a Bayerisch soldier, was taken captive by Americans. Completely weakened, he asked for a cucumber as a last meal. Amazingly, he regained his strength and every year after that he hung a pickle on the Christmas tree in thanks.

This area is mostly pickle-free, to the astonishment of the Americans. However, from year to year the number of families decorating their Christmas trees with pickles grows.

In our Christmas tree, one is hidden. Searching [for it] is wished."  (Source: Pfalzbibliothek, translated from the German by ATW).

I found it! Of course, I looked like a major weirdo looking for it, but oh well.

Blah Friday

Even though it's always a bittersweet experience to spend a holiday like Thanksgiving away from one's family and sometimes there's a bit of homesickness while being away, one thing that I did not miss was the whole Black Friday mess of consumerism and greed.

For me, the day after Thanksgiving is the antithesis of the Thanksgiving spirit. One can't turn on the tv or the radio in the US without being bombarded by advertising for store sales. In the past, stores were closed on Thanksgiving Day so families can spend time together. However, stores would also start with crazy sales at 3 a.m., for example, the day after, or more stores are opening the day of Thanksgiving too. Yuck. Can't we have 1-2 days a year of no shopping?

People have started to set up tents outside the stores, sometimes days in advance, in hopes of snagging some deals. Once the stores open, sometimes pandemonium erupts; people have been trampled as the crowd rushed in. In an equally ugly situation, fights have broken out among customers to grab the last of an item.

I thought that, having moved to Germany, I'd be away from such things. However, this year I've noticed extensive advertising for "Black Friday" or even in some cases, "Black Week" (which is not really what we'd call it though). I've seen it in Germany and in France, too, when I visited Colmar for the weekend. Check out the photo below from a Colmar storefront.

Ick. It's an American invention that I would happily do without in Europe.

--
A bit of irony: when I emailed myself this photo, I tried to type "Black Friday" on my phone and instead ended up with, thanks to autocorrect, "Blah Friday," which totally fits!

My week: January 3 ed.

I was feeling lazy over the holidays. With no classes, I didn't have the focus that I normally would. I wasn't sure how I wanted to spend the new year. I asked a few friends and while we all wanted to do something together, we had no concrete plans. I finally pulled it together and invited C+K and M over for dinner.

As soon as I got out of work, I quickly threw together my go-to dish, a quinoa black bean bake, a ton of deviled eggs (sweet mustard, regular, and Czech versions), and jello shots. My friends brought a delicious green salad and a slightly tart fruit salad. I made Hugo cocktails with homemade elderflower cordial, a result of my foraging wild foods in 2015. We enjoyed the dinner and Moo pranced around, begging for attention. He figured the party was for him, as always!

Just before midnight we went outside to witness the insanity of Germany during the new year. It's one of the few times that people are allowed to just let off fireworks here. People went crazy with fireworks as usual but the night was cold and humid so the fog and resulting smoke lessened the visibility. We let off some of our own fireworks, drank some sparkling wine (and even some proper Champagne), and wished one another happy new year.

When we had enough fireworks, we retreated inside and played some board games, including a really cool German one called Das Verrückte Labyrinth, where a maze is set up and one tries to reach goals by moving the pieces. Moo's favorite was Apples to Apples. Finally, around 4 am we said goodnight.

The next morning we ate brunch with my coworker. Unfortunately, her other guests weren't able to stay longer than to say hi since they had to be on the road. The rest of us enjoyed a French toast casserole I cooked and my coworker made a delicious mix of other items. It was a tasty end to celebrating the new year

My week: December 27 ed.

This week was a relaxed one, with no classes. I invited my tandem partner over for dinner and made what is, undoubtedly, a strange combination of things. However, I am weak in domestic skills and have a limited repertoire, so what can I say? The following items were on the menu: deviled eggs, salad, crackers with goat cheese and dried pomegranates, apple slices with pesto and balsamic garnish, and pizza bites (more like pizza pockets and homemade).

-My friends W and M kindly invited me over for a Christmas dinner. They made a delicious vegetarian lasagna (with added rosemary and thyme - lovely!) and we enjoyed some conversation, which was, even better yet, mostly in German! It was really funny when M was explaining a story and for some reason called a business proprietor an "Ownerin," even though the rest of the story was in German. That's what we get for code switching!

I'm so glad to have spent time with lovely people for Christmas. Though I'm far from my blood family, I still feel loved by my friend family.

A merry, if unrealistic, Christmas

Edeka has a cute holiday commercial:

However, I'd like to say that it's an unrealistic depiction of what shopping and waiting in line at a real German supermarket would be like. If people were actually held up in line like this, despite it being something cute, there would more likely be a line of people with their arms crossed, sighing, snarling, and unhappy. It's downright cray-cray at German supermarkets in the checkout line.

Despite that, it's still fun to watch this video.

The Easter camel at Cafe Krummel

I had brunch with some friends last week at Cafe Krummel in Kaiserslautern. As I was paying for my meal, I saw a traditional German baked good, in the shape of an Easter lamb. I was curious what it was made of; I wanted to try it. I had been speaking German to settle my bill but couldn't think of how to ask what it was filled with. My German friends with me, D and Cl., were cute; they chimed in and asked about it in German.

I was trying to pay, order, and concentrate, so all I heard was "lamm" and giggling as an answer. C had apparently asked what the Easter camel was filled with. The clerk told her lamb. I selected one and as we were leaving, I asked what I had missed, giggling too when I realized that Cl. had called it a camel and not a lamb, and it was not filled with any kind of meat. At 8 euros, it was quite expensive baby "lambel."

I told my coworker this story and it made us wonder: what do baby camels look like? Was C way off? Apparently she wasn't! According to Professor Google, baby camels' humps don't immediately stand up so the Easter lamb pasty could have very well have been an Easter camel baby.

The most important thing? The baby whatever-it-was tasted good; it was like the lovechild of a doughnut and cake, with a vanilla-y taste.

The traditional German Easter...lambel?

My week: April 5 Easter ed.

This was my week "off," i.e. with no classes and no language cafe.

-I met with my tandem partner. To practice English, we watched the episode with President Obama in Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. I didn't realize just how many idioms that we use in everyday English until I spent quite a bit of time explaining what the speakers meant. My friend also started watching the Ellen Degeneres show to help with her English. She made a good choice; the show is generally upbeat and the level of English is not too high. Plus, Ellen speaks Standard American English (which is or is not a thing, depending on what linguist you ask, I suppose).

-I hung out with some friendly dogs. I forgot just how slobbery dogs can be but was amused how they like to "smoosh" me like Moo the Cat does (i.e. sitting on me companionably).

-My friends who live in Neustadt came out to visit. I took them to the Ramstein Air Base because C had a hankering for Taco Bell. K never had eaten it before but liked it. They continued on to Saarland and to Luxembourg while I worked on some things at home. Later, they returned for dinner and we ate at Safari, an Ethiopian restaurant in Kaiserslautern. They agreed that it was excellent and we stuffed ourselves silly. I introduced them to the concept of a "food baby," where one eats so much that one feels pregnant.

We waddled back to my house; they were staying for the weekend because we were going to spend Easter together. I told them that they could allow Moo to stay in their room or not. They chose the Moo option and laughed about the experience the next morning. Apparently he purred in their faces as they were sleeping; walked on them; stood on C, stabbing him with his paws and trying to fluff C's side up like a pillow before sleeping on him; and laid on their feet. This is standard Moocat behavior and part of the reason that I don't let him stay with me when I sleep (the other half is that I'm too allergic to him). Despite Moo's demanding behavior, C and K were totally taken by Moo and are new members of his informal fan club.

-I cooked an American-style Easter breakfast of bacon, eggs, and French toast casserole (based on this recipe). K, who is Romanian, was curious about the French toast since she makes a version too. Her version is more savory, with bread soaked in egg and a pinch of salt and then fried in a pan. That got us wondering: is French toast even remotely French or is it just a name that was tacked onto it? Are French people out there, rolling their eyes? (I know that I roll my eyes at the German take on "American" sandwich spread, which they imagine as a tube of mayo streaked with ketchup, something we don't do.) Either way, C and K loved the casserole. I joked that we were going to have food baby twins.

-K shared a story about a Romanian Easter tradition, prevalent in Transylvania. On Easter Monday, the women clean their houses really well, dress up, and welcome male family and friends to drop by. The women prepare cakes and eggs. When the men arrive at the front door, they spray the women with perfume and give greetings. It has something to do with keeping the women from "wilting" and is refreshing for them, to bring luck. The women give the men cakes and eggs. K said it's amusing to see grown men going house to house, carrying their baskets or bags of eggs and cakes. It seems like a cousin of trick or treating!

Apparently the men used to pour water on the women but after much consternation on the part of the women, the men started using perfume instead. As someone who has allergies, I could imagine that could be overwhelming to be doused in perfume!

-After lunch, we hiked from the technical university to the Humbergturm, in the southern woods bordering Kaiserslautern. It's a nice, reasonably easy hike that takes about 45 minutes one way. C was teasing me, noting that we could have just driven to the Bremerhof restaurant and hiked from there, which is shorter. It never dawns on me to go that way but I like the added 10 minutes of hiking from the uni.

As we were walking through the woods, we were struck by the damage from Hurricane Niklas earlier in the week. Usually this area of Germany doesn't have severe weather but for several days, it was pummeled by rain and wind storms. Trees in the woods were snapped in half and the forestry service had been busy clearing the aftermath, as evidenced by the stacked rows of cut trees.

Large tree snapped in half, near the Bremerhof.

We reached the goal of hiking to the Humbergturm. The trails were quite busy; many locals were out enjoying the pleasant, sunny weather. C and K climbed the tower, took pictures, and we hiked back. I saw this cool wolf painted on a tree on our way.

We said goodbye after the hike and I wished them well on their journey home. It was a pleasant and relaxing Easter spent in good company.

The Osterbrunnen of Kindsbach

I saw several signs in Kindsbach (a suburb of Kaiserslautern) for the Osterbrunnen, or the Easter fountain. The Rosenverein decorated the fountain with eggs and greenery. Fancy, huh?

My burning hot northern German Valentine's date

Yes, you read that correctly, I had a burning hot Valentine's Day "date." It was actually literally burning hot. I'm not kidding. At one point the table was on fire. It was all in the name of some northern German fun so it all worked out. Heck, even my date was northern German (but from a different state than what was being featured).

There was a cultural night where a group was serving a meal and traditions from northern Germany. I asked along a friend and we decided to wear dirndls, which have absolutely nothing to do with northern Germany (they're more Bavarian). That's what I think is so awesome about this friend; she totally went with it, even as she was suffering major wardrobe malfunctions.

After stuffing ourselves into our dirndls (I realized that it's easier to put it on after unzipping the bodice first!), we headed up to the restaurant to join the group. We were pretty much the youngest ones there, by at least 25 years. It was a lively bunch and we were immediately greeted with glasses of sekt with rum-coated raisins. Now that's a way to start the evening!

We thoroughly confused our table mates since I kind of do/don't speak German and my friend is obviously fluent, but they didn't realize that she was German at first so they spoke English to her. Wearing the dirndls didn't help ease the confusion either (always keep people guessing!) but we were welcomed warmly.

Our dining companions soon directed their attention on the hostess, letting her know that they wanted dinner. She told them that it was still social time and dinner would start soon. I tried to keep a straight face because I imagined them devolving into children, pounding on the table, and chanting "we want food, we want food!"

The dinner arrived: boiled potatoes (Salzkartoffel), Grünkohl (kale, pureed and boiled), and two different kinds of smoked sausage. I ended up doling out the sausages to the other diners since I was in the middle. Some of the sausages were as big as the plates where I was dropping them, making me feel a bit risqué. The food was tasty. I don't normally dig German food much as I'm not really a meat n' potatoes type of gal, but this was a pleasant deviation.

This was the smaller of the sausages. Kid you not.

 As we were eating, the schnapps and spoons came out. Oh lawdy, was that something! We experienced Löffeltrunk, which was shots of schnapps taken from a special spoon. The last drink was Friesengeist, which was brought out flaming in little shot glasses carried in a wooden shoe (I was excited about the wooden shoe because my peeps are Dutch).

Even the shoe that carries the shots warns that it's "served burning."

Here's where the burning hot portion of the evening came in: one gentleman spilled a bit from his shot glass so the table started on fire. He nonchalantly blotted it out, grinning, and commenting, "happens every year!" We were also given special spoons to set on top of the shot glass to extinguish the flames. Our host said a nice folksy thing and then we all threw back the fiery drink. Oh my goodness, one could taste the fire!

The tools of the northern German (drinking) trade. We drank shots out of the spoons.

 Following the excitement of setting the table on fire, we then watched a slide show as our host talked about northern Germany. There were lots of windmills, ships, bicycles, adorable dudes wearing dark blue-striped shirts and captain hats, and wind-swept dunes.

Traditional male northern German outfit, with schnapps, of course! Isn't he great?

As the other guests left, my friend and I chatted with the hostess. She commented on our dirndls, saying that they were Bavarian and traditional northern Germans attire was like what she was wearing, a white blouse with some embroidery and a long black skirt. She also made a point to say that they wear their skirts to their ankles in northern Germany. I told my friend later that we probably looked like women of "loose morals" with our knee-length dresses and we had a giggle about that one. Everyone seemed confused about why we were wearing dirndls. We told them that we had just felt like it. They said, ah, it must be for Karneval. Um, not really, but if that's how they needed to compartmentalize it, that's fine.

Despite the dangerous drinks, we had a really good time and learned more about northern Germany. You can't beat that!

My week: February 15 ed.

This posting is rather late in its appearance, thanks to a plague of sickness that still has me stuck in bed. At least I'm to the point, after four days, that I can type something because my headache has somewhat abated.

So, back to last week:

-I finished up my German classes from the club. The teacher asked if I would be taking the optional exam at the conclusion of the class. I was under the impression that I had to pay to take it (which may or may not be true) so I said I was going to skip it. Since I was only taking the class for funsies and to improve my German, I saw no need for it. The teacher was really disappointed, saying that she thought I'd get a good score and I was the best student in class (oops, a little awkward, since other students were around, and really, I don't think that there's anything special about my performance other than I only missed two classes). I tried to make a joke about being the one who sets the grading curve higher but that joke failed because I have no clue about German mathematical terms.

At the very last class, she asked again and I said nope. The other students chimed in and it was practically a session of great sadness and gnashing of teeth in lament that I wasn't going to take this silly exam. I am completely flummoxed why they would care, but I guess it was cute. It also makes me think that I should have researched more fully the benefits of taking the exam! With my luck, it's probably required before taking the next class or something.

-I took on what I thought would be a simple favor for a friend, picking up her car from the repair shop. Instead it devolved into an incident that included security guards, men who were excited to do "manly" things, military police, the Pfälzisch dialect (oh lawd, I can't do anything with that), my ever-present worry about being electrocuted, being environmentally unfriendly (ugh), and surprisingly, a lot of laughter after the incident was resolved.

-I had dinner with a group of about 20 friends at my favorite restaurant. That was awesome, but I determined that my two smarty-pantsiest friends should no longer be allowed to sit together because they are just too much, combined ;) I was invited on a Valentine's Day "date" to a movie, but had to decline because I had already asked someone else on a "date" and I didn't want to be too much of a friend player. Of course the two smarty-pants guys got rolling on that so I didn't find out what the "date" offer was until later. A bunch of them (including smarty pants #1) went to see 50 Shades of Grey. They drank a bottle of champagne before entering but for me personally, I don't think that there's enough champagne in the world to make me want to see the movie.

-As I mentioned earlier, I had a hot "date" for Valentine's Day. I invited a friend to a dinner where our hosts were serving us traditional northern German food, which apparently includes copious amounts of schnapps, especially served in spoons and/or on fire. We were the youngest guests there, probably by at least 25 years. It was awesome. More to follow on that one.

-A bunch of us met up again for breakfast. I got several hugs, which I am not really into, but I'm to the point of saying, forget it and just let people hug me. For whatever reason, it seems to give huggers great anxiety not to hug and they seem to want to hug me even more. It won't kill me, I guess. I'm just not that into it. The breakfast was really fun as we crammed about 20 people into a one-bedroom apartment.

In love

Graffiti in Paris

In the wall

in love 

am I with thee

for thou remind me

of my favorite sculpture by Brancusi

Source

Nothing says Happy New Year! like a half-hearted cactus

Happy New Year!

To help you feel festive, I'm taking you way back to Christmas (you know, like as in, last week).

This was a Christmas decoration from one of the Mexican restaurants in the Kaiserslautern area. Some colleagues and I enjoyed lunch there and giggled about the "cacti" decorating the windows. The one on the left was a rather cute Christmas decoration, and the other one...well, whomever made that one was certainly phoning it in! Perhaps it wasn't meant to be a cactus. It kind of reminds me of a sideways shadow puppet dog. Maybe.

Regardless, may 2015 be a happy and fun new year!

Itchy Silvester: exploding into the new year

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! Yahoos have been setting off fireworks all day as today and tomorrow are the only days of the year that Germans do so without special permission (thank goodness).

People will be celebrating Silvester, named in honor of the saint. I'm going to have a quiet night in because I'm worn out for some reason and C is sick (I'm hoping that I am not getting what she has). I did enjoy a nice dinner at Safari and Moo's hanging out with me so I'm appreciative of a peaceful night. Well, it's peaceful in my house...outside, not so much, with all the fireworks. Moo is taking it all in stride. I would like to think it's because he's a rather calm cat but it also might be related to the fact that he's not the sharpest crayon in the pack.

To learn more about German new year's traditions, you can read this About.com article.

I'll leave you with a funny Silvester cartoon, created by Malachi R. Rempen.  To enjoy more of his amusing (and very spot-on!) take on expat life, check out Itchy Feet. 

How I spent 2014 Christmas

This year's Christmas day was somewhat low-key. I spent half the day lounging around then texted a friend to go for a hike. I needed the diversity in activities, after all.

He brought a friend and the three of us hiked from the university up to the Humbergturm, a tower with a nice view over the city of Kaiserslautern. We had a fun time hiking; both guys are Bangledeshi and very merry. We chatted about different holidays, including in their country, and how people celebrate them.

On the way, we passed a decent amount of hikers, including two cute older ladies. They wished a merry Christmas and told us to hike faster to get to the top. Considering that we were already going at a good clip, it was pretty funny! I'm always so impressed by the active elderly Germans. They totally kick it on the trails.

Once at the top, we climbed the tower and admired the view and debated what various buildings were. One can see the whole city of Kaiserslautern from there.

Humbergturm, Kaiserslautern: built 1900

View of Kaiserslautern, to the north, from the Humbergturm

On the way back, some German hikers asked if we were returning to the city and if they could follow us, which we agreed to, stating that we were going back to the university. I can totally understand how it's easy to get lost; the only reason I knew where I was going was because I had been up that way two years ago for a volksmarch to the tower. In total, we hiked about 12 kilometers.

When we returned to the car, I said bye to the guys and hustled home. C was cooking Christmas dinner and I threw together a side dish and a pie. In total, we had:

• Crock pot ham, marinated in cranberry juice with cloves stuck in the top (for every pound of ham, add an hour of cooking in the crock pot at low heat)
• Mashed potatoes with bacon, leeks, celery, and garlic
• Cornbread stuffing with added cranberries, celery, and bacon
• Brussels sprouts cooked in a glaze of maple syrup and balsamic vinegar with blue cheese and fresh cranberries (I used this recipe but steamed the brussels sprouts first because otherwise they are too bitter for my taste; I also omitted the barley and pecans)
• Apple pie, using Uncle Paul's Pie Crust recipe

All of it was delicious! C did a wonderful job of creating everything and gave it that special touch, which is, in my book, pork products, which she knows I like ;) Since I am done with the vegan challenge, I could enjoy it all.

After dinner, we watched The Signal, a sci-fi thriller about alien abduction. It was super interesting, with lots of moving pieces. The plot kept building and building without us being able to see where the movie was going. In fact, they did such a good job of it that we couldn't exactly get the ending! A bit of Googling made it clearer. We both that the director had quite a bit of talent and will only get better as his style matures.

It was late so C turned in. I skyped my family for a bit to wish them a merry Christmas. It was a lovely day, spent with friends and connecting with family.

Merry Christmas!

With warm regards, Around the Wherever & Moo the Cat

Rüdesheim's getting funky with holiday decorations this time

Rüdesheim am Rhein really decks itself out for the holidays, which is no surprise given how large its Christmas market is compared to the size of the town. As C and I strolled along, we saw some interesting Christmas decorations.

They ranged from unusual and very clever, like this Christmas tree made from crates...

 ...to straight up unusual, like this leg-Christmas tree thingie in Siegfried's Musikkabinet.

Some things were a bit over the top, like this house...

...and some decorations tried to get in through the top, like these guys, whom I called 007 Santas.

(Seriously, Europeans, why do you like to decorate with Santas who are trying to break in by scaling the walls? Many houses have chimneys and front doors so those are possible entry points. Or, do the chimney sweeps have a monopoly on the chimneys?)

Last but not least, some decorations seem grumpy, like this Santa...

"Dang it! The chimney sweep monopolized the chimneys again!"

...or this guy.

Either way, Moo and I, who are not grumpy, want to wish you a very merry Christmas.