A Bonniful Christmas

I had the pleasure of going to Germany for Christmas this year.  My mom's best friend and her family are staying in Bonn with their Grandmother for the holiday season.  Their son, who lives in New York, traveled down to d.c. to spend the holiday with my family, so it was a fair and square Christmas switch.

Stefan was kind enough to go out of his way and pick me up at the airport so we could take the train from Frankfurt to Siegburg/Bonn together.  Thank you, Stefan!  (especially for the Haribo gummies)

I arrived on Christmas Eve, despite concerns that accumulated and ongoing snow might impede the plans to visit.  The first thing I noticed at the Frankfurt  train station was...the orderliness and cleanliness of it all.

The train itself could have been tea at the ritz, as far as I was concerned, after having become accustomed to Istanbul dolmus buses.  Granted, Stefan and I didn't pay the 2 Euro extra for seats, but we got to observe those passengers who did as they enjoyed their beer and newspapers.

Dieter and Akiko picked us up from the train station in Bonn and we drove on the Autobahn, on which I was surprised to find the cars not driving at 100 mph as I had always been told.  Germans, always exaggerating!

First we drove to Hanna's apartment, where I would be sleeping for the weekend.  Hanna was 3 days away from a big move to Geneva to start a new job in development.  It was so good to catch up with Hanna, whom I had not seen since about the age of nine.  It turns out we have a lot in common, living/having lived in developing countries, having similar political stances and being veggie gave us more than enough to discuss.  I can't wait to find an excuse to meet up with her again - Geneva? scuba diving in the Philippnes?  (Hanna is a great scuba diver, having lived in the Philippines for many years).  Ok now, back to Christmas!

We arrived at Grandma, or Omi's house mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve.  The house could not have been more Christmas-friendly.

We immediately broke into tin jars containing all sorts of small cookies and sweets.

I felt instant pangs of familiarity when I saw these tin jars filled with cookies.  My own grandmother is of German heritage and every Christmas makes batches of (always small) cookies to share with guests.  I thought it was so neat to make this connection from my grandma's tradition - talk about cultural heritage!

presents!

advent wreath and cookies

Stefan

Akiko served a great tea/coffee and sweets session

We bundled up and went on a long walk in the snow...

The area in which they live is home to many ex-government officials, as Bonn used to be the capital of West Germany until 1990.  The capital was then moved to Berlin, leaving Bonn as a sort of abandoned capital.  More on that later...back to the walk for now.

Hanna

Akiko, Dieter and Hanna

me and Akiko

yardsale?

We got back to the house, and Akiko led us in some caroling.  Akiko is actually a serious caroler, she goes with a group around town in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  We sang some great carols in English and German. 

German carols

family hug

family portrait

the creche

And then it was time for presents...

Stefan with his traditional Germany Christmas cookie.  Scarily, these cookies can last for years...

pile-o-presents

Akiko opening up a gift

Hanna and her new Istanbul scarf

Dieter opening up one of his gifts

success!

Akiko gave me Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul, which is great so far, now that I have a better feel for the city

Hanna gave me a beautiful necklace

Germany is famous for its Christmas markets.  Unfortunately, these markets all close down before Christmas Eve.  Thanks to Stefan, who puchased a few items for me, I know have a few authentic German Christmas crafts.

a real Nutcracker!

traditional handmade German tree ornaments



A wonderful Christmas Eve, so far.  Then it was dinner time.  We had a meal called raqlette (I am sure I have the spelling wrong here), but it is apparently French, Swiss and Italian, depending on whom you ask.  It basically consists of warm bread, cheese, various pickled items (peppers, radishes, etc) and grilled vegetables.

After dinner, Hanna and I returned to her apartment for a good night's sleep before the next days events, which I was told included eating a huge midday feast.  Sleep was indeed needed!

morning view from Hanna's window

Back to Grandma's for the Christmas Day feast, which included: Stuffing, duck, gravy and traditional Polish dumplings (thanks to Gertrude, the resident Pole who contributed this fantastic dish.

one of those German cookie that "lasts" forever

more Christmas decorations around the house

beer and duck

I almost forgot to mention the cabbage!  Akiko makes a cabbage dish that is almost identical to one I love making from Alice Water's recipes, however, Akiko puts chestnuts in hers, which are so so good.

better than a fridge

After our great feast, Dieter, Akiko and Hanna offered to take me into Bonn for a little tour.  Our first stop was on the Rhine river, where we saw Medieval castle ruins off in the distance, and just as importantly - ducks and geese.

puppy

the old residence for the President

We drove to the central district of Bonn, where the city was essentially a ghost town, as it was Christmas day.  We started off by seeing a building entirely covered in a gingerbread-style covering.

Christmas street decorations and lights - this is what I have missed in Istanbul this season!

this one's for my godfather, Richard

Bonn is the birthplace of Beethoven...

the house Beethoven was born in

Dieter informed me that different shops will have a symbol of their "craft" in their window (like the giant pipe) I wasn't sure what this one was, I just liked the house.

Apparently the Bonn Cathedral was patroned by Constantine I's mother.  Byzantium will just not leave me alone!

statue of Beethoven in town square

another angle of Beethoven's statue, in front of the post office

inside the Cathedral

awesomely large basset hound

Stefan promised to wait for my return from the city tour to make the traditional homemade waffles.  He also translated and emailed me the recipe...

After another feast of cookies, tea, coffee and this time including waffles, we relaxed, read our new Christmas books and then Dieter got us all to watch his favorite "spaghetti Western" which was not bad.  The best part by far was his translating the entire film to me, which had probably about 30 words, tops, thanks to the silent cowboy-types.  Dieter went above and beyond the call of duty, by conveying important messages such as "and here is the intense music, building up" or "now he is glaring at the other guy...".  In order to understand the plot, a little imdb-ing was necessary.

after a lovely final overindulgence in sweets, sherry and more sweets, I put down my glass and Dieter and Akiko took me back to the train station.  Back to Istanbul, back to work and back to the chaos of finals.  Thank you Dieter, Akiko, Hanna, Stefan and Omi for a wonderful, white Christmas.