Now that the holidays are long over, there’s time to talk about them.
Christmastime has always been the time of year when Jonathan misses living in Germany the most. Christmas in Germany has a feel to it that somehow seems very authentic, perhaps because so many American Christmas traditions have roots in Germanic countries.
For her part, Jenelle had long wished to experience a German Christmas market. And the Swiss Misses were begging their parents, “Please, please take us on a very long car ride to a place where we can be outside in cold, wet weather for hours at a time.”
The obvious solution was to visit Germany at Christmastime. And so, in the first week of December (taking advantage of the Feast of Immaculate Conception holiday), the Vances took a week-long vacation in Franconia, in northern Bavaria. They stayed at a lovely vacation apartment outside of Nuremberg, home of Germany’s most famous Christmas market.
Nuremberg’s Christmas market is famous for several seasonal goodies, including Lebkuchen and Prune People.
The Prune People are made of, well, prunes, along with unshelled walnuts and other things that one needs to make prunes and walnuts look sort of like people. The appeal of Prune People is not immediately clear, though it probably becomes more plausible after a few beers.
The appeal of Lebkuchen, on the other hand, was immediately clear, so clear that there was none left over to photograph for this blog entry. After eating too much cheap Lebkuchen during his mission in Germany, Jonathan learned that the really good stuff is made mostly from candied fruits and nuts (no flour).
In an attempt to keep the munchkins warm, their parents dressed them up nice and cozy.
It sort of worked. Many people seemed to think that the three girls were triplets, and some tourists would stop to photograph the little ladies.
The Vances also saw the old town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which likewise had its Christmas market up and running.
Then they had the pleasure of visiting the very, very lovely city of Bamberg, whose buildings were spared during World War II. This preserved the town’s old city hall, which was clearly designed by a committee.
They also saw the Vierzehnheiligenkirche (Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers), a beautiful church in the countryside.
More photos here.
