New Year's, 26, & the rest of Germany!

Well, here's my last Germany post. Get ready for more holidays, more food, and more Irene & Katy pictures!

New Year's Eve at the apartment - Irene, Nici, me, Sophie, Sonja, & her boyfriend Tobi

We had raclette, a Swiss dish with melted cheese (raclette cheese, in fact). Each person has a small individual pan and then puts various foods in them (meat, vegetables, etc.), puts a piece of cheese on top, melts the cheese, scrapes it out (to scrape is racler in French), eats it, and repeats. It. is. delicious. And at some point in my life, I want a raclette machine. In Germany, many people eat either raclette or fondue for New Year's Eve as it takes a long time and is fun to do in a group.

next tradition: Feuerzangenbowle, which is glühwein (mulled wine) with the addition of rum-soaked sugar burned and melted on top 

action shot!

I look like a witch whippin' up a little potion.

checking out our handiwork

After grabbing a mug of Feuerzangenbowle, we sat down to watch "Dinner for One," a British comedy sketch which I'd never set eyes on but is apparently a big tradition to watch in Germany on New Year's. We then set out on a little pre-midnight adventure to a nearby park to go see some fireworks. Irene had told me that there are no firework displays put on by the city, but that people are allowed to buy fireworks. At this point, I'm thinking people will be shooting off bottle rockets and sparklers... you know, the little ones. Imagine my surprise when I was regaled with a panoramic display of real, big fireworks! It was 30 minutes of pure joy on my part (if you don't know, I LOVE fireworks) as I stared with an open-mouthed smile at 180° (we couldn't see behind us due to the hill we were on) of fireworks illuminating the sky in multi-colored bursts, highlighting the silhouettes of the many towers of Munich. 

Here's a picture that does ABSOLUTELY NO JUSTICE to how amazing this was! And here's a video that better captures the New Year's Eve atmosphere!

These jelly-filled donuts (which have a special name that I've forgotten and maybe Irene will tell me) are traditionally eaten in the north of Germany at midnight on New Year's. We decided to bring a little north down south and indulge ourselves!

For the last New Year's tradition, we played this little fortune telling game, which comes in this slightly terrifying package.

Each person is given a small object (like my pumpkin here)!

Then, you take turns melting the objects over a candle...

...and, once it's fully melted, you throw it quickly into a bowl of water, where it takes a new shape. Everyone then collaborates to interpret the new shape and try to determine the corresponding fortune for the coming year. I got two: something that looks like a walking stick or staff, and something that looks like a shoe. I can't remember what that means. Probably that I'll star in a Lord of the Rings movie (walking staff à la Gandalf), and that I will get some new shoes.

For the next few days, I headed to Seefeld to hang out with Sophie & Beate (Irene's sister and mom, remember?) and with my good friend Anna.

You may know her?

Basically, I took a few days to really relax, and it was lovely. I made a significant start on Anna Karenina, and am still reading it (though my reading has slowed significantly since my return to France). On January 4th, I headed back to Munich to begin my birthday celebrations.

First, Beate and I went to see an art exhibition featuring pieces formerly owned by Gunter Sachs, a famous photographer and art collector who died in 2011. His life's story is very interesting, as was his collection! He was a big supporter of Pop Art, so his collection included works by Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, as well as surrealist pieces by Magritte and Dalí, among others.

outside the Villa Stuck, the building where the exhibition was held

The Villa Stuck is a very aesthetically interesting house where the painter Franz Stuck lived. We also toured the home and saw some of Stuck's paintings.

Afterward, Beate took me to this cafe, which is her favorite in Munich. It was fantastic! (Btdubbs, I feel like I could have an entire post of pictures titled "Delicious Hot Chocolate and Cake in Germany.")

For good measure, here's another shot of the Christmas tree in the Marienplatz.

After Beate left, Irene, Nici, and I went to (get this) a Mexican restaurant where they had made a reservation! In the Germanic traditions, holidays are celebrated the evening before, including birthdays. So this was the first of my birthday meals! It was delicioso. I'd say it was the best Mexican food I've ever had in Europe. It's never really the same as home, but still, it was more similar than anything else I've tried. And it was so sweet of them to make reservations for Mexican for my birthday as we all know it's my fave!

At midnight, we celebrated with sparkling wine and even presents! (much-needed tights and legwarmers, which I wear approximately every other day!) Alles gute zum Geburtstag to me!

A decade after celebrating 16 in Texas, here we are celebrating 26 in Germany!

Next "morning" (we slept in), I woke up to a homemade (!) cake! It. was. fantastic.

For my birthday, I chose to visit the Munich Residenz, the city palace. I'd never seen it before, so it was exciting to do something new in Munich! We got to look at a ton of the rooms in the palace, as well as the treasury and all of the shiny things (read: jewels) within. I mean really, how many birthdays do you get to spend in a palace?!

birthday dinner, made by Irene & Nici and shared by the three of us with Beate: wiener schnitzel, potatoes, and some kind of new (to me) and exciting salad that I've never seen before! Guten Appetit!

My last day in Germany (and everyone's last day of vacation), we decided to take it easy and hit up the €1 day at the Neue Pinakothek (an art museum) to check out some art; here are some of my faves!

Liebermann Münchner Biergarten (Beergarden in Munich)

Degas (for the love, I canNOT find the name)

Van Gogh Tournesols (Sunflowers)

Signac Santa Maria della Salute

Monet Nymphéas (Waterlilies) c. 1915

Renoir La femme accroupie (Crouching Woman)

Overbeck Italia und Germania (Italy and Germany)

Waldmüller Junge Bäuerin mit drei Kindern im Fenster (Young Peasant Woman with three Children in the Window)

And to wrap it up, here's a collection of random leftover pictures of exciting things from my trip:

I found THIS in the airport in Toulouse on the way to Munich. First Dr Pepper in 3 months!

Irene made this cupcake as a welcome gift, and I ate it. It was both adorable and tasty.

I saw The Hobbit! Or should I say Der Hobbit? (Also it should be noted that I had no idea it would be a trilogy, and so when the end of the movie came without closure, I turned to Irene and said "Are they KIDDING me?!")

I saw these beautifully-decorated chocolates in a window.

And, the morning of January 7th, I spent an Alpine sunrise in the air...

...and came home to a Mediterranean sunset.

I was content to come back to ma vie narbonnaise (and see all my friends here, which is quite the growing group), I was sad to leave Germany. I've now spent more than five weeks in Germany, and I know I'll spend more! I love that I know that I'll continue to return to visit Irene and see her family throughout my life. I'm so grateful for the time I spent there this year, and especially for the opportunity to have somewhere to belong for Christmas, New Year's, and my birthday. This trip was very special because of that, and because I also got the opportunity to visit Nici's family in Hamburg. I felt so welcome and at home throughout the whole trip. I am so thankful for and even proud of my friendship with Irene, which I have no fear of losing despite the distance that is usually between us. I know I've said it before, but it is an incredibly special friendship, and it brings me joy! Stay tuned, there may be more Irene & Katy adventures this year yet!

Hamburg

Day 2 & 3 of our Hamburger adventure! (... in which we actually go to Hamburg!)

First stop: part two of my Christmas present, a boat tour through Hamburg! On the... Louisiana Star?! Hilarious.

bringin' the Mississippi to Hamburg

If you didn't know it, I could be in New Orleans! Except for the scarf and mittens...

tugboats :)

This building, whatever it is, was made to look like a boat.

Lots of wealthy Hamburgers* live on this beach.

Hamburg has a huge industrial harbor where they store and move these huge containers using magnetized cranes and giant ships, like this one from Beirut.

the Hamburg flag (and that guy)

the Elbphilharmonie, the opera house that's been being felt forever and still has a while to go (The Elbe is the river that goes through the harbor, by the way. It starts in Czech Republic and flows to the North Sea.)

Mississippi Queen... What is it with the Mississippi obsession?

Top right: "Enjoy a harbor boat tour through the historic Speicherstadt" - check!

Hamburg's Rathaus (town hall)

Can't tell what this is saying, but I can make a good guess it's something about World War I. That's how good my German is.**

These interesting-looking trees were everywhere!

First legit mall I've been to since being in Europe!

That is a Hollister store. With a line outside of it. That's right, a line JUST TO GET IN. But at least they don't make up fake American brands like the French with the US Marshall business that I have never seen in the United States.

The Alster river goes through the middle of the city and they widened it to make a little lake in the middle of the city.

It suddenly got so sunny and nice that we decided to head over to the St. Michaelis church to climb the tour while the view was so lovely!

St. Michaelis is a Protestant church, so here we have good ol' Martin Luther!

St. Michael, always fighting that dragon!***

Beautiful!

We actually witnessed some sort of rehearsal and got to hear the acoustics in action.

lions with the castle from the Hamburg coat of arms

St. Michael, behind the scenes

giant bell (so glad that the bells didn't chime while we were climbing the tower!)

Ta-da! You can see the Alster river/lake (left side) as well as the green roof/tower of the Rathaus (right side)

the Elbe river, which we had sailed a bit earlier

The tall lone tower is the Nikolai tower, which you'll see up close later on in the post.

victorious, post-climb

Middle right: "Climb the tower of the Michel and admire Hamburg from above" - check! Irene and Nici were so creative with this present, I LOVED it, and the checklist hangs up in my room in France now!

If you look closely, you can see the word "Polen" in the brick of this building. "Polen" means "Poland" in German; builders like to hide messages in their creations sometimes. (Obviously these were Polish!)

Alster river/lake

yet another Weihnachtsmarkt!

The remains of the Hammerburg? (Irene help me out?), a former fortress

(Notice the ruins are now in a café? Confusing.)

We then went on a (successful) search for the club where the Beatles had their first concert. They were the resident band here in this club, which used to be called the Kaiserkeller. The Beatles started their career here in Hamburg!

Here's the explanation... if you read German.

full view

plaque at the entrance to the street the club is on

After a full day, we headed out to dinner to meet up with a few of Irene's friends from high school (Jojo, Katrin, and Martina) whom I had actually met eight years ago! We had a great dinner and such a good time. It was really cool getting to see them again, talk to them all, and see the people they've grown up to be.

The next morning, we headed out to the HafenCity, which is a modern part of the city being built right on the harbor.

funky apartment complex

the Unilever building - Unilever brands include Axe, Dove, Hellmann's, Knorr, and Lipton, among others

inside Unilever

up close and personal with the Elbphilharmonie

what it will look like when it's finished, including a hotel and apartments!

the Speicherstadt, or the warehouse district - These are storage units where people have historically, well, stored things. Pulleys used to line the roof so that goods could be lifted out of the boats into the units.

French Aaron!

This is the St. Nikolai church, which is mostly destroyed except for the tower, which we saw from the top of the St. Michaelis church earlier.

Check out the exposed bells.

the ruins of the church

This statue is called "Angel on Earth," and the inscription says "Take my hand and let me lead you back to yourself."

We met up with Jojo, her boyfriend, and a friend to go have a coffee and cake. The restaurant is right on the Alster river/lake, and we had a table right by the window - perfect!

spicy hot chocolate and apple cake... once again, delicious! I've gotta have spicy hot chocolate again sometime...

I loved getting to experience a new city with Irene & Nici, and getting to see where Nici grew up. Of course it was really great to see Katrin, Martina, and Jojo again after so long! I actually have a framed picture of Sonja, Jojo, and me with a note from Jojo saying that she hoped we'd meet again someday. Now this year, I've seen them both again! Also, it was really interesting to see a German city other than Munich so that I could see the difference. Hamburg was very different. First of all, it's a more modern city. Much of the city was destroyed in World War II, much more than in Munich. Therefore, most of the city has been rebuilt since that time, and it is evident when you look at the cityscape. From above, it sometimes looks more American than I've ever seen a European city look; kind of similar to New York; for example, the green roofs and the wide roads give a New York-ish feel. It's a very industrial city, and the harbor is very important. Trade has always been important for Hamburg as it was also part of the Hanseatic League, just like Lübeck. Hamburg is also a "musical city," and they have many musicals there, such as The Lion King. (This is somewhat rare in Europe, most Europeans don't like musicals as much as Americans do.) Also, it's interesting to note that after World War II, when Germany was divided for control by the Allies, Hamburg was in the part controlled by England, while Munich was in the part controlled by the USA. On a less historical and more personal note, it was so nice to go and visit Nici's family. They were so welcoming, and their home was beautiful. They fed me well, and even made me a very traditional northern German meal (I should have taken a picture!) which was fantastic. (I also tried kale for (I think) the first time!) It was lovely to stay with them, and to continue my German adventures with Irene & Nici. I'm very happy to have experienced more of Germany in Hamburg!

Also, this is random and has nothing to do with Hamburg, but just fyi: Today (January 20th) marks the halfway point between my departure from Texas (September 17th) and my departure from Europe (May 23rd). How crazy, time is flying!

*The people, not the sandwiches.

**Just kidding. The dates gave it away.

***Revelation 12:7-9