Happy New Year! Frohes Neues Jahr!

Happy New Year!

First - a big thanks to the person who sent me a box of Chocolate Malt o Meal! Not even remotely possible to find out here.

We are winding down our holiday season, but before it ended, we took a quick trip to Ronnenberg again to visit our friends, the Kellersmann family, for New Year's Eve and New Year Day. 

In Germany, the New Year holiday is called Silvester. There are  several German traditions that are very different than in the US. For example, there is Bleigießen  -  dropping molten lead into cold water and making predictions according to the shape it makes. Eating a jam filled donut (a Berliner) is another tradition. Touching a chimney sweep or having one rub ashes on your head is traditionally done for good luck. You can read the full wikipedia entry here, just scroll down to Germany.

We took a  morning train to Ronnenberg and arrived just before lunch. After a little bite to eat, Matthias took the Haines bunch on a little walk around Gehrdenberg. It is a small mountain surrounded by the town of Gehrden.

At one point during our hike we came across this stone plaque. It was a contemplative place with a couple of benches where a person could sit and look at the view while thinking about the poem on the stone.

Ein Traum, ein Traum ist unser Leben
Auf Erden hier;
Wie Schatten auf den Wogen schweben
Und schwinden wir
Und messen unsere trägen Schritte
Nach Raum und Zeit
Und sind, wir wissen's nicht, in Mitte
Der Ewigkeit

Johann Gottfried Herder

And now in English

A dream, a dream is our life
Here on Earth;
Like shadows floating on the waves
And we fade
And measure our slow steps
After space and time
And, we do not know, in the middle
Of eternity.

That evening we were treated to a Kellersmann New Year tradition. Raclette!
Raclette is actually a French invention, but the Germans have made it their own. The traditional French way of eating this meal includes placing a bit of meat, potatoes and/or vegetables in a small pan and then covering the contents of the pan with cheese. Then, you place the small pan in the Raclette griddle. The heating elements are above and below while the small pan is placed between the elements. When everything is melted, you scrape it onto your plate and eat it. The German way has less cheese and more of everything else.

Above was the younger people table and below was some the toppings for the adults. The salad, of course,  was on the side.

After dinner we had fun waiting till midnight. This lead us to another German New Year tradition - watching the British sketch Dinner for One. It has nothing to do with the New Year itself, but it has become a German holiday staple. The line, "The same procedure as last year?" has become a catch phrase here in Germany.

There was no question of when it struck twelve because I think every household in a 100 kilometer radius set of rockets for the next 45 minutes.

We even helped the Kellersmanns to set a few off ourselves.

Of course no New Year celebration would be complete without a few sparklers.

Paulina and Ute both have sparkler talent. The German word for sparkler is something like Zauberstange (magic wand).

The next day was Sunday and New Year's Day so there was not much open to explore. However, there was a nearby town called Springer which had a special Nativity display. The newspaper (Zeitung) indicated it was open, so off we went. Unfortunately, it was closed. Instead, we walked through the center of town, and like all German towns we have had the opportunity to walk through, it was charming.

This is the only time I have ever seen  more than a minimal amount of litter on the ground, some leftovers from fireworks.

It is not just a problem in the US - pick up your Dog Poop! Gross! (Literally, please meadows and paths not as dog toilet use.)

One thing I love about Germany is they are not afraid to put art anywhere. Here is a Sundial (maybe) in the parking lot of between a church and a museum. Sadly, it is winter and not of much use.

There was no sign to tell us what this wall might have been used for. It looked like it was possibly part of a fortress complex.

We still had several hours till we needed to make our way down to Münster, and it occurred to Ute that we could make a little detour to a lovely little town called Hameln with some lovely buildings from the Weserrenaissance.

Hameln sits on the River Weser. There is a small electric plant to the left with a newly installed fish staircase that they are very proud of.

There are some lovely buildings here that are examples of the Weserrenaissance, this one is called Rattenfängerhaus.

There are also cool narrow streets bordered by buildings that would be showcases in many cities, but are unremarkable here.

I love that this house is all kinds of not square.

Oh, and by the way ... the story about the flutist that led all of the rats out of town and then led the children away when the town's leaders wouldn't pay? Yep, that was here (it's really Hameln, not Hamelin). It seems like there are surprises all over Germany. 

The story is based on the disappearance of the town's children around the year 1280. There is no clear answer of why the children vanished, some think it was a plague or that the children were taken for the Children's Crusade. By the way, "Pied" means multicolored. Here is what the inscription along the top of the Rattenfängerhaus (Rat Catcher's House) says.

That evening we made our way home by train and then biked from the train station to our apartment at about 9:50. The wind was very strong, but we made it.

We have been very lucky to make so many friends here. For the past few weeks I have been privileged to learn how to make pizza dough, yoghurt, Arepas and a few other things. I have found several food stuffs I am going to miss when we return to the states. Perhaps it is time for a blog dedicated to food!