Viser innlegg med etiketten Christmas. Vis alle innlegg
Viser innlegg med etiketten Christmas. Vis alle innlegg

søndag 24. august 2014

Grüß Gott

So I've been on vacation.

First we took the big boat to Kiel and the we drove to Rothenburg where we spent a night.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a lovely little town. People tell me the town in both "The Brave Little Tailor" and "Pinocchio" is based on Rothenburg. We spent only one night though, so I didn't see that much of it, but I wandered some of the streets and I got to visit the Christmas store there. Which felt strange. You're out in the streets in the beginning of July and then, suddenly, you're in some Christmas wonderland.

Then we drove to a Vinyard near Lindau by the Bodensee (Lake Constance) in southern Germany where we stayed for almost two weeks. Here's the view from our balcony:


The mountains to the left belongs to Austria and the ones to the right belongs to Switzerland. We visited both countries briefly, but stayed in Germany most of the time and visited small towns around us.


                                                                                          Lindau -->


My favorites were Meersburg, a loveley medieval town with a proper fort and plenty of small trinket shops.
 


And Wieskirche, a beautiful rococo church that was apparently saved from WWII bombings thanks to an Englishman refusing to follow his orders.



And the most beautiful of all:


the wonderful Neuschwanstein Castle which I've always wanted to see. I didnt get to see the inside though because the people I was with can sometimes be kind of lame and I'm too shy to tell them how much I wanted too. My siblings and I are planning a future road trip though, so I will see the inside one day.



AND THEN

the highlight of this summer, in my opinion:

We spent two nights in Riquewihr. An adorable little town in France. Surrounded by vinyards and full of tiny timber framing houses in bright colors.

And what do you know! The Christmas store chain has a shop in Riquewihr as well so I visited christmas twice this summer.

We rented a small cabin from a very French man and his wife. I made the mistake of answering all the polite phrases you know, like "ça va" and such, and so the man was convinced that I knew French even though these few phrases are the only thing I remember from French class ten years ago. (I understand politeness, food words and when something is beautiful). Luckily my Mother-in-love (I changed law to love because we're not married) speaks French fairly well.


pretty, pretty little town. I'd like to come again.





Then we drove up north trough the Moselle Valley and slept one night in Bernkastel-Kues and one night in Cloppenburg and then we were back in Schleswig-Holstein, where we always are, and spent one week before we went home.

"Grüß Gott" is a greeting some people use in the south of Germany where Catholicism reigns. It means "May God greet you".

mandag 7. januar 2013

!Year New Happy

This blog is a complete mess, isn't it?
I find I'm always surprised when people leave comments for I can't really see how anything I put here is of any use or entertainment for anyone but myself.

According to tradition I am to list the books I completed last year and review the ones I liked.
But I can't seem to find any motivation for it. I don't know why, but my head is constantly in a turmoil these days. And Christmas and New Years just flashed by. I managed to cling onto some branches and follow the flow, and I had a good time, but I can't say I was that aware of the things happening as it went...

Christmas is/was weird this time (I guess it had to be with a key-person missing).

I could list the books though. And add a sentence about each. If anyone wants to know more about one, they can ask me.

I didn't really read that many books this year anyways. It was a silly year. It had of course it's beautiful moments, but overall I didn't care that much for 2012. Glad it's over. On to better times! (with less sugar, more exercise, proper sleep, yadda yadda yadda).

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
        A fun read, though not as fun as I had hoped.

The Gallows Curse - Karen Maitland
        Same as above really. I love Karen Maitland's style, but this one didn't quite measure up to i.e. Company of Liars.

Perfume - Patrick Süskind
       Loved it.

En dåre fri - Beate Grimsrud
        It's just brilliantly written.

Her Fearful Symetry - Audrey Niffenegger
        Niffenegger is great at portraiting people's relationships and I couldn't put the book away for a second, but I strongly disliked the ending and that sorta ruined the whole thing for me.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
        I really enjoyed this.

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
        This may be my favorite of all the books I read this year. It isn't necessarily any better (you know, when it comes to quality, whatever that implies) than the others, but it contains all my favorite elements (magic, love, mysteries, historic settings, and so on). It was a joy from start to finish.

Ett öga rött - Jonas Hassen Khemiri
        This one is so deliberately and well executed, I enjoyed it very much.

søndag 23. desember 2012

The fourth Sunday in Advent

For longing, joy, hope and peace.

Himlen i min famn by Carola

søndag 16. desember 2012

The third Sunday in Advent

For longing, hope and joy.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (赤鼻のトナカイ) by Hello! Project

søndag 9. desember 2012

The second Sunday in Advent

For hope and joy.

Walk This Sleigh by Robbie Williams

søndag 2. desember 2012

The first Sunday in Advent

For joy.

Getting Ready For Christmas Day by Paul Simon

søndag 25. november 2012

Holidays are coming

This may be proof of how upside-down the world has turned; No thing on earth gets me in the Christmas spirit as completely and effectively as this thing does: