The Spirit of Christmas

Someone back home in the States said to me recently that the Germans probably have a better understanding of the meaning of Christmas and the holiday season than Americans.  I don't know about that.  I can't think of one person back home who lauds the commercialism that the season now seems to represent.  Despite what the TV, store displays, and radio would suggest, I think that most people still value traditions, time spent with family or friends, and the time of reflection of the season, not to mention the food.  It seems that every year the shopping season gets longer, the music gets worse, and the decorations more frivolous and tacky.  We all complain about it.  And, while so far the wretched inflatable decorations haven't really caught on over here, I think Germany also struggles with a corruption of the season. I've heard repeatedly from several sources in solemn tones that when it comes to the insanity of the holidays, Germany is getting out of control just like everyone else.  Seriously, with barely an observance of Halloween and certainly no Thanksgiving, the shopping season started, oh, somewhere around October 1st.  While the leaves were still mostly green, loaves of stollen and bottles of Glühwein started appearing on shelves.  While we've been spared the media inundation since we don't watch local TV or listen to radio, a trip to the grocery store last night was the only proof I needed that the Germans are just as wacky three days before Christmas as Americans.

But, there is one thing I can honestly say makes the season better in Germany.  I give to you the humble Christmas Market, known in these parts as Weihnachtsmarkt or Christkindlmarkt.  Christmas Markets started in the German speaking world sometime in the late Middle Ages.  The one downriver in Frankfurt has been going on since at least 1393.  They coincide with the four weekends of Advent.  Traditional ones end the weekend before Christmas, but nowadays some of the larger ones stay open until Christmas Eve. They've since become regular features around the Western world.  There's one on the Champs-Élysées, you can visit one in Leeds, and Akron even used have a respectable offering about 10 years ago (it has, alas, become a sad shadow of its former self.  Oh, Akron...sigh).  But, the best ones are still to be found where it all began- Germany.

Market square of Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Fujifilm X-E2 18mm f/9 1/125

This season we decided we were going to take advantage of this most wondrous cultural offering and visit as many as possible.  Somewhere between steaming cups of Glühwein, nibbling on a Schneeball, and strolling through endless stalls of goods we discovered that we started feeling, well, Christmassy.  I have this vision of what Christmas is supposed to be like, it's some sort of mashup of Dickens, pre-Christian yule, and It's a Wonderful Life.  I imagine big pots of hot drink, lots of sparkly candles, carolers, simple or elaborate food items being showcased on festive tables, and a general feeling of goodwill amongst strangers.  In short, I think Christmas is supposed to be fun, to do exactly what the old yule celebrations did- scare away the dark, cold, and general unease of winter.  Here, for the first time in I don't know how long, it felt exactly this way.  We attended 6, and maybe we'll squeeze in one more this evening.  We went to tiny ones and we went to huge ones.  We had good weather and we had truly wretched weather.  But, at every single one we had fun and there was none of that oppressive and overwhelming stressed out commercial feeling at any.  Never once did I hear a single pop Christmas song.  There wasn't an inflatable Santa on a Harley in sight either.  So, without further ado, here are some shots from the markets.

Fujifilm X-E2 18mm f/10 1/160, edit Photoshop

 This spot is one of the quintessential shots of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  Rothenburg o.d.T is probably one of the most well known stops along the Romantic Road, a tourist route from Würzburg to Füssen.  What it is known for are the Christmas shops, museum, and the fact the old town is trapped, architecturally speaking, in the Middle Ages.  It's a beautiful place to explore, but getting a wide shot without brightly clothed and bumbling tourists is nigh impossible.  I had hoped to stick around late so the crowds would thin out, but the weather was atrocious so we high tailed it home early.

Fujifilm X-E2 42mm f/4 1/180

Paper stars are a traditional decoration at Christmas.  They are typically hung in windows, and as you can see throw off a rich and festive glow.  I found myself drawn to the stalls that sold them, and finally after much jostling in Rothenburg o.d.T I found this one that was positively infested with the beautiful things.   Of course, while trying to get the shot, about a half dozen other tourists decided I must be onto something and immediately stepped in front.  Oh, the trials of the 5'3" photographer...

Fujifilm X-E2 55mm f/5 1/250

 Würzburg is a regular haunt for us, just being about an hour down the Autobahn.  It's the northern terminus of the Romantic Road and known especially for its Baroque architecture.  I was absolutely enamored with the cream yellow facade of the Haus zum Falken in all its lavish Rococo glory.  I found the bright red of the Marienkapelle a nice contrast to its more ornate neighbor.

Fujifilm X-E2 39mm f/4 1/125, Fuji Vibrant Film Simulation

For unique shopping, the winner this year was the Ronneburg Castle Historic Market.  The parking for this one was utterly atrocious and we found ourselves climbing a rather substantial hill for about an hour before we finally entered the gates of this market.  However, it was totally worth it, and an excellent test of my new Holdfast Gear Moneymaker strap system (more on that some other time).  Here are some olive wood items for sale outside of the castle.  The grain of the wood makes for some striking patterns on the objects, so I decided to utilize the Vibrant film simulation so they'd pop just a little more.  We ended up walking away with a wonderful snack bowl and polished horn spoons from this stand.  

Fujifilm X-E2 33mm f/4.5 1/500

 The weekend of the Ronneburg market was rather brisk, which caused some excellent steam action off our clay Glühwein mugs.  It was also a great opportunity to showcase the bright clarity of the Fujinon 18-55mm lens.  

Fujifilm X-E2 41mm f/6.4 1/250

There was something about this scene of smoke wafting around the straw strewn grounds of Ronneburg Castle, the laughter, the smell of meats roasting on open fires, and the folks strolling about in tunics with swords hanging from their waists that had me saying, "This is what I always imagined Christmas to be like."  Weird, I know.  Please bear in mind I spent a good portion of my younger years studying medieval customs and architecture.  Anyway, this isn't the best shot in the world, but it captures a moment.  That's what photography is for, right?

Canon 600D 100mm f/5 1/80

I've been carry a two camera kit to the markets, the Fujifilm X-E2 for mostly wide shots and the Canon 600D with the 55-250mm for close-ups.  Most of the action the Canon saw was at Ronneburg because of the wonderfully photogenic crowd that only a Medieval Fair can attract.  This lens is no where near fast (a constant struggle at cycling races), but it works well enough for the time being when I'm trying to zero in on one person or thing and crowds or my limited height won't let me get any closer.

Canon 600D 154mm f/5.6 1/80

 These two, St. Nicholas and the Christkind (a really perplexing character who is called the Christ Child, but most definitely isn't, being an adult female and all.  I hope to get her figured out by next Christmas), were a bear to photograph.  St. Nick is, of course, a favorite with the children and his partner was handing out candies to every child in the joint.  So, they were surrounded by quite the crowd of kids hell bent on nabbing a chocolate and parents hell bent on getting a photo of their children with the pair.  This was the best I could pull off, being smaller than the average German child or parent.  Plus, good St. Nick seemed overwhelmed with the whole situation and insisted on hiding behind his counterpart for most of the time.  I didn't blame him.

Canon 600D 135mm f/5 1/80

I spotted him just as we were leaving Ronneburg for the day.  Thankfully, he didn't make for much of a moving target for my sluggish long lens.  It was only after I was looking at it in post that I noticed the wonderfully carved head on the guitar. 

Canon 600D 100mm f/5 1/150

 Here is an example of handmade Christmas decorations that you will find all over the Markets.  This one happened to be on one of the trees at the market in Würzburg.  Something about the delicate simplicity of the straw creations paired with fruit on the tree hinted at an image of Christmases long past.

Fujifilm X-E2 23mm f/5.6 1/80, Vibrant film simulation

 The light on the day we went to Michelstadt was a bit gloomy, so I shot mostly with the Vibrant film simulation.  Michelstadt is known for its timber frame buildings and the whimsical Rathaus (Town Hall) is its most famous structure.  I would have loved to have had some snow on this day, for this town is just saturated in old-timey Christmas goodness already.

Fujifilm X-E2 55mm f/4 1/180

These are the famous Franconian Schneebälle pastries.  They're basically slices of dough that are wadded up and fried in a special contraption and then covered in something.  Traditionally, they are covered in powdered sugar (my favorite), but there are many variations of the ancient treat (supposedly the recipe has been around for 300 years).  Now you can get them filled with cream or soaked in rum and covered in chocolate.  The sugar coma possibilities are endless.

  

Fujifilm X-E2 18mm f/4 1/250, Vibrant film simulation

 Every market has a giant Christmas Pyramid.  The pyramids are traditionally from the Erzgebirge Mountains, but now are popular all over Germany.  Traditionally, they featured nativity scenes or angels, but now some feature more secular scenes of village or woodland life.  This is a more modern rendition featuring one of these secular scenes.  I took this snapshot for folks back home to have an example of some typical market scenes, without thought to composition.  The light was terrible all day and the sun was heading down at this point, but thanks to my X-E2's amazing ability at high ISO levels (1000), I was able to get it handheld.  

Fujifilm X-E2 55mm f/4 1/70

 Another time I was thankful for my X-E2's lowlight capabilities (ISO 1250).  Gosh, mirrorless is a wonderful thing! We went to this market with some friends so I didn't want to carry the full set up that day and just worked with the X-E2.  It was a great opportunity to test its wide range of capabilities with just the kit lens.  

Fujifilm ISO 1250 26mm f/11 1/70

I snapped this as we were leaving Michelstadt in the evening and the sun was getting low on the horizon.  Michelstadt ended up being our favorite market of 2014, maybe it was because we shared the time with friends or it was our first one of the year, but this one had just the right ambiance.

I find myself slightly saddened by the thought that the Christmas market season has come to a close and for the first time a feeling that there is a little magic to the season.  It's not the handmade goods, or the lights, or the food, or the spiced wine (ok, maybe it is the spiced wine).  I think that it mostly has to do with these wonderful markets fostering a feeling of well being amongst the vendors and attendees.  People go, and not just tourists, to have basic seasonal fun.  At the markets you can sing along with the carolers and fight the cold with a mug of mulled goodness just like the yule celebrations of yore, buy wonderful little homemade Christmas wreaths like those in a Dickens tale, and happily wish everyone you pass a "Frohe Weihnachte!" like one would in a German speaking Bedford Falls.  That just warms the cockles of my heart.  I hear there's still one market operating today down the road.  If you need me this evening I'll be standing around a barrel laughing with some strangers, sipping Glühwein, snapping some pictures, and feeling mighty pleased with the whole situation.  Who knows, maybe it'll even give The Dog a feeling of goodwill toward men.  Christmas miracles do happen...

More photos can be viewed on Flickr and will be popping up on Instagram

New Theme

Since we're rapidly approaching the end of 2014 (gah!), I thought it was time to turn more focused attention to this blog.  Should I keep plugging away, call it done, or revitalize it somehow?  I've had a blog in one form or another for almost 5 years, so the thought of giving it up fully is not my first choice.  Continuing on in the same way, however, is unappealing.  Writing up posts on what we did over the weekend or how cycling is going is getting a bit boring to write and probably even more boring to read.  Being an expat is no longer a new experience.  We're closing out our third year over here and despite the fact we're still not 100% sure what is going on and I haven't learned much German, this experience feels pretty normal.  We don't know what home is anymore, but I think that's because we feel evenly split after our second relocation.  Being on the banks of the Main in Unterfranken feels just as comfortable as being on the Cuyahoga in Summit County.  Sometimes, more so.

Anyway, my blogs have always been about sharing new experiences, be it becoming a bike commuter in Akron, Ohio or moving across the Atlantic.  It only makes sense to continue this approach.  So, Relish will be changing just a bit for taking a more focused theme.

Right before we moved to Luxembourg, the only camera I had was the one in my iPhone.  We thought, "Hey, we should get a decent point and shoot camera before we go because we'll probably want to take some pictures."  So, we picked up a Canon Powershot.  It's a great little camera.  But, something about this continent flipped a switch in me.  The people, the architecture, the food, the cities, the cultures, and the incredible landscapes inspired me.  I took that camera everywhere and despite its great performance, I wanted to shoot beyond its capabilities.  After six months I had upgraded to my Canon 600D, shortly thereafter I began adding lenses to my kit, and "taking pictures" became "photography" to me.  Miraculously, some have taken a liking to my work and have been willing to purchase items from my Twenty20 gallery.

So, in future posts I'll be turning Relish into more of a photography focused blog.  I plan to give background on pictures in my galleries and narrate how my exploration of photography is going.  I have a lot to learn.  There is a lot I don't get or know about.  Most of what I've discovered so far have been by trial and error or by accident.  It's not the easiest activity to get into or keep up with, but it is a heck of a lot of fun to try.  And, well, I relish the experience.

Anyway, that's what's up.  Don't worry, there will still be bike stuff from time to time.

Fujifilm X-E2, XF 18-55mm ISO 800 f/4.5 1/500