(formerly known as) the pretzel cathedral

…was rather magical. Pictures to come.

We got to Prague on Thursday night and the following morning ate yummy vanocka for breakfast (a Christmas bread similar to challah but with raisins) and then walked to the castle and around. We ran to into some friends and saw a bunch of people singing carols and drinking svarak under the Charles bridge.

Thennnnnn we decorated the Christmas tree and it was absolutely gorgeous, and wrapped our various presents. These were placed under the tree.

In suspense we waited for Jezicek to come and light the candles and bring us our presents, since we have all been good, especially yours truly. Finally the bell rang and he did come and everything looked  beautiful and the tree was all lit up with candles. We read the story of Jezicek and then ate our Christmas feast, which involved carp, carp soup, mashed potatoes and Christmas cookies. I confess that I ate chicken instead because I am not a fish person. Everything was utterly delicious and we were stuffed. Then we opened prezzies. I received a scarf, wallet, chocolate, necklace, bracelet, atlas, Settlers of Catan board game, and then together with Honza I got a wine carafe and blanket.

Today we walked around the old town and Jewish quarter and hung out in the church that has a dangling human arm and then helped Hana cook for tomorrow and played many games of Catan, the best game of all time.

Josh is here, which is very nice indeed. He is going to Salzburg today. This weekend we hung out with Cecilia and Toby in the Greek taverna (with Cecilia’s parents), went to Christmas markets and drank gluhwein and were accosted by Grampus (the helper of St Nikolaus), and went to three museums: Stadtmuseum, Jewish Museum and the Spielzeug (toy) museum. My mom kindly sent lots of English books along with him— thank you Mom. I babysat last night and Ludwig REFUSED to go to sleep. He may be getting a bit spoiled as we all cuddle and snug him alllllll the time. It is hard to resist though because he is so freaking cute.

Shaina comes on Wednesday, huzzah, and then we leave for Prague on Thursday for a Czech Christmas!

Why yes, I am in fact living in a castle at this very moment…a 600 year-old one near Erlangen, Germany, for the week. Our next door neighbors are deer.

This morning was my dad´s birthday and the kids helped me sing Happy Birthday, in English no less, to him. I have to say, it was a super cute moment.

I am ein bisschen hauskrank, though. It is a good thing Josh and Shaina, my brother and cousin, are coming in the next few days. And I miss Honza here at the castle. It may sound sappy but I must be truthful, no?

My big accomplishment with the German language: talking to the receptionist and the dermatologist solely in German and then having a half hour conversation with someone who was not a small child solely in German. Not to toot my own horn, but having only a very small, World-War-Two-and-imaginary-opera knowledge of German before arriving here to go to this in four months I think is fairly bomb. So okay, my grammar may not be one hundred percent up to snuff all the time, but as of yet I don’t think I’ve offended anyone.

Also accomplished: Christmas shopping. And the kids think it’s hilarious that my mom’s maiden name is Tannenbaum.

It has been quite a whirlwind last week or so. I had my last German class for the A1 unit and we had a very nice celebration at an Italian restaurant. It was rather sad to see it end…it went by so quickly. I’ll probably start my next class in late January, hopefully an A2/B1 class. In the meantime, I will crack down on the books!

Last weekend we went to Prague for Dedecek’s 80th birthday. Forty family members celebrated at the pub U Bileho Lva (The White Lion).

Dedecek is wonderful, and so is the rest of Honza’s family. We ate a huge and delicious meal, sang songs in his honor and drank lots of pivo and cognac.

The next day was St Mikulas (in Germany it is St Nikolaus). Honza and I went over to our friends Franta and Marie, and they were also having over our other friend Kasbunda. Franta and Marie have a 6-month-old baby named Greta who has amazing cheeks.

We had yet another amazing feast and then Honza and I had to return to Munich. The next day, Elisabeth and Amelie had received their Nikolaus/Mikulas bounty. They put out their shoes in the night and the saint puts goodies in their shoes. The girls got a bounty of chocolate, walnuts, peanuts, clementines and—they were very jazzed about this—-body paint that was actually soap. Consequently, they were totally up for taking a bath last night. I even got my own Nikolaus “tute” with nuts, fruits, and chocolate.

And Happy Hanukkah to all!