Listening to Christmas music and really in the spirit. This is the first time in years I have looked forward to Christmas so much. It must be because I am sharing it with Chris for the first time. Munich is the perfect Christmas city. There are Christkindlmarkts everywhere, which are basically stalls selling wooden ornaments, crafts, food and gluhwein (hot mulled wine, often served with a shot rum. De rigueur if you are having the whole experience!). They are festooned with greens and there are unadorned Christmas trees everywhere as well as some with brilliant lights. The whole atmosphere is extremely charming. There’s just no other way to describe it. There are many around town, but the biggest is in Marienplatz, the large square downtown which is the home of the Glockenspiel, Munich’s magical tower with cooper dancing figures made of copper performing at the top several times a day. It’s yet another European monument to commemorate the end of a plague epidemic, but uniquely German. The markets are fun and it’s easy to get caught up in all the festivities, especially after a few warming gluhweins.

There are also Christmas tree stands every few blocks. They sell the tiniest one foot trees to twenty foot beauties which must grace the alt bau (old building) apartments stunningly. We have a small four foot tree, which for me is miniscule, but still beautiful. I wrestled it into our ceramic Christams tree stand by myself this morning, and thought of all the times I’d done it on Potter Street and other places, with my friend Tim helping me. One year, Tom was busy and I got this crazy notion that I could erect the tree on my own. Luckily I had my cordless phone nearby because it turned into an it-could-only-happen-to-Jane-Martin disaster with me pinned underneath it. I phoned everyone I knew, but no one was around so I left panicked messages allover town. Finally, my neighbor Todd rescued me. Good old Todd, a wife and kids, and me to look after as well. All with a sly grin. Todd’s the best. Anyway, I have been doing a bit of reading about Christmas trees. They have been around for centuries and have their roots in pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. But in more recent times, Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert hailed from Germany and brought them to England. According to one source, they were introduced to America by German immigrants to Pennsylvania. In any case, to me the tree is one of best parts of Christmas. I have collected ornaments for years and gotten many while traveling and unwrapping them every year is a real treat. This year, in a real departure for me, we are just putting lights on our tree. Next year it’ll be the usual over the top production!

We are going to England for Christmas next week. I think it will be interesting to see how another country celebrates the holiday. And I get to be a part of Boxing Day, which is December 26th, another holiday there! I am really excited about it. We’ll be back in Munich for New Year’s Eve. I have no idea what we’ve got planned for it, but I am sure we’ll spend it with our close little group.