Frohe Weinachten!

Merry Christmas to all from Nuremberg! I have a special Christmas story to share with you all...

Unable to sleep on Christmas Eve, Mae stumbled to the insanely overpriced pay phone in her hotel lobby to call home and cry about missing her mom and dad. It helped ease the pain a bit, and she was happy for the seven hour time difference so she wasn't waking up her folks in the middle of the night.

When she and Matt awoke to Christmas morning a few short hours later, they decided to attend services at the extremely old cathedral in town. This only lasted about a half hour for Mae and Matt, as it was standing room only and the charm of an all-German Catholic service wore off quickly for our English-speaking Unitarians. But they were glad they had gone anyway. When they returned to the hotel, they took a long winter's nap and awoke to a Christmas feast. Not having a refrigerator in their room and knowing everything wuold be closed for Christmas, they had purchased some food at the Christmas market the day before that the hoped would keep - a bounty of bread, cheese, olives, clementines, and fruitcake. And with no table in their budget (but wonderful) hotel room, they decided to spread a towel over the bed and have a European Christmas picnic. With no music to speak of, Mae turned up her ipod full volume and played some Christmas music through the headphones so that, if they sat close enough, they could enjoy the tunes together. They had a lovely Christmas feast and look forward to an upcoming dessert of the Nutella-coated nuts and gingerbread still awaiting them back at the hotel.

After the feast, Mae and Matt headed to the Nuremberg Opera House to see what was happening. They arrived fifteen minutes before the start of the opera Benvenuto Cellini, and they found a nice woman selling box seats very cheaply. They felt like superstars in their box seats, at the opera on Christmas Day, even though they were clad only in modest jeans and tees. The opera turned out to be the craziest thing either had ever seen, and neither has a clue what it was about. Italian with German subtitles, and very modern. Who knows? But the spectacle was nice.

And now they are at the local internet cafe, telling stories and calling home once again. They have had a very special kind of holiday, and they look forward to moving on to Munich tomorrow for a few more days of German fun before Italy comes calling....

(Don't know why, but I really wanted to tell that in 3rd person! Forgive me.)

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!