Xmas (and Fireworks)

We awoke Xmas morning to stockings and gifts. Shane’s idea of stocking stuffers was fireworks and Haribo (german gummi bears). Fireworks are never a bad gift to give/get. Also included were socks and sweaters. Scott and I opened gifts while laying in bed in our undergarments. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Morgan opened the Kindle from Shane that we brought from CA, and Shane got a pretty dang sweet leather satchel. We followed the American tradition of Xmas, where we open gifts on Xmas morn. Germans traditionally open gifts on Xmas eve, or the Holy Night. Blasphemous...

The remainder Morgan’s day was going to be spent cooking Xmas dinner, so Scott Shane and I decided to put clothes on and see some more of Berlin in the few hours of daylight we had left. Even though we had a late start and most places weren’t open, we made the trek to the Pergamon Museum, where we saw...the Pergamon altar. It has basically been stripped down in sections from its original spot in what is now Turkey and reconstructed in a new building built especially for it in Berlin. The Frieze of the altar was especially impressive, depicting scenes/battles/stories from Greek Mythology, including well known Gods Zeus and Athena. The stairway up to the altar was pretty awesome as well, originally built completely of marble. Also inside the museum were the Market Gate of Miletus and the Gate of Ishtar. We were all completely blown away by the magnificence of the Market Gate, even after seeing the recreation of the Altar. A ridiculous amount of money and labor went into its construction as well as its recovery and reconstruction, as it was demolished and buried for several years. If you have a chance to look up photos or even the some history of the altar or the gate, I would highly recommend it. We sauntered through some exhibits on Islamic and Egyptian art before heading out.

Time for more Xmas Market. I'm not entirely sure why these haven't popped up in the US. Around the corner from Museum Island sat the Schlossplatz (Palace Plaza or something like that), where the statues of Marx and Engels stood. The ideal location for a market. We ate more bratwurst and tried some other meaty items. It was another freezing cold night and the meats once again brought some temporary relief. We sort of half ran through the walkways of the market and headed out to the U-Bahn (underground rapid transit system) station. We waited for Shane to procure tickets to our upcoming trip to Vienna, and walked around the station shops. The magazine rack was a nice place to hang out since all mags in EU are available to browse having to deal with plastic covers. We bought some flowers for the Xmas dinner table setting and headed home.

Morgan had slaved away at the stove for most of the day and had prepared a goose dinner for us (tradition in her family) with caramelized carrots, brussel sprouts, german potato cakes cooked in goose fat (can’t remember the name), It was a pretty fantastic meal. We drank beer and Gluwien and she topped the dinner off with a Brandy cake with hard sauce (butter/eggs/brandy). Pretty delicious stuff. Scott and I volunteered to do dishes, which literally took us 45 mins to an hour. We both reeked of goose afterward, but it was a good reek. If you have a chance to reek of goose, I suggest doing it at least once. We said goodbye to Chris and Justine, some friends who had come by to join us. We made a couple calls to family, packed our things for our early train to Wien (Vienna), and went to bed with bellies and hearts filled with goodness.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!!