European Holiday

Mom and I met on Dec 17th in Munich to celebrate my birthday and the Christmas holiday. It couldn't have gone better. We had a terrific time. Here are some photos, as folks have apparently been requesting them from mom but I brought the discs back to Turkey with me.

Munich was our first stop. In the Marienplatz square we enjoyed spending time at the holiday market drinking Gluwein and soaking in the festivity.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Painted cookies in the Munich market.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

The Christmas market filled with glittery things and lots of tempting food.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

After a day visiting the Alte Pinakotek art museum and the modern art museum, we went for a birthday dinner to a small bavarian restaurant near the hotel. We had rocky start getting seated and ordered, but it ended up being a terrific meal (I had exactly what I wanted) and we had a good laugh with the germans next to us when one man mistook mom's purse for a dog.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Atrium at the Pinakotek der Moderne, the newly built modern art museum.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

I went crazy for pork in Europe. Since it basically doesn't exist here in Turkey, and since it is the only meat I genuinely like, I swore that I would eat pork in some form every day.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

A snow-covered Englishgarten.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Holiday decorations were everywhere in Munich. This was a swanky boutique.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Sweet shop on a shopping street.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Holiday decorations at a diner near the museums.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Marienplatz on a sunny day.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

I got to spend an afternoon with my friend Martin from UNC who was traveling with his family for the holidays. Here, we are trying to check email on wireless outside Hard Rock Cafe.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Classical architecture was popular at one point in Munich's history.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Munich's architecuture was varied. We came across this plaza at night, and were surprised at its grandiosity.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Dachau Concentration Camp

We took part of a day to visit the Munich suburb of Dachau to see the Concentration Camp memorial there. We went there when we were in Germany when I was 12 and it made a huge impression on all of us. After seeing it again this time, Mom decided that I was probably too young the first time.

It snowed the entire time we were there, which added to the gloomy, stark feel.

It snowed heavily the entire time we were at Dachau.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

"Work will Make you Free" entrance gate to Dachau.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Barbed wire on the grounds.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Statue near the gas chambers.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Nurnburg

We took a day trip to Nurnburg. The night before it had snowed, and the train ride through the countryside was gorgeous. We enjoyed walking around the city and especially exploring some of the side streets. Their sausage was also tasty.

Items at the markets were really expensive, but we enjoyed looking and eating the food -- lots of good cheap eats.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Gingerbread cookies at the Christmas market.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

The Castle towers above the city on a hill.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Nurnburg architecture. Much of the city was destroyed in WWII bombing, but was rebuilt in the old style.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

In Nurnburg's main square.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Rathaus and clock, Nurnburg.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Children preparing to make cookies at a booth at the Nurnburg Children's Christmas market.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Leaving Munich was Sad!

We really enjoyed Munich and it was hard to leave. The last night, thanks to Aunt Kathy's b-day present for me, we had a wonderful Thai dinner across from the pension, and then went to see the opera at the theater we'd walked past so many times. The next morning made sandwiches at the breakfast that our pension owner provided and headed on the few hour train ride to Cologne.

The exterior of the Gaertnerplatz Theater in the snow.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Our last night in Munich we went to a wonderful Thai dinner and to the opera at the Gaertnerplatz Theater, down the street from the hotel. We saw The Magic Flute.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Cologne

We spent our last few days in Germany in Cologne, with a short side trip to Aachen, home of Charlemagne's Palace chapel. Our first impression of Cologne, the gritty area around the train station, made me worry a little bit that this stopover was a mistake, but we soon explored and found lots of great areas for walking, amazing architecture (particularly the cathedrals) and the Rhine.

The glorious Cologne Cathedral -- it is I think the tallest cathedral in Europe, and was the tallest building on the continent for years.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Cologne had multiple markets around the city. We most enjoyed the one at Allstadt -- we kept getting there when a post-work crowd of people seemed to gather for a few gluwein before heading home.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Here, by the side of the Rhine River, we had some beer in honor of Chip and deposited some of his ashes in the river, next to the bike path.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

We took a short side trip to Aachen from Cologne. It's the location of Charlemagne's Palace Chapel, an architectural highlight I've been wanting to see since high school. It hovers in the background above a Christmas market.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Sweet shop in Aachen. Aachen is famous for printen, gingerbread-like holiday cookies.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Here I am near the palace chapel.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

The interior of Charlemagnes Palace Chapel was stunning.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Just two days before Christmas, Aachen was buzzing with activity.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

On To Amsterdam

On Christmas Eve day we headed to Amsterdam. The train ride went well, but lugging the bags (filled with things for me to bring back to Turkey) to the hotel was a bit stressful, especially since I got lost on my exploratory mission to find the place. However, as soon as we saw the hotel's canal view and took in the neighborhood a bit, we were captivated.

We were staying in the canal zone and enjoyed wandering around the canals admiring the architecture.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

The gables were fascinating -- lots to look at. Note the pulley hoists sticking out from each gable. People use those hoists to move furniture in and out of the upper stories. And, the houses lean slightly forward to facilitate that process without window breakage. At a tapas restaurant Christmas eve, we watched as two men loaded sofas and easy chairs from the fourth floor this way.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

On Christmas Eve we went to a midnight mass (mostly in Latin) at a church near the hotel. The choir was remarkable -- hovering above us with their voices and the organ music coming from on high.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

There was always a reflection in Amsterdam -- either in the canals or in the very clean windows!

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Near our hotel were the "Nine Streets" -- nine small shopping and boutique streets that were fun to explore (as long as you avoided the speeding bikes pedaling the streets!)

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

I went wild on the cheese and ham in both Germany and Holland. Turkish cheese isn't quite the same!

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Cheese seller at the street market.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Tulips at the Albert de Cuyp Street market

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

The area around the hotel was perfect for strolling -- here is the smallest canal at night.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

The hotel is the red-brick building. Note the small truck parked alongside the canal.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

A very still day for the water in the canal -- another view from the hotel room.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

View just predawn.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

By the Herrengracht, the canal next to our hotel (the hotel is the building on the left with flags).

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Bird by canal.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004

Our Christmas Day dinner was outstanding -- Rijkstaffel (spelling?) -- a colonial Indonesian meal. Some of the best tasting food I've ever eaten.

© Kris Nesbitt 2004