Journeys Near and Far

Holidays Around the World

Happy Holidays to All!

Today, while much of the world celebrates Christmas, many people are celebrating Hanukkah and Kwanzaa is about to begin, I'd like to wish all of you -- no matter what you celebrate -- a joyous holiday season and a Happy New Year.

All across the world, people celebrate the holidays in many different ways, and I thought you might find it interesting to read about some of these traditions.  So I've gathered here a selection of links to articles you might find interesting.

Christmas...

• First, take a look at BootsnAll's Five of Europe's Cosiest Christmas Markets, by Anne-Sophie Redisch.  Redisch writes about the Christmas Markets in Vienna, a city I am very fond of, as well as undiscovered Bratislava, fairy-tale Prague, mysterious Tallinn, and bewitching Rome.

• Then check out WhyGo Italy's Christmas in Italy, where you can read about the legend of La Befana, who flies on her broomstick each year to bring gifts to children. 

• WhyGo Paris offers you Christmas in Paris:  Traditions & Tourism, and  Paris in December so you can learn all about what it's like in the City of  Lights this month.

• Michelle Fabio writes about 5 Christmas Traditions Around the World on BootsnAll.  Learn about carols down under, a celebration of light in Brazil, and of course -- the world-renowned tree in Rockefeller Center, New York City.

Hanukkah and Kwanzaa...

• Click here to learn about Hanukkah in Syria, Russia and Eastern Europe, and learn more about this holiday in Jews Around the World Celebrate Hanukkah on CBNNews.com. 

• What is Kwanzaa?  Read about it here.

New Year's Eve...

And, I would be remiss if I didn't include Scotland's Hogmanay here.  This pagan festival is celebrated throughout Scotland.  The origins of this New Year's Eve celebration reach back perhaps to the Norse, and include customs from the Gaelic New Year's celebration of Samhain. 

If you can't make it to Scotland in person this year, watch this video of Edinburgh's Hogmanay Torchlight Procession.  Although Hogmanay is celebrated throughout Scotland (you can read about some of this year's events on Hogmanay.net), my favorite place to celebrate is Edinburgh.  Learn what's going on this year on Edinburgh's Hogmanay website.

And don't miss these holiday stories on Journeys Near and Far:

• Christmas in Nuremberg
• Gingerbread, Sausages, Prune Men... and Hot Mulled Wine
• The Nuremberg Christmas Market  and
• a series of articles that begins with Holidays in the Hudson Valley

Note:  National Geographic Intelligent Travel Blog did a fabulous month-long series this year called The World of Christmas.  Check it out to see how the holiday is celebrated in 18 cities around the world.

Photos:  Top - Nutcracker in Nuremberg, Germany.  Bottom - Christmas crafts for sale at the Nuremberg Christmas Market.

 

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Christmas in Nuremberg

Nutcrackers, Holiday Lights and Fascinating Medieval Sites

Visiting the city of Nuremberg, Germany during the holidays can be a wonderful experience. 

I've written previously about the Nuremberg Christmas Market, as well as Nuremberg's well-known prune people.  But there are a lot of other sites visitors to Nuremberg can see during the holiday season.  Here are a few things that I found interesting:

The Castle.  As one of the main landmarks of Nuremberg, Nuremberg Castle should definitely be on your list.  The Kaiserburg (Emperor's Fortress), which is the most heavily fortified part of the building, is where Emperor Heinrich III built the first fortress here in about the year 1050.   Nuremberg was an important city -- every German emperor between the years 1050 and 1571 stayed in the castle at some point. 

Albrecht Dürer's house.  At the foot of the castle, Albrecht Dürer, a master draughtsman and native Nuremberger, lived and worked from 1509 until his death in 1528.  His house is the only completely preserved Gothic house in Nuremberg, and well worth a visit.  You'll see original etchings, woodcuts and copies of his paintings inside. On the ground floor you can see a large printing press which he used to produce his wood carvings.  Read his biography, if you'd like to know more about him.

Walk on the Wall.   Nuremberg was a walled city in the middle ages, and much of that wall and its towers still exists.  Some of it was destroyed during WW II but has been recreated.  A walk around the entire walled city is about three miles, but you can climb to the ramparts and just walk a part of it if you don't have enough time for it all.

The Germanic National Museum.   Smack in the center of this building is a former Carthusian monastery and 15th century cloisters.  I especially enjoyed the museum's collection of musical instruments.  This is the largest German museum of art and cultural history so allow plenty of time if you go, it could take you a few hours.

The Town Hall, or Rathaus, is an imposing building constructed in 1616-22.  A guided tour will take you down a narrow stairway to the Hole Prisons, where you'll learn about the judicial procedure and painful tortures that awaited those who were punished by law in the 14th century.  It's a fun tour, although cold, damp and creepy.  In the torture chamber, we saw several tools used in the 15th century:  the thumb and legscrews, the hoist, and the rack.  None of which I would have wanted to experience!

Finally, of course, there's the Christmas Market, or Christkindlmarkt, where some 150 stall owners sell toys and decorations as well as hot mulled wine, gingerbread, and other edible delights. 

Note:  If you love Christmas shopping, don't miss the Kathe Wohlfahrt store in Nuremberg's pedestrian zone near the Lorenz Church.  Even if you don't buy anything, visiting the shop is an experience that will get you into the holiday spirit!

If you can't travel to Germany right now, you can still enjoy this photo album of Nuremberg's Christmas Market.

For more information about Germany, visit their official tourism website. 

Gingerbread, Sausages, Prune Men...

... and Hot Mulled Wine

The Nuremberg Christmas Market, as I wrote in my last post, is a great place to shop for unusual holiday gifts -- my favorite being the little wizened prune people dressed in a multitude of costumes.

The Nurembergers, always a step ahead of things, begin their pre-Christmas period in mid-August, when Lebkuchen Schmidt, one of the most famous Nuremberg traditional gingerbread makers begins running its production lines at full speed.

The citizens of Nuremberg have always been very protective of their Market, hence, in December of 1610, a decree from the town council ordered the confiscation of  "indecent joke articles" that a wood turner had made as children's gifts.  Again, in 1729, the council suppressed the less-than-Christmasy idea a goldsmith had of running a lottery at the Market.

It was a cleric that first mentioned the famous prune couples at the beginning of the 19th century.  He apparently wanted to have fun with his compatriots with these shriveled up little fellows.  Although the origin of these droll figures  lies further back in time, it is still cloaked in mystery even for folklorists.

One legend says the prune people are originally children's toys, created by Croatian cavalrymen during the Thirty Years War and brought into Germany from the East. 

Another legend says a poor man had a tough time bringing his family through the harsh winter.  The idea came to him to produce plum figures in the way that his grandmother had taught him, and he sold these figures at the Nuremberg Christmas Market with incredible success.

Being allowed to operate a sales stand at the Market is an honor for the dealers -- the selection of wares at the market is consciously traditional.  Gingerbread, fruitcake, bakery and confectionary goods rank first, followed by gold foil Christmas tree angels, Christmas tree decorations and candles.  Toys and arts and crafts are a must.

Another must:  The Nuremberg grilled sausages.  These small, thumb-sized sausages made out of minced pork are grilled crunchy on the griddle and consumed by the dozens.  Even the Renaissance master draughtsman Nuremberger Albrecht Dürer loved them.  These sausages are so small, a tale says that they could still be sold at the pub through the keyhole after closing time.

The sausages and mulled wine are great, but it's the prune figures that are everybody's favorite.  Two million people visit the Nuremberg Christmas Market each year, and following the old tradition, the adorable plum figures are sold by fourteen stalls.  But these shriveled little people are honored in another way as well.  Every year, all 190 Market dealers ambitiously compete with each other in creating a special holiday ambience.  Since 1981, the city has awarded the "Prune Man" in gold, silver and bronze to the most beautiful stall.

If you're thinking of visiting the Nuremberg Market, I highly recommend it -- It's a festive way to celebrate the holidays!   See my photo album for some more pictures...

Night photo of Nuremberg courtesy of the Nuremberg Christmas Market.

The Nuremberg Christmas Market

Prune Men and Other Delights

Each year in early December, the Main Market Square in Nuremberg, Germany is transformed into one of the most atmospheric Christmas Markets in the world.  Known as Christkindlesmarkt, this magical place is an enchanting village where visitors browse stalls bedecked with red and white awnings while shopping for a variety of handmade gifts.

During the day, horses clip-clop around the market giving rides in fanciful old-fashioned mail coaches.  By evening, the place is transformed into a charming fairytale town in which thousands of lights flicker under a deep indigo sky.  And all the while, the pungent aroma of mulled wine, the scent of grilled sausages, and the tang of spicy gingerbread wafts through the air.

This atmosphere was just what I was looking for, so a friend and I decided to visit the Nuremberg Christmas Market to search for unique holiday gifts.  We never guessed that the gifts we'd find would be made from prunes.

When we saw the first Prune Men booth (prune people, actually!) we knew we'd found what we were looking for.  These cute little miniature figures, known as Prune Men, or Zwetschgenmännle in Nuremberg dialect, are small doll-like creations made of dried plums, nuts, raisins and figs.

Too cute to eat (and not really edible) the Nuremberg prune people are one of the most popular souvenirs at the Christkindlesmarkt.  The dried fruit used to create them is beaded onto wires:  figs make up the bodies, painted walnuts the heads, and dried prunes the arms and legs.

Snippets of cloth are used to tailor small sets of clothes for the prune men and women; they reminded us of the costumes worn by the inhabitants of the rural areas around Nuremberg.  Walter Köttig, who has been selling prune people at the market since 1994, has more than 200 varieties of the figures.  He'll even make custom designs -- once he transformed a Nuremberg prune man into a Scottish plum person by dressing him in a kilt and equipping him with self-made bagpipes.

Soft snowflakes fell as we strolled through the Market purchasing prune people and other treasures.  Inevitably, though, the cold began to creep into our bones, and our fingers, toes and the tip of our noses went numb.  At the Nuremberg Market, there is only one solution for this:  hot mulled wine.  A sip of this sweet blueberry liquid offers the seductive taste of cinnamon and cloves, warming frozen visitors and calming pre-Christmas jitters.  Every year a new motif is printed on the cups, making them a sought-after collectors' item.

Read more about the Market in my next post!  And for more scenes of the Market, see my Nuremberg Christmas Market photo album.

Night photo of the market, above, courtesy of the Nuremberg Christmas Market.

Twelfth Night Tavern Games at Van Cortlandt Manor

I've been writing about a holiday weekend trip to New York's Hudson Valley, a place so pretty while blanketed in snow and decorated for the holidays.  If you'll recall from an earlier post, my adventure began at Washington Irving's Sunnyside, which brought back memories of childhood days spent reading Irving's  "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow".  Here in the Hudson Valley, the story's ghost, the Headless Horseman,  seemed to follow me everywhere.

After leaving Philipsburg Manor, I drove to my final destination, Van Cortlandt Manor.   Darkness approached as I arrived and joined the tour.  Cheryl Bernstein, our guide, explained that the property has been the primary residence of the Van Cortlandt family for two hundred years; it showcased their possessions, symbolized their status, and served as the center of their social and economic world.  During the revolutionary war, Pierre Van Cortlandt, a staunch patriot, moved his family north for a time, along with much of their furniture.

As Cheryl took us down a spiral staircase to see the milk room, which was once used as a fridge, I avoided dark shadows and tried not to think about headless Hessian troopers.  Climbing back upstairs, I felt sorry for the slaves who had to ascend the dark stairs lugging heavy pots.

In the property's restored Ferry House, once the location of a Tavern, Christmas merriment included Twelfth Night.  On this occasion the guest who found a bean in his slice of cake became "King of Twelfth Night" and head of the festivities.  Guests chose cards, then had to act as the person described on the card and follow the instructions.  I took one from Cheryl and read it:  "Jenny Jigabout, dance a step."  Far better than the one chosen by a tour mate:  "Sergeant Humdrum, bore them to tears!" 

I preferred the dance step, and needing dinner and a good night's sleep, I waltzed over to the historic Thayer Hotel at West Point, which welcomed me with a roaring fire and the scent of hot apple cider. 

Unfortunately, it's not possible to see all of the Hudson Valley mansions in such a short time;  I saved the Franklin D. Roosevelt Home, Vanderbilt estate and the Rockefeller's Kykuit estate for another trip.

The mansions I did see enchanted me, but Washington Irving's Sunnyside did more -- it brought back fond memories of books I loved as a child.  What more could one ask for during the holidays?

Philipsburg Manor

An Educational Manor House

Philipsburg Manor, a Dutch Colonial site and one of the largest and best documented slave sites in the North, was the third mansion I visited during my Hudson Valley holiday weekend.  Different than both Sunnyside and Lyndhurst, this Manor offers costumed performers who act out parts in vignettes that reflect life as it was lived at the Manor during the midpoint of the 18th century.

Working in conjunction with the African American advisory Board and the Historic Hudson Valley, the Manor educates visitors by taking them on tours that draw them into the lives of Philipsburg slaves.

Our tour began by crossing the bridge over the frozen millpond, where I imagined another ice-covered bridge, upon  which gangly Ichabod Crane raced his horse, Gunpowder, at breakneck speed, the Headless Horseman close on his tail.  But this 18th century milling/trading/farming complex exuded serenity.  Touring the Mill, I scratched Moses the Mill cat's back while our tour guide told  us about Caesar and Diamond, important enslaved Africans.  Caesar worked the mill, Diamond the boatman transported flour.

We saw the Lower Kitchen, where babies had been born, and then the  Upper Kitchen, where a table set for the holidays displayed intricate marzipan pastries next to the "Martha Washington Book of Cookery."

Finally, we explored the grounds and barn, where children patted cows named Clover and Daisy, then watched the antics of Pumpkin the barn cat.  Despite the icy cold day, I felt strangely relaxed as I crossed the Manor's grounds, and slowly, I prepared to drive to the final mansion on my tour -- Van Cortlandt Manor.

While you're here, don't miss this photo album of the Hudson Valley!

Nuremberg's Prune Men

Prune People, actually!  These cute little miniature figures, known as "Prune Men", or "Zwetcshgenmännle" in Nuremberg dialect, are small figures seen in the Christmas Markets of Europe.  First made of dried plums, nuts, raisins and later on, figs, these plum figures were most likely created as children's toys by Croatian cavalrymen during the Thirty Years War.  The word "Zwetschge" is not of German origin, but a Slavic expression for "plum".  The figures were probably brought into Germany from the East. 

These plum figures are often dressed today as chimneysweeps or devils in the Czech Republic, but they are found in all the fruit growing areas of Europe.   As you can see from the photos I took at one of the booths in the Nuremberg Christmas Market, the Nuremberg prune figures are dressed in a wide variety of costumes!  These figures are considered as patron saints of the family and are placed in windows facing outside to prevent harm to those living in the house.

The first officially registered Nuremberg Christmas Market took place in 1697.  Already, at that time, the plum figures were offered.  They differed from today's figures, of course. 

So why were these figures invented?  It is said that a poor man had a tough time bringing his family through the harsh winter.  The idea came to him to produce plum figures in the way that his grandmother had taught him, and he sold these figures at the Nuremberg Christmas Market with incredible success!

Two million people visit the Nuremberg Christmas Market each year, and following the old tradition, these plum figures are sold by fourteen stalls. 

Next post I'll get back to the Hudson Valley...

A Lyndhurst Fairytale Christmas

Washington Irving's Sunnyside, which I wrote about in my last post, is only one of the many beautiful mansions in New York's  Hudson Valley.  After spending that cheerful morning at Sunnyside,  I drove to Lyndhurst, a Gothic Revival mansion that is the architectural representation of the American Romanticism movement born in the Hudson River Valley.    Set on 67 acres and decorated in a "Fairytale Holiday" theme, a tour of Lyndhurst filled me with holiday cheer.

This country villa that overlooks the Hudson River in Tarrytown, New York, was designed in 1838 by Alexander Jackson Davis.  It rests in a lovely park-like estate, which on the day I visited, was covered in a thick layer of powder-soft snow. 

A few of this mansion's former occupants were quite notable:  former New York City mayor William Paulding, merchant George Merritt, and railroad tycoon Jay Gould.

Inside Lyndhurst, our guide, Ira Stein, showed us rooms decorated with clues to different fairytales for children of  all ages.  Cinderella transformed the Drawing Room, Alice visited Wonderland in the library amid authentic furniture and books, and the elegant Dining Room had a lavish table set for Beauty and the Beast.

The entertaining tour kept me in a sunny mood, but as I left the estate, thoughts of Washington Irving's headless Hessian trooper returned to unnerve me.  Clouds had obscured the sun, and for a moment, I thought I saw a roadside apparition in this setting so perfect for galloping ghosts.    I pushed thoughts of eerie visions aside, though, and drove to Philipsburg Manor, which I will write about in my next post.

See more photos of Lyndhurst during the holidays!

Holidays in the Hudson Valley

Washington Irving's Sunnyside

I first read Washington Irving's stories, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle",  in the eighth grade, and ever since have loved Irving's description of the "sequestered glen of Sleepy Hollow, whose dreamy influence seems to hang over the land."  I'd heard that Sleepy Hollow, and all of New York's historic Hudson Valley has much to offer, especially during the holidays, and since I'd never been there, I decided to visit one weekend during a snowy December.

Washington Irving, a prolific author of fiction, history and biography, also held diplomatic posts in Great Britain and Spain.  He bought Tarrytown's Sunnyside in 1835, then enlarged and renovated this beautiful cottage that overlooks the Hudson River.

Nicknamed "The Snuggery", Sunnyside felt warm and inviting to me.  It's cheerful English-style holiday decorations consisted of decorative green garlands on the mantle but no Christmas tree --  sadly, Irving never got over the death of his sweetheart, Matilde, and mourned her until he died in 1859 at the age of 76.   His burial place, The Old Dutch Cemetery of the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" fame, thrilled his readers as favorite haunt of troubled spirits, and the hangout of the Headless Horseman, thought to be a Hessian trouper whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball during the Revolutionary War.

Fortunately, no mysterious specters marred my day, but I inquired about the name "Tarrytown".  In his story,  our guide told us, Irving wrote that the name had been given to the small market town of Greensburg by the good housewives from the "propensity for their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days. "  While Irving doesn't vouch for that fact, I think it's a pleasant tale!

Are there any teachers reading this?  The Historic Hudson Valley Educators Sketchbook website has good information and lesson plans that focus on Sunnyside and Washington Irving.

Enjoy more photos of the Hudson Valley during the holidays, and if you're a fan of Washington Irving, love "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", or just like to visit the Hudson Valley, don't hesitate to post a comment!

Read A Lyndhurst Fairytale Christmas...