Deck the Halls!

Well, these folks sure go to town on their Christmas decorations (and with no Thanksgiving holiday in the way, they set to in early November).  The city, or at least the part near where we live, is going bonkers.  There are trees everywhere, lights hanging above the streets, holiday decorations incorporated into the window displays in all the zillions of high-fashion shops, and a humongous Christmas market spreading out from the Marktplatz, or central square of the town (where there's usually an outdoor market with tarp shelters, recently containing mostly flowers and a bit of produce).  Now, however, the plaza and adjacent streets are lined with little wooden buildings housing vendors of toys, crafts, decorations, food, and a traditional hot spiced wine called Glühwein.  Not far away are things like a temporary ice-skating rink and a loop of track on which runs a tiny steam locomotive pulling little cars that can be ridden by children and grownups alike.  These markets are found in most German towns, though some are bigger and more crowded than others.  And some places feel more important than others, as well;  we have a booklet about all the doings around Karlsruhe, titled Märchenhafte Weihnachtsstadt Karlsruhe, or "Christmas fairy-tale city of Karlsruhe."  Strasbourg, just over the border in France (but a rather Germanic section of France) styles itself Capitale de Noël, or "Capital of Christmas."

Look for an album called "Weihnachtsmarkt" on our Picasa page to see some images of the Christmas markets and other decorations.  (It's really quite a pain to get photos into these blog entries.)

Settling into Karlsruhe

We have settled into a two-bedroom apartment in the International Department of the Universität Karlsruhe.  Our building is quite centrally located, adjacent to the grounds surrounding the palace built by the founder of Karlsruhe (that was in 1715, so the city is quite young by European standards).  The whole area is laid out as a circle, with paths and streets radiating from a tower just behind the palace (more on that later!).  You can see it on this map, though we're on the opposite corner of the building from the indicator.

We're also just a block away from what I'd call "the high street," lined with fancy shops.  The two dominant genres of store on the Kaiserstraße (Straße, or Strasse, means street) are high fashion and cellphone stores.  They really dominate;  there are a few banks, jewelers, bakeries, and cafes, a drugstore-like establishment, and a ritzy department store (with the only nearby food market in its basement, also ritzy), but it's amazing how many different ways a limited set of manikins can be dressed up... and how many brands of cellphones there are around here (most different from the US, so our iPhones aren't very useful).  There are even competing cellphone stores with the same carriers practically next to each other.  On the side streets, there are more specialty shops -- more bakeries and cafes, a butcher, a kitchen store, and even a sock store.  Our particular neighborhood, perhaps because it's close to the main art museum, is crawling with art galleries -- they just opened up three new ones on the first floor of a new building next door.  

There does seem to be a lot of building going on;  one of the less-welcome aspects of our central location is that the construction noise cranks up pretty early in the morning -- while the hoppin' social life can stay active pretty late at night. 

unser erster Tag in Deutschland (our first day in Germany)

So once on the ground in Frankfurt, we found our way to the airport train station, and took a fast ICE train to Karlsruhe, where we'll be for the next two months.  Each big city has a main train station, or Hauptbanhof (vs. banhof, any old train station).  (This distinction once resulted into an unscheduled stroll across the town of Plzen, as my friend Ferren and I failed to make the identification in Czech.  Neil got a few bottles of hand-imported Pilsener out of the episode, and I garnered a very fragrant backpack).

  

                                                         

After bringing our luggage to our apartment in the International Department of the Universität Karlsruhe, we ventured out into the town, past odd pigeon-feeding stations, trees on crutches, and a Metal Man -- drop a coin in his hat and he moves -- to visit a youthful city bureaucrat to register our presence.

          

                                                      

Later in the day, when Neil went back to work at the Forschungszentrum (Research Center), some 10 km north of town, he admonished Maren, Kielan, and Innes to stay awake as long as possible to better handle the jet lag (we're six hours ahead of Pittsburgh here).  We hopped a random tram, just to see what it was like.  The Karlsruhe trams are quite famous, as a matter of fact;  it was here that the first tram-train system was developed, in which regional trains and city trams run on the same tracks, so one can catch an inter-city train in the heart of town.  The Karlsruhe Model has been adopted in many other places around Europe.  In the city, the trams share the streets quite peacefully with pedestrians.  I might keep a strong hold on a wilful toddler, but other than that concern, it's quite safe and pleasant -- they move quietly and predictably.  Smooth, quiet operation is a hallmark of German engineering, it seems -- from trams to sliding doors.

  

Both girls enjoyed experiencing the articulated tram cars, positioning themselves to get the most out of each curve. Kielan and Maren did better than Innes in the staying-awake department, though.  Sweet dreams!

  

                                                                 

Airplane Food

    The Icky Plane Dinner -- by Kielan

I have just found out how incredibly ICKY plane dinners can be. ☹✈ weird, slimy noodles... crumbly old bun... soft, sticky butter...(all I liked was the yummy cheesecake☺).

Crossing the Pond

Traveling across the Atlantic usually involves an overnight flight.  We arrived in Frankfurt in the early morning, greeted by a welcoming Neil, who had come over a week earlier, and to a brand new world -- in more ways than one.  

   

On our way

After several whirlwind weeks of getting ready -- meeting with teachers and gathering materials for schooling the kids, getting the porch roof built and under cover, winding up obligations stateside, creating political sidewalk art, and of course packing -- Kielan, Innes and I set out for Germany.  Neil had already crossed the pond to get his experiments started at the Forschungzentrum (research center) in Karlsruhe, and served as a welcoming committee as we arrived in Frankfurt.  

...and we're off!  Folks who have traveled through the Pittsburgh 

airport may recall the red neon circle at each end of the airport train. 

Kielan and Innes have a tradition of keeping a close eye on it.

At the airport security check, a rather sleep-deprived Mama didn’t 

realize that there’s metal in those new knee braces… which led to 

a really thorough hand-search by the TSA.           (photo by Kielan)

  

Before leaving the 'Burgh,Kielan and Innes bid farewell to George Washington.

A great opportunity to contemplate land-use patterns on our way across Pennsylvania:

Those people-movers are even more fun when you have a destination in mind!  With a five-and-a-half-hour layover, we had plenty of time for play at the Philadelphia airport...