Christine and Connie, two assistants from Tours, and I went to Paris to see the Christmas lights and get into the Christmas spirit before we all parted ways for the holiday itself. We went to the Musee Grevin, the wax museum and had fun posing with all the statues. We also walked around town, looking at the different lights that were put up for the holidays - from Galleries Lafayette, the big department store, to the huge Ferris Wheel in the Place de la Concorde, to the Tour Eiffel, light up like the EU flag - it was an incredible sight.
The next day I took the train to Goettingen in Germany to meet up with my former German assistant friend Lotta, whom I met in Tours the previous time. We spent a couple days in her college town. The first night we had a potluck with her friends where everyone brought uncooked food and then we came up with the dishes together - I found it really creative and fun. Then I got some time to see the city and settle in to German life. I'd really like to learn German now, it seems like it wouldn't be as hard as French because many of the words I can read and understand already.
We then moved on to Bremen, where she grew up and her family still lives. It had a beautiful Christmas market that spanned many parts of the city - the more modern one that held many items I'd seen in France as well, to the Middle Ages one, where people were dressed in costumes and the goods were truly handmade and original. It was quite a sight. Christmas Eve was the main holiday, we had an amazing dinner and spent the whole evening talking and opening presents. The house was beautifully decorated and the tree had real candles on it! Christmas Day we walked into downtown Bremen and saw the old part of town as well as the empty square where a few days before the market was held. The next day we went to visit their family friend who lives outside Bremen. She was so vibrant and funny, she's traveled to Australia many times and I really enjoyed meeting her. She even had a Native American raven painting on her wall that I'm pretty sure came from Washington, which she had visited also.
The following day I said goodbye to Lotta and her wonderful family and went to Berlin to see the sights. I had the luck to see a Paul Klee exhibit which got me hooked on his beautiful paintings. I also took a walking tour of the city and learned a lot of the history. It is a beautiful city and I needed more than a couple days to really explore it, but it was a lovely taste and I can't wait to go back.
From Berlin I flew to Edinburgh where I met up with Barbara and Kurt, some friends from Bellingham. We had a great time exploring Edinburgh! It is a beautiful city. It is all in the center, so it is very impressive when you first arrive. Plus, there was a carnival set up for the big New Year's Eve or Hogmanay celebration, so it was really interesting to see the juxtaposition between the modern and the historic. (I had to do it B!) We visited the sights, Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, did a walking tour, and took an excursion to Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle. As well as went to the massive street party on New Year's Eve, which was way too crowded, but fun all the same - huge fireworks show which really made it worth it. On New Year's Day we took a walk in a beautiful park that gave us views of the city. It was quite a trip.
Barbara and Kurt flew out the 2nd and I went on to Glasgow to visit another former teaching assistant, Claire. Glasgow didn't have the same outright beauty as Edinburgh, but it is called the people's capitol and it definitely was less toursity. They had some interesting museums and a strong focus on Charles Rennie Mackintosh, an art nouveau designer. I love art nouveau, so we spent much of the time going from place to place seeing his work, since it is spread out over many places. It was also nice to relax at Claire's house before making the trip back to France to start work again. I definitely took advantage of English speaking television - much to Claire's annoyance when I turned into a zombie the first night. Luckily, I recovered and we had a nice time the rest of the nights, I even got to watch some Red Dwarf! (Thanks BBC!) I flew back from Glasgow, and of course my flight was delayed due to the crazy weather that finally arrived. I had to run from baggage claim to the train station, plead my way in French and English to the front of the line to pick up the tickets I'd already reserved, and made it finally to my train. As I traveled home, I got to enjoy the view of France covered in snow, a sight I'd never seen before. And it's still here - it's been so cold. It hasn't snowed since Monday, but everything is still covered.
All in all, it was a wonderful vacation and I don't think I could have had a nicer time seeing old friends in new places.
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