Friday 24 December 2010

White Christmas in Germany, very white... - Open Thread - UPDATE!


Hi everybody,

Kathleen and I are spending Christmas with my parents at their home in North Germany, and somebody has obviously been dreaming about a white Christmas, because Germany is covered under a huge blanket of snow, and it's especially "bad" in North Germany right now. Well, it's a huge joy for the children, that's for sure. It feels a bit like being in Alaska, just without the mountains and the wildlife.

Speaking about Alaska: We don't plan to publish posts during Christmas about our usual "object of desire", which means: Palin-free time for the next days! :-)

I am sure that the queen of mean will find some cunning ways to push herself into the headlines again very soon, so we will certainly not run out of material after Christmas until New Years Eve. After all, she doesn't cope very well with not being the center of attention.

In Germany we have the tradition that everybody receives the presents already on the evening of December 24, Christmas Eve ("Heiligabend", "holy evening"), so we will have our big gathering pretty soon. Other members of my family will be here as well.

We do hope that you all have a joyful and relaxing Christmas time!

Finally, here are some pictures I took earlier today - enjoy:

Weihnachten 2011 027

Weihnachten 2011 030

Weihnachten 2011 016

Weihnachten 2011 023

Weihnachten 2011 022

Weihnachten 2011 051

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UPDATE:

What would Christmas be without traditional Christmas songs. ;-)

In order to spread even more Christmas atmosphere into your living rooms all over the world, I would like to post three clips with traditional German Christmas songs. The performers are two of Germany's most famous boys' choirs - the "Dresdner Kreuzchor" and the "Leipziger Thomanerchor" (Johann Sebastian Bach served as director of the Thomanerchor from 1723 to 1750). Most of the members of the choirs live in their special boarding schools, and many of them continue to become professional musicians after they leave the choir.

Stille Nacht (Silent Night), Dresdner Kreuzchor:


Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen, Dresdner Kreuzchor:


Macht hoch die Tür, die Tor macht weit, Leipziger Thomanerchor:


Enjoy!
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