November 19-25

Monday, November 19 to Sunday, November 25...

Another full week! The weather has turned decidedly winter-like. Monday morning we woke up to snow on the ground. We bundle up to ride our bikes to school and work. The extra thick socks and undershirts are making a regular appearance in the laundry... but it hasn't slowed us down much!

I did a big grocery run, loading down both saddlebags, my front basket, and a big bag in the back. When I came out to load my bike, there was a little bundled up dog in the back basket of the next bike over!

The view from the kitchen window!

Out the balcony towards Dreimühlenstrasse.

From the balcony looking towards Kapuzinerstrasse.

Surprise package!

My "office" after I got my shopping done: working on the blog from a corner in the Leib & Siegel.

Monday evening rehearsal... with dog! Only in Germany. He's one of the chorister's and comes to rehearsal from time to time. He snuffles around our feet and eventually settles down somewhere to snooze while we sing.

ME's drama group got free tickets to an open rehearsal of Verdi's Otello at the Staatsoper, so around 5:30 p.m. I biked with her into the city center to show her where to go, then raced home to eat dinner before going to my Frauenchor rehearsal.

The Weihnachts lights are going up all around the city! Makes the dark sky a little less dreary (it's only about 5 p.m. in this picture!!)

I had another coaching session with Stellario on Tuesday. When I returned to our apartment building, another resident was coming in. We both got on the elevator. I made some small talk about his having an ice cream (it was near freezing temps outside), then as the doors slid shut, he asked, "So, have you heard the singer practicing in the building? It's opera or something!" Hmmm... well, yes, that's me. I probably should have said "yes, isn't she fabulous?!" and then waited to see what else he was going to say, but I fessed up instead and asked, slightly chagrined, whether it was disturbing him, admitting that I try to practice during the day time hours--not too early and not too late. He just said, "well, it is sort of loud." Pretty hard to practice Puccini without some loud moments. But then before it could go further, the elevator stopped at our floor and I wished him a good evening. So, here's hoping he wasn't about to complain about the opera singer in the building!

On Wednesday the girls had off of school (some religious school holiday--not a bank holiday), so after I got back from my morning walk in the Englischer Garten, we rallied everyone and headed to the Deutsches Museum. The girls loved the underground mining exhibit--all about mining techniques from hundreds of years ago to the present. Salt mining, iron mining, coal mining, etc. The other exhibit that we spent a lot of time in was the evolution of the boats: ancient rudimentary water craft, Viking vessels, steamers, modern cruise ships, and everything in between! Grandpa: you'd love this!! The models were exquisitely built with tiny little details and scaled comparisons to the life-sized boats on display in the center of the exhibit. By this point, the girls had pretty well split off from me and J, exploring at their own pace and enjoying a little independence. We simply agreed on a time and place to meet to head home.

Later in the afternoon after we were home, GE's friend came over to play. GE played her piano songs and E sang along! GE has been asking for piano lessons so I've lined up a Probestunde with a teacher who has a studio a couple of blocks down the street. It's not for another week and a half, but GE has been "making friends" with the piano by playing from some simple books I picked up for her at the sheet music store downtown, including one of German Weihnachtslieder (Christmas songs).

After GE's friend went home, I rode my bike in to meet J at the Hofbräuhaus near the Marienplatz. It was the best way to round out the dark and wintry day! Warm, cozy, lots of people, and plenty of German schmaltzy Bierzelt music! J had the Schweinshaxe (pig's ankle) and I got a salad with a 1/4 of a roasted chicken. Then we wandered through the dark little alleys of the Altstadt to see the twinkle-lights and the beginnings of the Weihnachtsmarkt which opens soon.

I wished I'd had my camera ready sooner! Our waiter (dark jacket at the end of the table) came out of the kitchen with both hands holding about 6 or 8 Mass each! He set them down on a serving counter and brought our neighbors theirs--4 in the one hand. How do they do that?!

The live band kept the joint hopping!

The Weihnachtsmarkt stalls are nearly ready. The Markt opens on Friday night! Soon this place will be twinkling with lights and full of people warming their hands on steaming mugs of Glühwein.

Check out the huge Tannenbaum in front of the Rathaus!

On Friday I took a bus to Zürich to visit some friends, one new and one old. I've known TNB since grad school days--we did a summer opera program together in Rome in 1996 and have stayed in touch throughout the years, including a gig together with the Rockbridge Choral Society a couple of years ago. Her husband, a tenor, is performing in Sweeney Todd at the Zürich Oper starting next month. So, she brought her 4-month-old daughter (BH) along to Switzerland for three months and I couldn't stand to be so close (3.5 hour cheap bus ride) and not see them--especially since I hadn't met little BH yet. Conveniently, a new friend via FB connections, RNI, lives in Zürich and invited me to stay with her while I was in town. I enjoyed several meals with her and her family and stayed up too late Friday and Saturday talking. Felt like we'd known each other for years. I also had such fun with their little ones! RNI's boys are 3 and 6 while TNB has a precious new baby girl.

My double decker bus! I had a seat in the top both ways. It was quite comfortable and even the coffee from the automated machine was good!

Foggy and cold--the mist was frozen on the tree tops and fields.

The sun came out... for all of five minutes or so!

Glimpses of the Alps when the fog would clear...

Look closely... there are snow caps behind the trees!

When I got to town, I left my suitcase in a locker at the train station so I could meet up with TNB in front of the Oper (white building with columns to the left). I arrived a little earlier than our planned meeting time, so I wandered around the plaza but the fog hid the mountains. Still somehow lovely.

The Weihnachtsmarkt on the plaza in front of the Oper was up and running and downtown Zürich does a fine job of dressing up for Christmas. It's also extra super-duper lucky to have friends in the Oper: TNB's hubby, BB, treated us to a private backstage tour of the theater, including the balcony overlooking the Weihnachtsmarkt!

Baby BH photobomb!

You can read a little about the history of the Zurich Opera house here.

The ballet was opening: Winterreise, set to Schubert's song cycle.

Cutest kid in the house!

Each face on the front of the balcony was a little different!

The backside of Mozart... his bust, that is.

My private tour buddies. Thank you, BB!!

Friday was wet, cold, and foggy, but even though Saturday started out overcast, it warmed up quickly and by afternoon the sun and blue skies appeared. It was perfect for wandering the streets of the Altstadt, stopping by the Fraumünster and the Großmünster, chatting over lunch in a humming restaurant, Hiltl, and shopping in the historic confiserie, Sprüngli, for some treats to take back to the girls. It was a lovely get-away, but I was happy to come home (the girls had cleaned the apartment; HR went all by herself to her cello lesson; ME's friend came over for multiple rounds of Mage Wars and hanging out; J held down the fort).

Quiet streets near where TNB and her husband are living while they're in Zurich for the opera.

 

This little monkey stole my heart!

By the time baby BH was fed, changed, and tucked into her stroller (and her mom and I had spent an hour or so catching up, sipping really good coffee in their little apartment), the sun was coming out and the neighbors were "airing" their bedding out the windows!

Christmas lights strung up above the streets and the Fraumünster steeple in the distance.

Großmünster cathedral on the hill across the river from the Fraumünster.

After TNB headed home with her little one I swung back around to the lake to see the mountains, now no longer hidden by the fog. Stunning... the mountains, that is.

Dusk over the river and the city.

I spent Sunday morning with RNI's family. Her older son is in a Waldgruppe (forest play group), so we took a walk to the part of the woods near their home where he goes with the group to cut branches with hand saws, whittle sticks with a pocket knife, build fires, and construct forts with his friends. It was foggy and cold again, but the mist through the trees was somehow magical.

These cuties kept me company.

Bundle of sweetness!

Thank you, RNI, for so warmly welcoming me to your home, sharing your table with me, and giving me tips on what to see and where to go on my whirlwind little trip. Come see me in Munich!! :)