Bergfeuer

Yesterday, was an official German holiday, Heiligen Drei Konige, the Three Holy Kings or the Epiphany, and the end of the Christmas season. We celebrated by going to a town in the Frankisches Schweiz called Pottenstein to see the Bergfeuer--a thousand bonfires on the hills surrounding the town. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. There was a procession shortly after dark, and during this parade, the bonfires were lit. Crackling fires then overlooked all sides of the town. There was even a burning cross, which resulted in us having to explain to the boys why we both said, "the KKK is here."

Thankfully, Christmas was very quiet this year. In the two years we were back in Chicago, I dreaded Christmas, because it meant we had to drive to Bob's sister's house in Michigan. We compromised by spending Christmas Eve at home and then driving for three hours the next morning after the kids opened their presents. This did not sit well with the boys, since they couldn't take all of their new toys with them. This year we stayed home on all three days (December 26, the second day of Christmas, is also a holiday), baked cookies, ate turkey and sweet potato pie, opened presents, watched Christmas videos, and on the 25th, we stayed in our pajamas all day.

New Year's Eve, on the other hand, was like a war zone. Instead of having one big fireworks display, the city allows people to shoot off their own fireworks, and these are nothing like the bottle rockets back home. These rockets are about a foot long and as thick as soup cans. In my opinion, one should be trained and licensed before putting a match to the wick. Alex and I watched through our kitchen window as the sky lit up over Erlangen, whereas Bob and Philip added their own rockets to the display from our 4th floor terrace. Poor Oscar sat in the corner of his cage, shaking, until about 1:30 AM, when the noise finally subsided.