Ella no habla español: Fröhliche Weihnachten

Look who we found in Heidelberg! Our Norwegian-Mexican singing Santa!

We choose to spend Christmas day in Heidelberg, a city not far from Frankfurt. Heidelberg is small enough to get around on foot and big enough to have at least one or two restaurants open on Christmas Eve and day. Before we could get to Heidelberg (and attend the afternoon concert there for which we already had tickets), we had to leave Rothenburg. Getting to Heidelberg proved easier said than done . . .

Rothenburg is so small that it’s at the end of a solitary little train line. We were leaving on a Sunday, just days before Christmas, so I wasn’t sure trains would be running regularly. However, we already had our tickets and we got on the train in plenty of time that morning. Since we would need to change trains a few times in order to get to Heidelberg, Brad suggested I go to the computerized ticket machine and print out an itinerary of our train connections.

I waited in line for others to print out tickets, etc. and I finally got to the machine. Just as I was typing in “HEI” for “Heidelberg,” I heard the train leaving. Brad was on the train with all of our luggage and no grasp of German. I was on the platform with our train tickets. I started to run and desperately search for a handle I could grab on the train. Then I could just cling to the rapidly moving train and force a door open. Brad ran to a window and looked out at me in bewilderment. He considered telling the conductor to stop the train, but then he realized they only stop the train in movies. At the same time, I realized that people only jump on a moving train in movies – and those people are always really fit. And they’re running away from the police or something.

Our mistake cost us 88 Euros (since we missed our scheduled connections), but we got to Heidelberg in time for the concert. We gained a new appreciation of the German train system and I gained some knowledge about Taiwanese government. (A Taiwanese student studying in Germany was on the platform in Rothenburg when the train left me – she comforted me and assured me that another train would come soon. We chatted about the differences between Taiwan and China at the tiny coffee shop that was open near the station.)

Heidelberg

Attending a glorious performance of the Bach Christmas Oratorio was the first thing we did in Heidelberg. The oratorio was performed inside the grand Heiligeistkirche (Holy Ghost Church) in the center of the old city. The soloists were professional singers and the choir and orchestra were excellent as well. I had never heard the Bach Oratorio performed before and it was heavenly. The Christmas texts were all so familiar, even though everything was in German.

Inside the Heiligeistkirche

We stayed at Vier Jahreszeiten (ironically translates to “Four Seasons”) in Heidelberg. Supposedly, Goethe once stayed there! Our hotel room was the perfect place to wake up on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. The room was a huge, corner room and we had incredible views of the famous Alte Brücke (Old Bridge) and the Neckar River.

View of the Alte Brücke from our room

Another view from our room

Our hotel is just over Brad’s left shoulder in this photo

On Christmas Eve, Brad and I strolled through the old part of the city and we climbed up to the Schloss (castle).

Heidelberg Schloss is on the left on the hill. Isn’t that frost on the trees beautiful?

View from the Schloss; the big church is Heiligeistkirche

Later in the afternoon, we went to a vespers service at Heiligeistkirche. The enormous church was filled with people. At the front of the church was a 25 foot tree, decorated with traditional straw ornaments in various star shapes, and sparkling with hundreds of tiny white lights. Suspended just above the top of the tree was a glowing Moravian star. Brad and I both tried to permanently memorize the image of this beautiful church interior. The vespers service was lovely. The Lutheran minister read those amazing verses from Matthew and Luke, and she gave a homily about Jesus bringing light to the world. The children’s choir sang about die stern uber Betlehem (the star over Bethlehem.) We sang the magical German carols Es Ist ein Ros Entsprungen (Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming) and Stille Nacht (Silent Night).

We had dinner reservations at a hotel just across the street from our hotel. While planning our trip, I had asked our hotel for restaurant ideas on the 24th and 25th. Our Christmas Eve dinner was superb and we felt like we were truly celebrating. The food was gourmet and the 4-course meal went on for hours. We also enjoyed being inside the coziest of dining rooms. The room was decorated with Christmas trees, candles and large gingerbread cookies tied with ribbons hanging in the windows. Many of the guests there obviously celebrated Christmas Eve at that restaurant every year because they knew the owner and chef, and, as they left, they said, “Bis nächstes Jahr!” (Until next year!)

When we went to bed on Christmas Eve I heard bells ringing all over the city. When I awoke on Christmas morning, I heard bells ringing.

Brad and I discovered a little Anglican church in Heidelberg that had an English-language Christmas morning service. What a joy! The church was small and the 30-person congregation was mostly made up of church members – Brits who live in Heidelberg. As we walked in, everyone said, “Happy Christmas!” in English. The service started with a Carol Medley; we sang at least 10 celebratory carols. By the end of the service, we had sung every carol we know – with the exception of Here We Come A’ Wassailing and Jingle Bells, but those are secular. I also loved singing the English melodies for some of my favorite carols.

After the service, everyone was invited to stay for coffee and cake. Brad and I hung around for a bit. The two older ladies who had been sitting our pew stopped to chat with us on their way out. Margaret, who lives in Heidelberg, brought her friend Teresa (pronounced “Tressa”) to the service because Teresa is visiting from Ireland and doesn’t know any German. Margaret is hilarious and she was poking fun at the proper English congregants there. She found out that we were American tourists, and she invited us over to her house for “a cup of Christmas cheer after dinner.”

Our Christmas dinner reservations were at an old hotel in the center of town. We enjoyed our meal and we were so excited to know we had after-dinner plans at someone’s home! Before going to Margaret’s, we had time to stroll over to the other side of the river and take some photos.

Margaret lives in a building right on Karlsplatz, one of the main squares in town. We showed up right at 5 p.m. and didn’t leave until 8:30 that night. From Margaret’s big apartment windows, you could see the Christmas market outside, with vendors selling Glühwein and snacks, and a busy little skating rink adorned with evergreens. Inside, Margaret had a beautiful tree decorated with items she picked up across the world no doubt. We learned that she’s lived in Greece, Ireland, the U.S., Poland, etc. and she speaks all of those languages.

Margaret and Teresa had cooked Christmas dinner for three new friends of Margaret’s: an American, Canadian and a German. All three were all connected in some way with the university in Heidelberg and Margaret had met them at the German-American forum there. Margaret introduced Brad and me to everyone as her “old friends.” She kept the five of us in stitches telling us stories from her life and joking about various cultural curiosities. Apparently Margaret did graduate work at Columbia in American Studies, so she knew quite a bit about our culture.

The afternoon was a cultural experience in and of itself. Margaret gave us small glasses of German honey wine when we arrived. Later, Teresa served the special Irish Christmas pudding she had brought for Christmas. “Pudding” in the British Isles is a moist cake. The one we ate had five different kinds of raisins, brandy and Guinness beer among the ingredients. Later we had “Greek coffee” prepared by the Canadian girl whose parents are Greek. Then we ate some German Stollen (similar to nut raisin cake) that Margaret’s baker had given her as a Christmas gift. Meanwhile Margaret played a CD of an Irish folksinger – to make Teresa feel at home. Overall, we had a blast. The famed German hospitality made our Christmas in Heidelberg truly unforgettable.