Winter break 2012 :: Europe Trip Part III: Frohe Weihnachten!
(This is installment #3 of 3 blog posts recounting my 2012 winter break trip. See here and here for the earlier installments.) On Friday, December 21, we made it to our final destination: Nuremberg, Germany. The first order of business was to walk through the Christmas market, known as "Christkindlesmarkt." Hundreds of booths are set up to sell handmade Christmas ornaments, wooden toys and nativity scenes, and plenty of warm wine and sausages. Shoppers come from all over Germany but also all over the world, so I was happy to learn that most vendors spoke English, too! Some of the most beautiful displays were the ones containing hundreds of glass ornaments like the one below.
On Saturday, our first full day but also last day in Germany, we walked around the "Old Town," the part of the city completely surrounded by a wall. At the north point of the Old Town stands an old castle which provides great views of the city. The architecture here was much different than that of England and France, but beautiful nonetheless. We also stopped in a church that stood in the same square as the Christmas market for a short organ concert of some recognizable classical tunes. Many people took a break from the cold, windy outdoor market with us to enjoy the music.
Our last night in Nuremberg was spent again at the Christmas market, where my family and I finished up our Christmas shopping. Some of my favorite booths to visit were ones containing intricately decorated nutcrackers and little smoker men, seen in the picture below. It was hard to stop myself from buying something from every booth, but my limited remaining euros and limited suitcase space kept me in line!
As I was flying across the Atlantic for ten hours to get back home the next day, boredom ensued and I settled on reading my passport for entertainment. Yes, there are quotes in that thing - several well-known ones from Lincoln and the Declaration of Independence - and others new to me. I found one to be relevant to us students, coming from astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka:
Every generation has the obligation to free men's minds for a look at new worlds...to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation.
As we Fisher MAcc students return to campus for our last semester of school, we should keep this in mind. We are the future our profession, and we have an obligation to make progress and push farther to reach greater heights than before. With that, I'm looking forward to a great spring 2013!
