Bremen Christmas Markets

My husband and I recently visited Bremen, Germany, for its charming Christmas markets.  Bremen is in northwest Germany, about 180 kilometers east of Groningen, and is very accessible by public transit.

This time of year, the town is popular for its Christmas markets (known as "weihnachtsmarkt") - one of which is in the city center (De Bremer Weihnachtsmarkt) and one of which is on the Schlachte Embankment along the Weser River (De Schlachte Zauber).  Bremen also has art museums, a lovely historic area, a gorgeous central square with a monumental town hall, and is also well-known as the intended destination of the traveling donkey, dog, cat, and rooster from the Brothers Grimm tale The Town Musicians of Bremen (for more information, see the Wikipedia article on the Town Musicians of Bremen).

It was very easy to get to Bremen from Groningen using the Public Express, which is a charter bus service that offers several rides per day between Groningen and various destinations in Germany, including Oldenburg and Bremen.  We took an early morning bus, so that we could have a full day in Bremen, and come back to Groningen at night, thus saving the expense of booking a hotel room.

After catching the bus at the Groningen Centraal Station, we had a relaxing bus ride (about 2.5 hours) to Bremen's Central Train Station.  Upon arrival, we perused the central Christmas market, where there were all sorts of Christmas gifts on offer - from ornaments to special German candies - and sampled some Glühwein (a German version of mulled wine).

After perusing for a bit, we stopped by the Bremen Tourist Information Center (Bremen Touristik Zentrale) to meet up with a tour guide for a 2-hour walking tour of the city.  Despite the cold and rainy weather, we still managed to enjoy our tour and we learned a lot about the city's history.

After our tour, we headed over to the Schlachte Zauber Christmas market, which has a more historical feel due to the old-fashioned wooden huts housing the Glühwein merchants and gift shops, traditional musical performances, and workers dressed in period costumes.

After a long day of walking, shopping, and drinking Glühwein in the cold winter weather, we boarded our bus ready for a nice long nap on the way back to Groningen.

Here are some photos from our day in Bremen:

The Hauftbanhof, Bremen's Central Station

One of the ubiquitous Glühwein stands

The central square, with Christmas market in foreground and the Rathuis (city hall) and St. Peter's Cathedral in background

Central Christmas Market

An aerial view, taken from the ferris wheel

Chocolates for sale

More candies for sale

Statue of Roland on the main square

Statue of Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten (the Town Musicians of Bremen)

While the above statue is the most famous, there were many other Stadtmusikanten statues to be seen throughout Bremen.

 

A charming neighborhood near the Schlachte Embankment -
this photo shows an extremely narrow alleyway,
through which everyone had to walk single-file

The Schlachte Embankment

One of the historically-themed huts at the Schlachte Zauber Christmas market. This one sold a variety of organic breads.

This one specialized in various meat products.  I opted for the more vegetarian-friendly falafels across the street.

Hut with vendor in historic costume

The specialty at this Glühwein hut was "Glühwein mit rum"

Mugs full of Glühwein mit rum

A Weekend Trip to Apeldoorn

My husband and I recently visited Apeldoorn, which is a Dutch city about 90 kilometers east of Amsterdam, and the Kröller-Müller Museum in De Hoge Veluwe (a national park near Apeldoorn).

We had a fantastic time staying at the very charming Hotel Abbekerk in Apeldoorn, seeing a symphony orchestra perform the Lord of the Rings soundtrack in Apeldoorn's Grote Kerk, and visiting the Kröller-Müller Museum with its large collection of works by Vincent van Gogh and extensive sculpture garden.

As usual, we found it very easy to get to and from Apeldoorn and to and from De Hoge Veluwe and Kröller-Müller Museum, thanks to the excellent transit system.  Apeldoorn is less than 2 hours by train from Groningen, and the city center is a very short walk from Apeldoorn's train station.  From the Apeldoorn station, one can take Bus Line 400 (direct on weekends) to the Kröller-Müller Museum in just under half an hour.

Here are some photos from our trip:

Hotel Abbekerk

Apeldoorn's Grote Kerk at night

The New Romanian Symphonic Orchestra in Apeldoorn's Grote Kerk

Visiting Oranjepark, one of Apeldoorn's beautiful parks

Meneer Jacques by Oswald Wenckebach, greets visitors at the entrance to the Kröller-Müller Museum

The entrance to the Kröller-Müller Museum

Before venturing out into the sculpture garden, we enjoyed a light lunch from the museum restaurant, Mr. Jacques,
which had several organic and vegetarian items on the menu.

Just a few photos from the museum's huge (25 hectare) sculpture garden. We could have spent an entire day in the sculpture garden, if not for the rain.

The Kröller-Müller Museum, as seen from its 25-hectare sculpture garden

Echo van de Veluwe by Chris Booth

Concetto spaziale "Natura" by Lucio Fontana

Jardin d'émail by Jean Dubuffet

The Arrival of Sinterklaas in Groningen

Sinterklaas

In my Dutch class, we've been discussing some of the winter holiday traditions of the Netherlands. I learned that, instead of an overweight man from Finland delivering presents via a flying sleigh powered by eight tiny reindeer (Santa Claus), Dutch children receive their presents from a slender bishop who arrives on a boat from Spain (Sinterklaas). Both of these individuals derive from the story of Saint Nicholas, but it is not clear to me how one ended up in a remote part of Finland surrounded by elves and the other gets to live in the much milder Spanish climate. Additionally, the Dutch exchange presents on Sinterklaas Eve (December 5), while followers of the Santa Claus story must wait until Christmas Day (December 25).

Zwarte Piet

In my Dutch class, I also learned about Zwarte Piet, who is Sinterklaas’s helper. Actually, several friends warned me about the Zwarte Piet story beforehand, in order to prepare me for seeing a bunch of white people wearing blackface and Afro wigs - something that would certainly not be greeted with smiles and cheers in the USA (and rightly so!). The story behind all of this is that Zwarte Piet was a slave/servant of Sinterklaas who helped keep track of which children were worthy of presents and which children would receive the punishment of being stuffed in a sack and taken back to Spain on Sinterklaas’s boat (naughty Dutch children go on vacation to Spain instead of receiving a lump of coal, by the way). I’ve been told a "more politically correct" (albeit logically inconsistent) version of the Zwarte Piet story, which holds that the Piet characters are not in blackface, but are supposed to look like they are covered in soot from jumping down chimneys to deliver presents.

Anyhow, to make a long story short, and to explain the photos that I've posted here on my blog, it is necessary for my readers to know that Sinterklaas parades include large groups of people in blackface, and that this occurs without much protest or controversy from the onlookers (although this might have something to do with the fact that calling Zwarte Piet racist can get you arrested). 

Now that you’ve got some back story, I bring you my photos from the Sinterklaas Intocht (Arrival of Sinterklaas), which was celebrated in Groningen on the 19th of November.

Huge crowds on the way to see Sinterklaas

The first thing I noticed was that Groningen’s Sinterklaas celebration was extremely crowded. In fact, most of Groningen’s center was packed with folks who were on their way to catch a glimpse of the Sint (Sinterklaas's nickname). Honestly, the only time I’ve seen such a large crowd in the United States was on the way into a stadium before a football game.

An even bigger crowd at the epicenter, meeting Sinterklaas's boat

 When I finally arrived in the area where Sinterklaas would alight from his boat from Spain, I noticed that the parade procession was being lined up. The parade was set up to reflect Groningen’s rural location, with lots of horses and sheep in attendance to welcome Sinterklaas’s boat and lead him through the streets to his annual meeting with the mayor.

Horses preparing to guide Sinterklaas through Groningen

Sheep, also preparing for the Sinterklaas parade

Dogs herding the sheep along the parade route

During the parade, Zwarte Piets performed for the crowds and handed out pepernoten (little spiced cookies) to the children. In addition to the horses, sheep, and sheepdogs, there were also marching bands and a gang of unicyclists.

Zwarte Piet

Zwarte Piet Band

Marching Band #2

Marching Band #3

Horses

Mustachioed women following Sinterklaas on horseback

Unicycle Gang

A wagon full of gifts for the kids who are not stuffed into sacks and sent to Spain

Dutch Food: Bruine Bonensoep

With only my Dutch lessons, social calendar, and volunteer work to keep me occupied, I've been devoting a lot of time to cooking and learning how to make typical Dutch foods.

This week, I would like to share a recipe for bruine bonensoep (brown bean soup).  It's a hearty soup that's extremely easy to make. It requires only minimal preparation, then you can literally throw it in a pot to simmer and forget about it for an hour.

Bruinebonensoep

Most recipes for brown bean soup include some combination of butter and/or pieces of bacon (spekjes), but these are easily left out or substituted, and you still get a very flavorful soup.  I was able to create a vegan soup after adapting several recipes that I found on the Internet.

The raw ingredients: soaked brown beans

...and lots of chopped veggies

Vegan Bruine Bonensoep
(makes 4 servings)
Ingredients:
200 grams (1 cup) of dried Swedish brown beans, soaked overnight and cooked for 1 hour (or 2 cups of canned beans, rinsed)
750 ml (3 cups) of water
15 ml (1 Tbsp) vegetable oil
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 small leek, sliced
1 large carrot, diced
1 medium onion, diced
45 ml (3 Tbsp) tomato paste
15 ml (1 Tbsp) curry powder
15 ml (1 Tbsp) dried basil
2 dried bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
optional: 1/2 cup seitan (wheat gluten) diced small
Instructions:
In a large stockpot, sautée the seitan (if using) in vegetable oil over medium heat.  When the seitan has browned (or if not using the seitan), add the onion and leek to the hot oil with the curry powder and sautée for about 3 to 5 more minutes until the onions are slightly translucent.  Add the water and vegetable bouillon, and cook over medium-high heat until the bouillon is dissolved.  Then, add the beans, carrot, tomato paste, basil, and bay leaves. Mix well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for one hour.  Remove from heat, add salt and pepper.  Remove bay leaves before serving.