Germans are now confronting the fact that Christmas is over but winter is just getting underway. They console themselves by getting an early start celebrating carnival, which involves consuming large quantities of a special pastry, called Krapfen, to prepare for a period of fasting for Lent. True, hardly anybody fasts anymore, but no matter – Krapfen are delicious. Not only are these pastries popular, but their numbers also keep growing and more varieties are created every year.

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Brenda Arnold

You’re not supposed to use birthdates for passwords or combinations, so I used important historical dates. But as an American who lived in Spain and now lives in Germany, many dates stand out. Which led to a lot of problems when I tried to reconstruct the thought process behind my bike combination after returning from vacation…

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Brenda Arnold

I was brimming with confidence that my French was good enough to navigate around southern France. But not only was my French not suffisant, my lack of botanical knowledge also got me into trouble. Merde!

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Brenda Arnold

The windy city, indeed! But why windy? And who really caused the Great Fire - if you think it was a cow - then guess again!

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Brenda Arnold

Germans are so careful about maintaining their cars and they build their houses so well that they are practically airtight. But on New Year’s Eve, their sense of caution quite literally vanishes into thin air in the form of fireworks.

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Brenda Arnold

The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore kicked off so many holiday trends, like the idea of a white Christmas (with a little help from Charles Dickens) and the idea (I mean revelation of course, for all of the six-year-olds reading this) that Santa brings toys at night in a sleigh.

I couldn’t resist rewriting it was a not-so-subtle Bavarian twist. I hope you enjoy it!

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Brenda Arnold

Nuremberg is world-famous for its Christmas market but every German town worth its gingerbread has one, too. It isn’t just tourists who flock there but locals, too, all hoping for a white Christmas to create the perfect mood. But this rarely happens. One contributor to the mystique of holiday snow is Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers and the iconic classic, A Christmas Carol. Both featured harsh winters like those experienced by the author in his childhood in mid-19th century England.

Snow or not, after a few sips of holiday cheer it doesn’t make a difference. I visited a Christmas market in Regensburg, which has the perfect medieval setting to make you particularly nostalgic.

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Brenda Arnold

Christmas is confusing enough with Santa, St. Nick, and Father Christmas. In Bavaria they also add the Christkind, the Christchild to the mix. Oh yes, and let’s not forget the three kings who arrive on Epiphany. It took me quite a while after arriving in Germany to figure out exactly which of these Christmas representatives would be bringing the presents. Of course, in the end it was me all along.

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Brenda Arnold