New Year's in Berlin

The New Year arrived just a few days after I did, accompanied by copious amounts of fireworks everywhere. Fireworks are street-legal here, and it seems like people of all ages have been saving up all year to stock up on various explosives and set them off all over the place (including, on one memorably deafening occasion, inside the U-Bahn station). The days leading up to the 31st were punctuated by occasional bangs and pops in the distance, but on the day of New Year's Eve it was nearly constant noise. Coming from California originally, where fireworks are strictly regulated due to the pretty much constant fire danger, it was definitely an unusual experience!

Ben and I spent a lazy day at home enjoying each other's company, and didn't have much in the way of energy for evening plans. Eventually we decided that we should at least leave the apartment on New Year's Eve in a new city, so we decided to head down to the city center at Kurfurstendamm and see the new Star Wars movie. However, when we got out of the U-Bahn, we saw that the Christmas market in front of the old Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtnis Kirche was still open, and we decided to forego the movie in favor of checking out the market, since I had yet to experience a real German Christmas market in person.

 

The hat was a present from Ben, picked out just before the picture was taken.

It was a glorious experience! The market was less crowded than it had probably been before Christmas, but still bustling and full of beautiful lights and delicious smells, and the many amazing handcrafted Christmas decorations that Germany is famous for. It was truly a Christmas wonderland, and I was so happy to experience it with Ben at my side and a hot cup of Glühwein (mulled wine) in hand. We spent a long while wandering the market, and even bought our very first German Christmas decoration: a Weihnachts-Pyramide.

 

It's difficult to see in the video, but inside the house there is a little piece of incense that sends smoke out of the chimney (and the windows) 

After we had explored the market in its entirety, and watched an impressive fireworks display that took place between the tall buildings of downtown (still several hours before midnight--they must have had a serious stockpile of fireworks!), we decided to head back home before things got really crazy. Back at the apartment, we set up our new decoration, lit the candles, and settled in with a glass of wine to await midnight, marveling at the increasing density of explosions as the hour approached. By midnight, it sounded like an ongoing bombing raid in our street. We opened the window to appreciate the excitement, and caught a video--not much to see, but plenty to hear!

 

Happy 2018!