I went to watch the city of Zurich celebrate the onset of the Christmas season.
At this particular time on this particular day, the city of Zürich turns on all its Christmas lights and the Christmas markets officially open. Throngs of people turned out for this much-anticipated event, packed shoulder-to-shoulder on Bahnhofstrasse, the central avenue. The photo below shows the moment after the lights came on, with the crowd cheering and the people in the verandas at upper left setting off confetti crackers. The smell of heiss marroni (roasted chestnuts) and glüwein (mulled wine) wafted by, and the shops were handing out free glasses of champagne or live music indoors. A very festive evening… see the short gallery – with video!
A night in Mysore before a quiet family Christmas at home.
We spent a night in Mysore [location], before heading back to Bangalore on Christmas Eve. We had been to Mysore back in October, but wanted to visit again so my parents could see the palace and other sights. The palace is truly amazing, indeed, if they would only let me take photos inside I could share with you the carved ceilings, elaborate woodwork, and huge marble palace rooms.
The Dudley team (past, present, and future), at the Mysore Palace. Grandpa Jack, David, John, Andy.
We also visited the Mysore silk factory, which was fascinating, and deafening! Vast rooms full of electric looms, clattering away, spinning and and then weaving gorgeous bolts of pure silk, or silk woven together with gold. It hurt the ears, and yet most of the workers had little ear protection. Again, no photographs allowed, so here is Pam shopping for silk at a nearby shop.
Pam looks at saris in Mysore.
We visited a gift shop, because this region is well-known for its inlaid wood furniture. We spent many hours there, watching the woodworkers, choosing some pieces to send home, and examining the beautiful silk. As a gimmick, on our arrival the shopkeeper had one of the woodworkers instantly and freehand sawed a delicate carved initial for each of our kids. We bought a beautiful table made of inlaid wood:
we bought this inlaid-wood table at a Mysore furniture workshop.
Christmas Day was quiet, spent in our apartment at home. The kids were thrilled to receive an iPod nano each. Amazing how Santa read their minds! Now, if we could just get them to put the dang things down and look outside the window….
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David Kotz 