Basel Christmas Market

One last Christmas note: the Basel Christmas market is wonderful and I'm now inclined to believe those who say it's the best in country. It's really a folk art fair, and to be completely disloyal to Zürich, it's nothing like the collection of trinket vendors that dominate the market at Zürich's main train station. Located on Barfüsserplatz (take almost any tram from the main Basel SBB train station), the market included stalls selling hand blown glasses objects, all kinds of beautiful items carved from wood, including some delicate almost paper-thin creations, hand-dipped beswax candles (and also a DIY stall to make your own), woolens of all kinds and more.

I love Christmas tree decorations and used to buy a new one every year, looking for something unusual and handcrafted. That tradition became pretty much impossible in recent years in the US, where all decorations, even those in the supposedly craft-y Christmas stores, have been mass produced in China. There's just something really depressing about these bland representations of Christmas themes made solely for export in a country where Christmas is a meaningless foreign tradition.

In Basel I had the chance to indulge my love of Christmas ornaments, although I held myself to just two: a pot-bellied ceramic Santa and a leaner central European Father Christmas. I also got a couple of candles for our Christmas table and was assured by the vendor that these were made from true Rhein beeswax. The rest was a treat for the eyes, even if budget didn't allow for more purchases.





Possibly the best find, however, was the bakery stand that was baking bread in wood-fired ovens right on site.  They were serving this incredible flat bread called dinette, something like a thicker flammenkuchen that had been cooked in these smoking hot wood-fired ovens. This made for a great Christmas market brunch: Glühwein and dinette topped with speck and onions.

I think we'll make the Basel Christmas Market part of all of our Swiss Christmases.





Story by Kathy
Photos by tylon

Merry Christmas!

                                      Frohe Weihnachten!



Photo by tylon

Christmas Music by Candlelight

Christmas is the season of music here, with performances in Swiss churches throughout the Advent period. I'm sorry to say that due to my general, and sad to say typical, lack of Christmas season organization, I missed a number of performances at the Fraumünster. Most of these events were potentially marvelous, given the level of professional muscianship and the beauty of the setting.

Not all was lost, however. I got a tip from one of the performers about an event on the 20th, and on Sunday evening I went to the Kirche Neumünster for a little Wiehnachtsmusik bei Kerzenlicht (Christmas Music by Candlelight). Built in 1839 with the interior completely rennovated in 1912, the church is a paean to Greek classicism, a kind of literal rationalism that was quite lovely by candlelight. The church also has, it turns out, superior acoustics and is actually popular as a performance space for many kinds of music.

Perhaps this is one reason Neumünster has its own orchestra? Beautifully led by Gunnar Harand, the Neumünster Orchestra was joined by the St. Laurentius Choir, a well-known youth choir from Bülach, and professional Soprano, Michelle Chang, as well as violin soloist Rudolf Bamert, formerly with the Tonnehalle Orchestra in Zürich.  The program was nicely chosen, moving from Mozart's Misericordias Domini to Schubert's Mass in G-major.

I always have a very emotional reaction to conductors and was soon quite taken with the Herr Harand's sensitive and eloquent conducting. He completely won me over after Mozart's Laudate Dominium (feauring Soprano Michelle Chang), when he quickly flashed the choir an okay sign, as if to say well done kids. It must have been a bit daunting to sing with Soprano Michelle Chang in front of the standing room only audience in the church.

Chang's voice was absolutely a joy to hear. I only wished there could have been more. Hayden's Concerto in C-major for Violin and Orchestra, with Bamert as soloist, was very fine. But in the end, I think it was the feeling of community that came from a group of dedicated amateurs joined by a few professionals to celebrate the season and the music that really made the evening.

There's still more music this holiday season. Check out classicpoint.ch for more information.

Winter kommt an

Lichterschwimmen

The woman behind me said, "Oh look, there they come under the bridge!" A confused passerby thought perhaps she meant people were swimming the Limmat, which elicited a chuckle from others standing nearby and the explanation that, no, this is the Lichterschwimmen, where little children set lighted candles afloat to drift down the Limmat River from the Stadthausquai.

Hundreds of Zürchers braved below zero temperatures and frigid wind last Thursday evening, crowding the Rathaus and Münster bridges and both sides of the Limmat River to watch the annual swimming of the lights (or Lichterschwimmen). It was a jolly, sociable atmosphere, despite the cold, perhaps aided by the Glühwein being served on Weinplatz at one end of the Rathaus bridge.  It was a lovely sight, although we only managed it for about an hour and then decided that tradition had been honored well enough. We left the crowd and went in search of a warnth and food.

 

Story by Kathy
Photos by tylon

Weihnachtsmarkt am Hauptbahnhof

Just a few photos from a recent stop at the Christmas market in the main train station in Zürich. The famed Swarovski Christmas Tree, the Glühwein (hot spiced wine),  the Christmas yummies and crafts. Big, crowded, and fun.