Christmas Eve, we brought the tree in from the balcony, took it into the bedroom, unwrapped it, and started decorating.
BEFORE
DURING
AFTER
It took a couple of hours to place the bulbs / decorations, the lights, then the candles, and finally the tinsel. Then we lit the candles and gazed at what we had wrought. The light of real candles is exquisite!
Unexpectedly but fortunately, B's cleaning woman turned up just when we were thinking of tidying up the place - since she is Serbian Orthodox, her Christmas Eve is only going to take place in 7 days, and Thursday is her normal cleaning day. Our good luck.
Then to B's sister's house. Traffic was extraordinarily light, and it was unseasonably warm out----maybe about 50 F, which for a Vienna winter evening is pretty warm. The streets were wet, condensation from the moisture-rich air mostly.
At R's place, the others had gathered: R, the girls' parents, two sisters who had grown up with B and R, their husbands (one of the couples lives in Nuremberg), and the sisters' 89-year-old mother. AND, last but not least, Sofie The Dog, a black Lab. Sofie was very sweet and well behaved, and mostly laid around---though we discovered later in the evening that she'd stolen two thirds of a box with home-made Christmas cookies someone left unattended.
BEFORE THE EATIN' & DRINKIN'
B'S SOUP
The food was prepared by the guests to avoid any stress for R (she has been battling cancer for many years). First, cream of parsley root (B), then the other girls's veal roulade stuffed with Bavarian veal sausage meat, Black Forest ham and chestnuts with slices of bread dumpling boiled in a napkin and a delicious gravy which contained a pint of port and onions. It was delicious.
Besides being Christmas Eve, it was also R's birthday. A dual celebration. One of the guests was a pretty good singer / guitarist, so there were Christmas carols sung in German around the tree (also lit with real candles.) Most everyone there could sing pretty well. I can't, but I was spared having to because I don't know the words to the songs.
They didn't want me to feel left out, though, so they asked what carol I'd like to hear. Finally I said, "White Christmas." Just like the kind they have in Oklahoma this year.
Since my mom died, Christmas hasn't really meant very much. My dad and I didn't get together for it, neither of us being religious or much interested in standing on ceremony. But this year is special because it's my first Christmas with B and her family, and in the days leading up to it I got more and more into---I don't want to say "THE" spirit, but rather "A" spirit of it.
So there we were, in R's place, me the relative newcomer, but made to feel part of the family. I recorded some of the caroling and intend to put it with a little video I made, if I can figure out Windows Movie Maker.
After dinner everyone opened their gifts, then had the birthday cake in celebration of R's birthday as a dessert. We finally left about 10:30 or so, and noticed now that traffic on the streets had picked up quite a bit----a hell of a lot more taxis than usual. People wisely choosing to let the cabbies do the (sober) driving!
For whatever reason, B and I were wide awake despite the long day. So we cracked a bottle of wine and sat down to watch IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE----in German. Interestingly, there are a few points in the film where you see close-ups of written material---telegrams or the like. Instead of showing the original close-up in English, they inserted a German-language version of the thing, and the look and feel of the clip perfectly matched the rest of the film. I don't know if Frank Capra shot these close-ups in different languages at the time of production, or if they were cleverly added for foreign markets in later years.
In English or German, though, it's a great film.
We took a break in the middle of the film to call our friend Will B. Goode, who house- and cat-sits for me every time I come to Vienna. He told us of the big snowstorm that hit Oklahoma, and said he was just about to pull a turkey out of the oven when we called. Christmas dinner for him and the cat...
Had a good talk with Will, then back to the film, then, finally, to bed about 3 AM.
It's a wonderful life and it's been a wonderful FIRST CHRISTMAS TOGETHER for B and me.
