Life on the Vine

Ludwigsburg Weihnachtsmarkt Many of Germany's Christmas markets have been held for hundreds of years.  While today there are many similarities with the wares sold from one Christmas market to another, it is still fun to visit and explore new markets.   Our first Christmas in Germany I went to the Christmas market in Stuttgart , and Tom and I went up to the one in Dresden .  The next year we spent Christmas vacation in the United States but we did visit the medieval-themed market in Esslingen . This year I revisited the market in Stuttgart and got to several new ones - Ludwigsburg , Nuremburg, Rothenburg, and Augsburg.      The history of Christmas markets goes back to the Late Middle Ages in the German speaking part of Europe.  The market in Dresden is one of the oldest, dating back to 1434.  Christmas markets usually take place during Advent and began as pretty simple celebrations -- a small winter market that lasted a couple days.    Usually, Christmas mark

The week after Thanksgiving I had a chance to travel to Africa for a work trip.  It was a whirlwind trip...we were in a different place every night.  Our first stop was Gabon in Central Africa.  I wrote a blog for AFRICOM's website and thought I'd re-post it here.   View of Gabon's capital Libreville Gabon in Sub-Saharan Africa straddles the equator and is one of the least densely populated countries in Africa.   The nation, which is about the size of Colorado, has an estimated population of 1.54 million people, which is smaller than some U.S. cities.   The week after Thanksgiving I had a chance to visit Gabon while supporting a senior leader visit by Ambassador J. Anthony Holmes, U.S. Africa Command’s deputy to the commander for civil-military activities.   The visit’s main focus was maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea and regional cooperation, but we got an opportunity to visit the Gabonese military’s HIV/AIDS program at Camp Baraka in Libreville.   

Not far from downtown Stuttgart is the city of Ludwigsburg where one of the largest, best preserved baroque palaces in Germany is located.  I've been to Ludwigsburg a couple times.  When my family was visiting in September, I took my mom and sister-in-law to see the palace and the annual pumpkin festival .  The pumpkin festival has a theme each year and this year's theme was dinosaurs.    Last night I went to Ludwigsburg's Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) and while it probably seems like a weird combo I thought I'd share some of my photos from September and some of my photos from last night.   Mom and Haruko in front of the palace Dinosaur Crossing- the car hood was crushed in Most dinosaurs were herbivores Path leading down to the dinos Mom and baby dinosaur A lovely lizard The main portion of the palace dates back to 1704 We did the palace tour but they don't let you take pictures inside any more The palace was compl