{"id":6783,"date":"2014-12-25T08:27:01","date_gmt":"2014-12-25T08:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/?p=6783"},"modified":"2025-08-04T20:46:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T20:46:20","slug":"in-the-christmas-in-germany-dept-the-feuerzangenbowle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2014\/12\/25\/in-the-christmas-in-germany-dept-the-feuerzangenbowle\/","title":{"rendered":"In the “Christmas in Germany” Dep\u2019t: the Feuerzangenbowle"},"content":{"rendered":"

…or, \u201cYou\u2019ll Burn Your Bangs \/ Fringe Off\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

So there\u2019s this drink.<\/a> It\u2019s mulled wine augmented (a kind word) with flamed overproof spirit, usually rum.<\/span><\/p>\n

…Okay, wait. A moment’s worth of scene-setting is called for.<\/span><\/p>\n

So it’s 2014, and we’re in the Munich area for the Christmas period\u2014<\/span><\/span>something that for some time we’d been planning to do when we had enough money: and that year, we did. After a night or two spent in Munich proper and touching base with some friends \/ business acquaintances, we headed off to the nearby ancient university city of Augsburg to spend Christmas there. As do many other German cities, Augsburg has a very nice Christmas market\u2014<\/span><\/span>the Christkindlesmarkt<\/em><\/a>\u2014<\/span><\/span>and we spent a happy pre-lunch and post-lunch hour there picking up some small presents for friends and family, and (as one does, if so inclined) visiting the local food and drink stalls.<\/span><\/p>\n

A stall we’d never seen elsewhere was one selling Feuerzangenbowle.<\/em> We looked on in wonder for a while, and Peter (having recently acquired a new lens for his camera, and a powerful new camera-dedicated flash) started taking some photos.<\/span><\/p>\n

By a truly magical bit of timing\u2014<\/span><\/span>and also by dint of being really good with his camera\u2014<\/span><\/span>he managed to get this shot of the lady in the Feuerzangenbowle<\/em> stall dosing the sugar cubes sitting on the cups\u2019 little built-in tongs (that\u2019s the –zange<\/em>– part of the word) just before setting them on fire. (In her right hand she’s holding the device with which she’ll torch them.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

So after he had the camera put away again, P. ordered one for himself (I was then standing off to one side drinking gl\u00fchwein,<\/em> less dramatic but also potentially much less angst-ridden) and brought it back. \u201cOooh,\u201d he said, \u201csmell that, isn\u2019t that lovely, smell the sugar caramelizing\u2026\u201d And I bent over to take a sniff.<\/span><\/p>\n

And suddenly we could both smell something that WAS NOT SUGAR CARAMELIZING<\/strong><\/em> wut wut WUT<\/strong> WHAT THE FUCK<\/em> HAVE YOU DONE TO ME NOW<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em> MORWOOD?!<\/span><\/p>\n

So after the excitement (and the flames) die down, my bangs are only missing a LITTLE bit on the right side. \u201cOh look, that just crumbled right off, you\u2019re fine,\u201d<\/em> says the Helpful Voice, while the Helpful Fingers brush at me. (Note to self: Alcohol flames are usually colorless and well-nigh invisible. Alcohol flames are usually colorless and well-nigh invisible. ALCOHOL FLAMES<\/strong> FUCK FUCK FUCK <\/em>oh well I have a haircut scheduled after the New Year anyway\u2026)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026Seriously, it\u2019s okay. I\u2019m fine. But make a note for yourself:\u00a0 DO NOT LEAN OVER THE DAMN <\/em>FEUERZANGENBOWLE until the flames have GONE OUT.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(eyeroll…)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…or, \u201cYou\u2019ll Burn Your Bangs \/ Fringe Off\u201d So there\u2019s this drink. It\u2019s mulled wine augmented (a kind word) with flamed overproof spirit, usually rum. …Okay, wait. A moment’s worth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[852,21,26,247,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","category-drink","category-europe","category-germany","category-travel"],"yoast_head":"\nIn the "Christmas in Germany" Dep\u2019t: the Feuerzangenbowle - Out of Ambit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A tale of a Christmas trip to Germany, and of how my husband set me on fire. ...NOT METAPHORICALLY, EITHER. :)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2014\/12\/25\/in-the-christmas-in-germany-dept-the-feuerzangenbowle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In the "Christmas in Germany" Dep\u2019t: the Feuerzangenbowle - 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