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Dec

Holiday Wanderlust in Leipzig!

by Joyce McGreevy on December 16, 2019

People at the Leipziger Weihnachtsmarkt, the annual Christmas market in Leipzig, celebrate centuries-old German Christmas traditions. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The Christmas Market has been a tradition in Leipzig for 600 years.
© Joyce McGreevy

**Winter is Wunderbar at Germany’s Christmas Markets**

It’s an ink-dark December morning as my sister and I board the train in Berlin. Yet our hearts are light, warmed by the promise of discovery. Winter wanderlust leads us to Leipzig’s Weihnachtsmarkt one of Germany’s oldest, biggest, and most beautiful Christmas markets!

Now popular around the world, the European tradition of the December market wasn’t always so charming. In the early Middle Ages, it was merely the last chance to stock up on supplies before hunkering down for a long, miserable winter. Visions of survival, not sugar plums, danced through one’s head in those days. Read more...

Joyce McGreevy 4 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Germany/The World's Art & Design/Travels to the Past

Nov

Do You Know Your Onions?

by Joyce McGreevy on November 26, 2019

Allium flowers reflect the surprising beauty of a staple of every world cuisine, onions. (Image by Sheila Brown, CCO Public Domain)

Take time to smell the . . . onions?
Sheila Brown CCO Public Domain

Crossing Cultures: Peeling the Layers of a Truly Global Food

Quick—what food is a staple of every global cuisine?

Wheat? Nope. Rice? Guess again. Uh, potatoes? B-z-z-z! Game over!

It’s the onion.

Piles of fresh onions, a food known for crossing cultures, showcase the appeal of this staple of global cuisine. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Americans eat 22 lbs. of onions per person per year, placing 5th after Libya (66 lbs).
© Joyce McGreevy

It’s grown in over 175 countries—twice as many as wheat, according to United Nations estimates. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization lists China as the world’s largest producer of onions, followed by India, the United States, Turkey, and Pakistan. Read more...

Joyce McGreevy 6 Comments

Crossing Cultures/Proverbs & Sayings/The World's Chefs/Worldwide Sites

Nov

Green Grow the Alleys, O!

by Joyce McGreevy on November 11, 2019

A ruelle verte, or green alley, in Montréal, Canada reflects creative problem-solving that helps the planet. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Creative Problem-Solving, One Alley at a Time

What does the word alley bring to mind? Most likely someplace gray and utilitarian, a narrow passageway behind buildings. Perhaps it evokes unpleasantness, even menace, as in something “you wouldn’t want to encounter in a dark alley.”

But what if alleys reflected creative problem-solving? In a growing number of cities, they do. Presenting the “green alley,” an urban oasis created from what was once a concrete desert. Read more...

Joyce McGreevy Comments

Canada/Clever Ideas/Making a Difference/Nature Discovery

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