Preparing For The New Year
And so it goes, another year to welcome as we wish this one goodbye... And like Oprah once said, and I know it is quoted a billion times everywhere but I love it anyway, "Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." Amen, Oprah Winfrey.
As I sit here, it's 6:30 p.m. and I'm listening to the enthusiastic kids upstairs bouncing around with their friends awaiting their big party... And I hear a few fireworks outside from time to time - a boom here a boom boom there, which I'm assuming are party hosts "preparing" for the big Silvester celebration later on. Most parties get started here at around 7:00 or 8:00 and go on for hours after midnight. Last year, I saw and heard fireworks until 1 o'clock at least, it was so noisy and absolutely exciting as I sat on my windowsill with the windows wide open. I had such a good time observing my first Silvester in Germany last year and this year, I will no doubt love it all over again. I also anticipate seeing fireworks in this part of the district as we are on a main street now and I wonder if they'll be more intense or not.
Fireworks here are HUGE, and legal, in fact everyone seems to buy bags and bags of them and they are shot off all over the streets and in the public squares though you are forbidden to shoot them in the forest (thank goodness!). On the 1st of the year as you go for a morning stroll you see signs all over showing just how big "Silvester" really is in Germany as the streets are littered with leftover fireworks, packaging and tons of champagne bottles.
I always thought it would be so smart for Hannover to organize parties at the many squares we have in this city of open space instead of allowing people to shoot them on any sidewalk and then the city could come by the next day to dispose of all of the trash and glass... but they don't and so this beautiful, hopeful and lovely night of fun and celebration turns in to dealing with weeks and weeks of glass and trash all over the streets -- and no one bothers to clean it up though it miraculously disappears by March after the snow and ice have gone away. And yet Germans love nature and recycle everything, yet for some reason all eco consciousness goes straight to hell on December 31st of each year. Oh well. It's new year's after all...
I was invited to a party that starts in just 20 minutes but I've decided to simply stay home and enjoy the display outside of the window -- plus I have a balcony and can sit outside to observe the big display with my camera in hand. And perhaps if I can figure out how to shoot video with my new camera I will show and tell a little at around midnight... so you can see what new year's is all about in Hannover, Germany. :)
(image: holly becker for haus maus)
As I sit here, it's 6:30 p.m. and I'm listening to the enthusiastic kids upstairs bouncing around with their friends awaiting their big party... And I hear a few fireworks outside from time to time - a boom here a boom boom there, which I'm assuming are party hosts "preparing" for the big Silvester celebration later on. Most parties get started here at around 7:00 or 8:00 and go on for hours after midnight. Last year, I saw and heard fireworks until 1 o'clock at least, it was so noisy and absolutely exciting as I sat on my windowsill with the windows wide open. I had such a good time observing my first Silvester in Germany last year and this year, I will no doubt love it all over again. I also anticipate seeing fireworks in this part of the district as we are on a main street now and I wonder if they'll be more intense or not.
Fireworks here are HUGE, and legal, in fact everyone seems to buy bags and bags of them and they are shot off all over the streets and in the public squares though you are forbidden to shoot them in the forest (thank goodness!). On the 1st of the year as you go for a morning stroll you see signs all over showing just how big "Silvester" really is in Germany as the streets are littered with leftover fireworks, packaging and tons of champagne bottles.
I always thought it would be so smart for Hannover to organize parties at the many squares we have in this city of open space instead of allowing people to shoot them on any sidewalk and then the city could come by the next day to dispose of all of the trash and glass... but they don't and so this beautiful, hopeful and lovely night of fun and celebration turns in to dealing with weeks and weeks of glass and trash all over the streets -- and no one bothers to clean it up though it miraculously disappears by March after the snow and ice have gone away. And yet Germans love nature and recycle everything, yet for some reason all eco consciousness goes straight to hell on December 31st of each year. Oh well. It's new year's after all...
I was invited to a party that starts in just 20 minutes but I've decided to simply stay home and enjoy the display outside of the window -- plus I have a balcony and can sit outside to observe the big display with my camera in hand. And perhaps if I can figure out how to shoot video with my new camera I will show and tell a little at around midnight... so you can see what new year's is all about in Hannover, Germany. :)
(image: holly becker for haus maus)
Comments
It's so sweet to read how you enjoy german silvester! I,personally,hate it. Those early fireworks are prob. not party hosts preparing,but dumb kids that love to scare people. They also seem to love throwing fireworks in letterboxes, trash bins or at other people's cars. I really don't undestand it,it's loud, boring,cold, (at least a bit) dangerous,and most of all expensive! As for the trash, that actually gets picked up pretty fast by the trash people who make an extra round just for the silvester stuff,at least where I live. Nevertheless,enjoy your silvester night! Are you doing a Bleigießen or some other special things tonight?
Sandra
I'm staying home tonight too. I'm sick and had to cancel my plans. But that's alright, I'll watch the fireworks from my window. I have a great view over the city. I'm not doing Bleigießen, but I'll break out the tarot cards just like last year.
As for the silvester trash, I swear people here are crazy. At 8 a.m. on New Year's Morning, the streets are spotless! I don't know how they do it. The perks of living in a small town, I guess.
Enjoy your evening.
Fondly,
Glenda
But i stay insight and watch the firework from our windows. I read about thoughts going to make fireworks illegal and hold one big party at a square or something and let us all watch the fireworks from there... but seriously don't like that idea for the simple reason i can't watch the fireworks than anymore :(
First: i MUST go out than and go to our city instead of staying home
Second: it will be far to crowded for me and my family. And my children are young now, i can't keep them up that long,.. if we would come too late there wont be any good places left... I would hate that.
Now my children were in their beds and we just opened their curtains so they could watch the fireworks while they were sleeping/lying in their beds. So sweet :-) that was our best moment.
Only 1-2 days after the big night in my german city all the street are clean again, they start to clean on 01.01. at four in the morning already. Anyway I am sure there is a much better way to celebrate.
I gave one bigger party and we celebrated until the morning and even without any bang bang firework outsides we still had lot of fun, played Monopoly, Trivia and cards, dancing :-) cooking together...