November round-up and faves

Here we are again, at the end of another month and with  Christmas looming on the horizon. How has your November been? Mine has been rather  ... I'm not sure how to describe it ... so perhaps you'd better read on.

Life lately

Political crisis

I spent most of November in a self-imposed form of hibernation: not writing, not really doing much, just curled up on the sofa and voraciously devouring books while trying to keep abreast of the political turmoil that our island has found itself in due to the corrupt few. Or the corrupt many. It's not quite clear yet how many people are involved and the story is too long and convoluted for me to go into here. But it all started around 3 years ago following revelations made by assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. It now appears that people at the highest level of our government were involved in her assassination - as many of us had suspected all along. If anybody is interested in the whole sordid affair, you may read the initial revelations that Daphne had made on her blog Running Commentary here and more recent updates on Manuel Delia's blog Truth be Told  or on the portals of independent newspapers here and here. I had written briefly about the subject right after Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination in an open letter here. A book about the assassination Murder on the Malta Express: Who Killed Daphne Caruana Galizia was published on the second anniversary of her death. It was co-authored by Carlo Bonini, Manuel Delia and John Sweeney and was my book of choice for  #NonfictionNovember.

As you all know, I usually try to stay clear of politics and other controversial subjects but, with everything that is going on around me, I couldn't go on without saying anything. So I am really glad that I got that off my chest.

Now on to more pleasant topics.

Ulm

I went on a business trip to Ulm during the third week of November. Ulm is a small city in the south of Germany, on the river Danube. It was heavily bombed in the war but some of its original medieval buildings and its iconic Gothic church (Ulm Minster), which has the tallest steeple in the world, survived. Ulm is also famous for being the birthplace of Albert Einstein. Sadly the house he was born in was destroyed. Ulm is a very pleasant place to walk around in but these photos I am sharing are from my first visit at the end of March. It was too dark this time round to take any decent photos with my old phone (it doesn't do very well in low light). Sadly, I was a week too early to enjoy the Christmas market. I'll have to make do with the local ones which are sprouting up everywhere - even though these markets are not a Maltese tradition.

Thanksgiving

We will be celebrating Thanksgiving this coming Saturday. Our menu is always a mixture of American and European recipes. I tend to prefer it this way especially since I am not a fan of turkey. Those things are so big it feels like we're eating leftovers all the way to Christmas whenever we make one. Instead we will indulge in simpler fare: mini beef wellingtons and apple crumble cake are already on the menu.

From here on, of course, it will be one crazy race to Christmas. We'll start our decorating this Sunday and then I will need to clean the house and start some baking - not to mention gift-buying and wrapping. Yikes.

Favourite links:

1. Since it's time for some indulgence, here's How to make Nutella Truffles with Frangelico.
2. Because we all love dressing up and there's no better time to do it than at Christmas, here are some lovely ideas from Kim of the blog Northern California Style: Brocade Baby  & Other Cool Holiday Fashions.
3. Hopefully none of us will need to follow the tips in this article about Unwanted Gifts and What to do with them.
4. Naomi Bulger talks about White Space and the importance of taking some time out for ourselves at this busy time of year.
5. If you eat too much and are feeling full, these 4 teas may offer some relief.

I hope you enjoy these photos of old Ulm that I've included in my post. Don't the houses look like something out of a fairy-tale or a real-life gingerbread village? 

 

No, it's not your eyes. That house on the right is actually crooked. (Like some of our politicians.)