OLD NORTH HOLIDAY FAIRE, WINTERMARKT, WAGNER AT 9.6 to 1, AND MORE...

So much to do this weekend!!!

Want to experience a traditional German Christkindlsmarkt without the overseas flight?  Head on down to Loop-adjacent Greg Freeman Park from 11-4 on Saturday, December 1st.

Plenty of Gluhwein (a kind of German port that is very delicious, in Lupe's opinion) is promised, along with local crafts, artisans, baked goods, and all the festivities of the Season.

Greg Freeman park (on the city side- about five blocks south of Delmar along Des Peres/Roseland at Kingsbury).  Sponsored by Skinker-Delballivere:

Wintermarkt, in the tradition of a German Christkindlsmarkt
Saturday December 1st, 11 AM - 4 PM
http://skinkerdebaliviere.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/wintermarkt-2012/

Old North is the most unique neighborhood in St. Louis, in Lupe's opinion.  She loves her Loop, and the Loop and University City are unusual, but Old North is very rare.  There is a difference. It's worth the drive out there to support the emerging multi-cultural, self-sustaining, and urban-agricultural neighborhood, and the cornerstone of the area, Crown Candy. 

Old North Holiday Faire
Saturday December 1st, 11 AM - 4 PM
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holidays-in-Old-North/289679034396584

Saint Louis is a music loving city.  In fact, there are probably as many musicians here in percentage of overall population as there is in Los Angeles or Nashville. 

Indeed all the arts are well-enjoyed and well practiced here. Although as the vocation.  And that is not the same as hobby.  It is more the way a nun is a nun, who earns money as a librarian or web developer.

Music-- indeed, all arts and crafts!- are practiced in St. Louis with the the kind of of zen-like devotion that surfers ride their waves.  That is Lupe's opinion.  What is called the "silent" culture, as opposed to the "erudite".  As the French are judged for the daily eating habits of their general population, how the people cook and eat in their homes, on an ordinary day, which is what gives them the global gastronomic standard, and not their 12 star chefs.

So Lupe thinks it must be so with music and the arts here in St, Louis.  In every home a musician, or a painter, or a crafter, dancer, poet, etc. This rich river basin fills us with desire to create and express, and also to admire, to listen, and to consume.  Family life and fun are not enough, to live one must create!

Musicals and opera are enjoyed and appreciated here by many people, and the creativity Lupe encounters is amazing!  Wagner's Ring Cycle, a four part, almost fifteen hour opera, condensed to 45 minutes  (1 minute to 9.6, was Lupe's calculation) and set to a high school football team, not among the Teutonic gods and heroes.

A project created by Saint Louis own Union Avenue Opera.  It begins with a lecture at 1 PM followed by the 45 minute-performance.

Free Children's Opera at Union Avenue Opera, 1 PM
Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen in 45 minutes
http://unionavenueopera.org/

Lupe would suggest beginning your day at with some pre-Wagnerian fortifying German Gluhwein at the Wintermarkt, and then heading to the opera.

Afterward, visit Crown Candy Kitchen in Old North to stock up on holiday gifts (who doesn't want Crown Candy?) and shop the unique stores and the local Co-op there.

 If you still have time, head over to the Cherokee Street Print Sale and while you are there pick up some Cookies (the cookies will also be available on Sunday).

http://cherokeestreetnews.org/events/29th-annual-cherokee-antique-row-cookie-spree/

It's not even Saint Nick's Day yet (December 6th), and already the city is hoppin'!  That is Saint Louis for ya', never need a reason to celebrate!!!

See you-- BACK ---in the Loop!!!