CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD CASTLE

Image:thoughtdistillery.com/2004/12/13/74

Years ago, I used to eat Sunday brunch at Café Mozart on Bush Street between services at Grace Cathedral. The owner was a Viennese named Claus. One Christmas, he made a large gingerbread castle in the shape of a familiar landmark. “Oh Claus!” I said, “What a wonderful gingerbread model of Neuschweinstein.” “Neu- SCHWEIN- stein?!!!! Don’t you know the difference between a schwein and a schwan?!!!!” Now.... I do.

(See my post "California's Connection to WAGNER'S RING DES NIBELUNGEN" September 7, 2008 for a description of Ludwig II's castles in Bavaria.)