This year was our second Christmas spent in Germany...although there was very little similarity between the two. Last year, the kids and I flew into Frankfurt on December 21st and we all woke up on Christmas day in a hotel in the village of Otterberg. We drove into a very quiet Heidelberg that afternoon which was definitely a new and fun way to spend the holiday. It was a nice Christmas...and definitely kicked off a year of doing things differently and being a bit more adventurous.
This year we bought a live tree...something we haven't had for at least thirteen years if not longer, and we spent the days before the holiday with our friends, the Goulds, who flew in from Colorado to spend time with us and with part of their family that lives in Stuttgart.
Here are some photos of our beautiful holiday...
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| Scott, Steve, Suzanna and I walking in Frankfurt |
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| Chris, Suze, Anya, Scott and I at a Christmas market in Frankfurt |
We picked our friends up from the airport in Frankfurt on Saturday, December 22nd, and from there, we rode the train into the city where we experienced our first ever Christmas market.
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| the Goulds ate brats...Steven and I had steak sandwiches and Maya and Scott chose not to eat. Silly kids. |
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| The carousel on the right was a double decker with spinning cars on the bottom. I took many shots of it, but they turned out blurry. You'll just have to take my word for it...it was a sight to behold. |
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| the Wings in Frankfurt |
On Sunday, we drove to Trier where we walked through another Christmas market settled in the Domfreihof, right in front of the Trier Cathedral, (otherwise known as Dom St. Peter.)
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| the Goulds in Trier near the cathedral |
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| Mylee Bug |
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| Trier Cathedral |
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| Scott, Steve, Maya and Anya |
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| Christmas market |
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| We ate Lebkuchen, or gingerbread |
Steven had the camera for a while when we went inside Dom St. Peter, but then Maya took over. Most of these shots are ones she took.
The outside of the cathedral was just as striking as the inside.
Then we visited the Leibfrauenkirche, or the Church of Our Lady.
Wow...
After that, we ate some more...this time some pizza. One slice had potatoes and cheese and the other had cheese with broccoli and carrots. It may sound a bit odd, but it was really tasty.
When we'd had our snack, we began walking from the center of town.
It was getting darker and we could see many birds flying through the skies.
Before we left Trier, we got a glimpse of the Porta Nigra Gate.
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| The cathedral and the lights of the Christmas market through an arch in the Porta Nigra Gate. |
Trier is well known for its well preserved Roman structures. Porta Nigra is Latin for black gate. It was built between 186 and 200 AD. I'm still thinking about just how long ago the Romans constructed this. Such artistry and ability. It's amazing...and beautiful, too.
From Trier, we drove back toward home and ate dinner at a German restaurant in Landstuhl called Andreas Stube. I have one word for this meal...DELICIOUS. We all ate various kinds of schnitzel...Maya and Scott the turkey breast and Steven and I the Cordon Bleu. Maya and I had ours with spaetzel and Scott and Steven had roasted potatoes. It was so good...we are definitely going back to eat there again.
On Christmas Eve, we had our breakfast at the Barbarrosa Cafe in Hohenecken. We bought pastries and pretzels, and belegtes Brots, or sandwiches, and took them with us to Kusel where we walked around and ate at Burg Lichtenberg.
This is one of our favorite castles...we wanted to share it with the Goulds.
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| the girls, |
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| the boys, |
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| and an insanely good shot of the Goulds sitting up in one of the castle windows. Steven should do this photography thing for a living. |
We took some time to play on the playground...
...and took one more shot of all four kids before it was time for us to part ways.
It was then time for the Goulds to head to Stuttgart and we came home to prepare for our Christmas Eve night. Our tradition? Eating sausage bread while watching Christmas Vacation! Yay!
There were so many gifts underneath our tree this year...
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| Yep...that's an XBox you see behind Scotty...and he's lounging on a bean bag chair...or what the Germans call a sitzsack. I love that word. :) |
Maya got a leather jacket and some furniture for her room. That recliner is hers and the coat rack that looks a bit like it's growing out of her pretty blonde head...that's hers as well. She also got a reading lamp.
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| Scotty in his new coat reading a new, (or new to him) Calvin & Hobbes book |
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| Maya scored a bunch of word search books, boots, jeans, cd's...WOW! It was a huge haul for these monkeys between Steven and I and their grandparents |
We have had a pretty terrific holiday...
...we hope you all had a great holiday, too!
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