I realize not everyone shares my excitment so Brad and I agreed no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving which I was able to stick to...when he was around. Between you and me, I started about two weeks before that. Shhh, don't tell.
As this is our first Christmas as a married couple, we had the exciting task of finding a new tree. We decided to take the artifical route due to Brad's allergies and the fact that I can't keep the floors clean as it is (thank you, Stella). Well, you'd better believe that tree was up the Friday following Thanksgiving. I will admit we had a bit of a Clark Griswald moment. Once the tree was out of the box and all fluffed up, it was "a bit" larger than expected. Okay, quite a bit larger. I think the quote "little full, lotta sap" was used several times.
But once it was decorated, lit up and pushed back into the corner, I couldn't have been happier. It makes our house feel like it should at Christmas. And over the next few years, we'll continue to add to our collection of ornaments from all of our travels.
Our bookshelf is doubling as a mantle since we don't have a fireplace. Stella is officially part of the family.
Not only is this our first Christmas as a married couple but it's also our first Christmas living in Germany which means....drumroll please.....CHRISTMAS MARKETS! I'd heard about them but had no idea what to expect. For our first experience, Brad and I ventured out to our local market in downtown Mainz and it was amazing! Set in the middle of a big sqaure near the cathedral, there were rows and rows of vendors and decorations and lights. We enjoyed a glass of gluhwein (basically spiced wine)and a bratwurst with pommes (fries). You would not believe all the food you can try. Delish!
After round one, we were ready to tackle a big one and I had my heart set on Cologne. They were expected to have the biggest Christmas Market in all of Germany this year. So why not, right? Eh. Not so much. In addition to being cold, rainy, and windy it was packed! I'm talking you could hardly move, much less get up to a booth to actually see anything. It was neat to see as a whole but I think I'll pass next year.
One of our favorites was a bit of a shocker - Frankfurt. The city is not a tourist favorite because it's mostly financial buildings and in comparison to other towns can be a bit boring. However, they had a fantastic market! Great vendors, great food, and we just loved the atmosphere.
And last but not least, I hit up the Wiesbaden market during the middle of the week and middle of the day. Less crowded and much more enjoyable. This market had a HUGE ferris wheel in the middle of it. I can only imagine the view you can see from the top of it. But I didn't have my camera or my husband so I passed.
And that's it...so far. I've been back to the Mainz market one more time and I'm sure we'll go at least once more. It really is such an amazing atmosphere. We've met people from all over; it's pretty easy to spot the American's(a Starter jacket with your favorite NFL team is a dead giveaway).
Most of our gifts will be late because we wanted them to come from the Christmas markets making it difficult to ship home. So we apologize now but we hope it's worth the wait!
In other news, my sister-in-law, Stephanie, will be here the day after Christmas to spend New Year's and Brad's Birthday with us. We are soooo excited! Our first family visitor! Wooohooo! As for the rest of ya - 2010 is YOUR year to make a trip to Europe so start planning. We're ready!
Happy Holidays!
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