Little Markets

Last weekend I went to three little nearby Christmas markets that I haven't been to before.  Gotta collect those mugs, ya know?


First up was Koblenz on Friday (my birthday) with a couple of friends.

 I love these old, rusty tools (below) that are actually chocolate.

Then on Saturday Joe and I went to two markets, both of them without our kids.  First was Eltville.  We've been to that town before, but not the Christmas market.  Its such a cute town.  We had a little trouble finding the market, which gave us a chance to get in some much need exercise.  Think positive, right?  When we did finally find it, this market reminded me more of a craft fair.  It just had a very different feel to it.  Almost everything was hand-made by locals.  I mean, like REALLY hand-made.  Lots of art, jewelry, preserves, etc.  There were mostly tents set up, instead of the typical wooden booths, but some vendors were selling stuff out of garages and cellars. 

 We had a good laugh at this nativity - we didn't know Heidi's grandpa was there!!! :)

It was a really beautiful day, and it wasn't TOO cold.  But then we went to Idstein, and it was like the town was sitting inside a cloud.  A cold, cold cloud.  But this was a great market!  A lot bigger than I had been expecting, actually.  And they had something called a Hessen hotdog, which wasn't a hotdog at all, but a Käsewurst baked right into some delicious wheat bread.  And not just any Käsewurst, but the BEST Käsewurst I've had.  I forgot to take a picture, and I can't go back because the market was only open for the one weekend :(

Sorry it's sideways, but as I soon as I stopped getting this video, a group of cute, old, German women behind us started singing along.  It was the cutest thing ever!  I wish I had gotten them on video too, but they might not have appreciated that, since they weren't actually a part of the official performers ;)  Obviously I'm going for a record here, of how many Christmas markets I can go to in one season.  It's my last Christmas here, so I've got to make the most of it.

Thanksgiving Markets, Family, and Strasbourg

Adreann and her kids were able to join us for Thanksgiving this year.  It was wonderful.  Cora made 7 pies from scratch. 

We had lots of leftover food.


We decided to put together a puzzle, a new one that we hadn't done before.  The picture was of the city Koln, and as we put it together we decided that we would go to the Christmas market there the next day.  We finished the puzzle in the nick of time, right before we left on Friday.

This was the first German Christmas market they had been to.  They've been to one in London, but it's not the same.

 

It's nice to be reminded of things you love, and I LOVE the Koln cathedral. 

It's so amazing and so beautiful.

On Saturday we went to Strasbourg, France.  I LOVE STRASBOURG!!!  I would take Strasbourg over Paris any day....I mean, other than the museums ;)  But so picturesque.  The whole Alsace region is beautiful, and I would definitely like to explore it more.  This is the same area I came to when I took my very first trip to France (Soufflenheim) to buy some pottery with my friends, but that was about 1/2 hours away from Strasbourg.  I was surprised to learn how many times this area has switched hands between France and Germany, and it really has the best of both worlds.  The Strasbourg market wasn't the best we've been to, but we still loved it.

 The cathedral was another gorgeous one.  Construction was started in 1015, it is the 6th tallest in the world, and the sandstone used gives it a slightly pink hue.

 The tapestries are from the 17th century.

 I believe this is the pulpit, and was made in 1486.

Below is an animated astronomical clock inside the cathedral, and is one of the largest in the world, build in the 1800's.  The clock shows much more than just the time.  It also indicates solar time, the day of the week (each represented by a god of mythology), the month, the year, the sign of the zodiac, the phase of the moon and the position of several planets, and it is extremely accurate. According to legend, the creator of this clock had his eyes gouged out afterward, to prevent him from reproducing it. However, similar legends are told about other clocks, including the astronomical clock in Prague, so really, how reliable can it be?

  When we got back outside the cathedral, all the lights were coming on.  It was beautiful.

We saw a store devoted completely to fruit cakes.  All kinds.  People were in there buying them.  As a joke?  I don't know.  Apparently some people actually eat those things.

Before we left, we had the sudden realization we hadn't eaten dinner and we were all starving, so we stopped off for some Döner.

While Adreann was here, we also make quick trips to the markets in Rudesheim and Wiesbaden.

All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful visit, and we're already making plans to meet up again.  It's so good to have family on our side of the world!

Happy Joseph

Joseph turned 14 a long time ago....on his birthday.  14!


He's SO tall.  Almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower.  He's getting hair on his upper lip.  I'm not sure he can be trusted with a razor though.  I think his voice is getting deeper.....except when he screams.  I think he's gotten those teenage hormone things, because he gets moody.  It's very teenagery of him.  Spell check does not approve of my word "teenagery".


I've started calling him my man-child.  He humors me.  I adore him.