Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! I have to apologize for my lack of postings over the past few days. As you know, I was waiting for a decision from City Hall last Thursday... If it was good, I was going to head to Nuremburg to the Christmas Market, and if it wasn't good, I was going to have to stay in Friedrichshafen... Well, after waiting for an answer for about 4 hours on Thursday morning, I finally decided to contact City Hall around noon to find out what they had decided. To my dismay, I found out that they didn't reach a decision as they claimed that they simply didn't have time to look into the situation last week. At that point, I was informed that nothing would be decided until the following week, so I was free to go to Nuremburg... yay! (I understand that you're probably wondering what this "situation" is... However, due to the nature of it, I don't want to discuss it too much until it is completely resolved... I'd rather be safe than sorry. But, I promise to fill you in on all of the details once everything gets figured out! :)) Once I found out that I could head to Nuremburg, I had to hurry and get ready to head out... Which, ultimately, didn't leave enough time to blog... Sorry!
The trip to Nuremburg was great! Being that we went to Nuremburg specifically for the Christmas Market, we didn't get to see much of the city. We stayed in the "Old City" and we spent the majority of the weekend in that area. The Old City is absolutely gorgeous! Most of the architecture in that area is Gothic/medieval style. Much of Nuremburg was destroyed during WWII, so, after the war, most of the city was rebuilt and many of the buildings were restored to their pre-war appearance. Here's a few pictures just to give you an idea...
Nuremburg is considered to be the home of Germany's largest Christmas Market... and I have to admit, it was definitely the largest Christmas market that I've ever been too! :) They had over 100 stands set up, and each stand displayed items such as traditional Christmas treats, handmade ornaments, etc. There were many items on display that were significant to that part of Germany. (If you're interested in learning more about the Nuremburg Christmas Market, check out this website... www.christkindlesmarkt.de/english/index.php?navi=1&rid=2. It does a much better job of explaining the Christmas Market than I do! :))
Overall, Katrina and I had a great time wandering through the Market. There was so much to see!! My favorite stands were the ones that displayed the handmade Christmas ornaments... They were gorgeous! I also found it interesting to walk around and to fully experience the German culture.... There were so many little things that I saw that were significant to their culture... Things that we just don't have in the U.S. For instance, we walked by many stands that were selling "Plum People". At first, Katrina and I didn't think anything of them... But, as we started seeing more and more stands that sold these "people", we decided to get a closer look... And, sure enough, they were little people made entirely out of plums, raisins, walnuts, and figs, and they're held together with toothpicks... How odd! Apparently, they're all the rage at the Christmas Market in Nuremburg!! :) And, since it is part of the German tradition, we decided that we just had to purchase one of them! Well, Katrina wanted to get one as part of the tradition... My reasoning for the purchase, was that I thought it was great blog material! :) I mean, just take a look at this little guy... How often do you come across something like this?! :)
Not only did we learn about some of the Christmas traditions here in Germany, but we also sampled some of the traditional German Christmas delicacies! As we walked around, we noticed that there were alot of stands selling Lebkuchen, so we decided to try it. It's a traditional German style cookie that is baked for Christmas. It kind of reminds me of a Gingerbread cookie with chocolate icing... Pretty tasty! But, I quickly learned that a little bit of it goes a long way! As I was eating it, I felt like it was expanding in my stomach... so, you definitely don't need a very large portion when eating one! :) We also took part in another popular German tradition, and we sampled quite a bit of gluhwein while we were wandering through the Market. Gluhwein is a type of red wine, which spices and honey are added to... They then serve the drink warm. I have to admit, I had my doubts about it at first, but after a couple of sips, I decided it was quite good! :) And, being that it was so cold outside, we thought it wise to keep ourselves warm by drinking a little gluhwein... He,he! :)
Overall, the Christmas Market was a great experience! I was able to learn more about the German culture, plus I got alot of my Christmas shopping done... yay!! (Now, the only problem is figuring out how to get everything back to the U.S... oops! :)) I look forward to having the opportunity to go back again sometime...
On that note, I'd better get going. It's time to get dinner ready, and then we're off to the gym... I hope you're all having a great Monday! Oh, and my countdown is officially on now... Only 9 more days until we get to come home to the U.S. ... yay!! :) Miss you much!
A view of one aisle in the Christmas Market...
A traditional German holiday decoration... They sell a much smaller version in all of the stores...
Posing with "Santa" and his dog... :)
My favorite Christmas tradition... The Nutcracker!! :)
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