Weihnachtsmarkt

Our first 2 days in Germany are a blur in my memory.  I realized during this venture that sleep is more important to me than food.  Never would I ever have come to that conclusion had I not been withheld precious hours of sleep the way we were traveling over there.  Of course, Chuck was snoozing away on the plane while I sat straight up in my seat fidgeting around like crazy desperately trying to find one possible comfortable position.  I kid you not I had a melt down somewhere around 2 in the morning, body clock time.  I was seconds away from bursting into droves of tears, ripping angrily at my cheesy airplane blanket, stomping my feet (yes I did) and about to scream (yes I felt like that) when a new movie started.  I resolved then and there that I was never going to be able to sleep again and I might as well deal with it.  Thus I realized sleep is more important to me than food- lack of sleep makes me a crazy person.  I believe this is actually a psychological and scientific fact. 

So onto happier days, once we finally got to bed in Chuck's parent's beautiful home, I slept for 13 hours straight, I believe.  Germans use these fantastic window covers called "rolladen ".  Thanks to them, not an ounce of sunlight was able to enter our room.  Blissful sleep indeed.

Our first outing was to the infamous Weihnachtsmarkt!  These Christmas markets live up to their reputation, and more! What a festive, fun, quaint way to enjoy the Christmas season.  We had a blast wandering around, stopping at tons of little stands selling German goods, and ate plenty of authentic food as well.  Including schupfnudein (potato noodles thingies), sauerkraut, bratwurst, brotchen (crispy roll), and gluhwein (spiced wine).  The gluhwein at the market was the best I tried.  They give it to you in this cute little mug.  You can return the mug and get some money back, or you can keep it- which we did.  We also ate roasted almonds which were unbelievably delicious.  We really wanted to try roasted chestnuts, but the stand had sold out.  Who knew there really were roasted chestnuts?  I thought we just sang about them for no reason. 

Since Chuck and I had been saving our pennies for quite a long time, we had the freedom to purchase little things that caught our eye.  There were stands that sold jewelry, ornaments, clothes, nick knacks, soaps, lotions, home items, and truly so much more.  It was a blast buying cute little things to remind me of such a unique cultural experience with the fam.  We found this one booth that sold items that were hand-crafted.  It was, by far, my favorite booth.  I think it was Renate's favorite as well.  We both found cute little items that we loved.  Chuck bought me a little felt flower pin that goes perfectly on my winter coat. 


This was definitely a special night.  The whole family (of those who were actually in Germany) was there together, but we split off into little groups.  Chuck and I walked around with his younger brother Adam (Sibling # 6, who will be staying in Germany until next Fall, taking online classes through Liberty), their friend Robert (who is the brother of our soon-to-be sister-in-law, Anni), and Chuck's youngest sister, Renate.  Renate and I always have fun giggling and shopping together.  She is such a sweet girl, which is fitting, since we just recently celebrated her Sweet 16th birthday.  I love spending time with her.

I am posting a picture that Chuck took of our little group right before we met back up with the rest of the fam.  I would say this night was one of the top most special nights.  It really just felt like Christmas...magic.