Holidays in Germany

I joined Chris in Germany just in time for the Christmas Markets. We took our first train ride in Germany – the SU line to go to downtown Stuttgart for the Christmas Market. It was a pretty fun evening, although extremely cold. There were lots of little shops to buy Christmas gifts (all of which were a bit over priced); lots of decorations, lights, and nativities; but the best part was all the food! WOW! It was like a carnival or something! My favorites were the Belgium nuts coated with the crunchy cinnamon topping, the flammkuchen (similar to pizza) and the fruit dipped in chocolate. We did a lot of walking, but I am sure we did not do nearly enough walking to burn off all of the calories we consumed.
When I first arrived to Germany, I was told my many people of all the different places to go. There were lots of castles, a place called Garmisch where you could go and ski and be in the snow, Dusseldorf for shopping, Köln for the beautiful cathedral and lovely buildings, the zoo, as well as the many different countries you could drive to in a matter of hours. I admit, I found it a bit overwhelming. How was I to decide which place to go first? Christmas was approaching and we had a few days off, so Chris left me with the decision of where to go. I decided I wanted to see snow, mountains, and have a white Christmas. So, I decided to choose Dusseldorf. Now, if you are an observant person with a good memory – or if you know the area, you will say – huh? Dusseldorf? Yes – I got majorly confused. On the drive to Dusseldorf, I kept looking and waiting to see the mountains. Oh – we saw snow – but no mountains. When we arrived at our hotel, we found out that we were the ONLY guests registered for Christmas Eve. Huh? Why are there no other guests? Well, that is when I realized that I had chosen the perfect place for SHOPPING. And of course everything in town was closed! ARGH! I could not believe I had done that. I felt ridiculously stupid, but Chris was a good sport and assured me it was OK. We had a wonderful time enjoying the pool and spa area alone. I have to admit, that if I had not known we were alone in the hotel, I would not have enjoyed the spa area. Why? It was a NAKED zone! Yes – you read right, they do not wear swimsuits! At first I was appalled, thinking there was no way I was going to take a shower or get in the sauna or steam room in an area where bathing suits were prohibited and men and women shared the area! Then, as I looked longingly at the awesome shower – it was that kind that is a vertical spa…. I decided – what the heck – no one is here but me and Chris. So, I got brave and stripped naked right there in the coed area. That shower was heaven! I can’t wait to build our new house so I can install one of those! Needless to say, that is the only time I have been to a European spa –I will probably never have another chance to be alone with only my husband in one. We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve night in our hotel room with a wonderful steak dinner from room service and unwrapped our presents. The next day we checked out of the hotel and drove to Kologn. It was BEAUTIFUL there and was really neat to see the cathedral on Christmas day. The snow was beautiful on the trees on the ride there and back.
New Years Eve we returned back from a trip to the Baltic Coast and Denmark just in time for the fireworks! Fireworks here are different than back home. Here, companies and cities do not do firework shows. I was disappointed when I heard this. But I was told by my German friend that here, EVERYONE puts off fireworks. I was thinking – sparklers, roman candles, bottle rockets…. But NO! They do the fancy kind! It was so amazing to see the fireworks here – in every direction we looked! Unfortunately, the pictures did not turn out good. As much as I loved my holidays here in Germany, I am looking forward to Christmas 2008 in the US!