It's Christmas time in Deutschland!

Matt and I have been enjoying the cooler weather here in Germany, but it is evident that the cool weather is now chilly and the snowy winter is fast approaching! We have been enjoying exploring our local area with bazaars and Christmas Markets.




The base (spang) had a bazaar two weekends ago and it was so much fun. Vendors from all over the world came with their goods to sell. There was wines and schnapps, cheeses and meats, crystal, furniture, antiques, and more. We went with every intent not to purchase ANYTHING, until Matt fell in love with an antique english bar from the 1800s. This bar is the newest resident of my dining room.

Today we went with friends to the Christmas Market in Gillenfeld. It was our first experience at a Christmas market and it couldnt have been better! We tasted the gluvwein (hot mulled/spiced wine) kinderpunch (mulled/spice citris drink), potatoe pancakes with homemade applesauce (SOO YUMMY), hot waffles off the iron, Matt had a mett sandwich (raw pork sandwich with onions on bread..blech) and walked around to see what the vendors were selling. Matt and I bought a rustic farmhouse bread that is delicious!

Matt walking to the Christmas market

Some wonderful friends trying to stay warm!

Yummy potatoe pancakes

Older pictures I forgot to post

Since I have been back from my trip to the states Matt and I haven't done too much. He has been VERY busy with work. However I forgot that I had taken some pictures from a day trip we took to Cochem (10 minutes at the most from the house) and from Trunk or Treat.

Cochem Castle with the beginning of the changing leaves

View of the castle and town from the bridge (you can walk to the other side of the town)

Decided to give an antique look to this picture

Matt!

Backside of a restaurant across the bridge. The WHOLE wall is decorated with different forms of pottery..vases, plates, tiles, etc

Since not many Germans partake in Halloween activities the base asks for families to decorate their car trunks. This way base children can go from trunk to trunk..."treating". I decided to decorate our trunk like "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". We had a great time! Now on a side note... we were told not many Germans participate in Halloween activities..well I guess they decided to this year! Or maybe they came to our house to see what the "Americans" had to give. We had about 25-30 kids show up..and we had NO CANDY!! AHH! The first couple of kids got poptarts....hey it was the best I could do! Then I found a box of salt water taffy from Matts R & R (do the math to see how old that is...can you guess...2 years! But I tried it and it was still good! lol) Oh well..we will be prepared next year :)

Our trunk! I painted everything except the hanging decorations :)

The people next to us had an AWESOME trunk! They did an Alaskan wilderness theme..with salmon and a duck pond!

Their salmon

Their very own duck...their son! Mom and Dad were dressed in full out fly fishing gear

Mini-Vacation III (Zugspitze & the ride home)

This is the final post from our mini-vacation. Matt and I decided to stay in the local area our last day in Garmisch. Matt had originally wanted to go see Neuschwanstein castle but once he heard it was 1 1/2 hours from the hotel he changed his mind. We decided we would go see it when family comes to visit (I have seen it and it is AMAZING!) I hope to take my sister in April and my parents in June.

So after we decided we weren't going to do that I begged Matt if we could go to the Zugspitze. It is the tallest mountain in the Germany Alps 2962 meters or roughly 9,700 feet. It also is the border of Germany and Austria..so when you are on top of the mountain you can actually be half in Germany and half in Austria. Matt was reluctant A) because it costs about $65-$70 a person and B) I had already been up in the Alps my last trip to Garmisch (I had gone up the Alpspitze..beautiful but completely different mountain and not as tall).

We compromised that we would drive there (10 minutes from the hotel) and see what the conditions at the top were. If it is cloudy there is basically no point because you can't see anything. When we got there we were told that the conditions were good. We paid the 3 euro to park and walked over to the cable car. Now, you can get to the top three ways. #1 Take the Austrian Cablecar #2 Take the Cablecar at the Eibsee lake (what we did) or #3 Take the cogwheel train from Garmisch 70% up and then take a Cablecar the rest of the way. While the third choice would have been closer (the train station is in Garmisch) you would still have to take a cable car AND it takes an hour and a half to get to the top. Our cablecar at Eibsee lake took 10 minutes. It is WAY scarier but hey..thats the point right?

I took pictures at the bottom, on the way up, at the top, and the way back down.. ENJOY!

The Bottom!

View inside the cablecar station...patiently waiting!

In the car waiting for it to start

We are moving!

Beginning view of Eibsee lake

These were taking inside the cablecar

Now you can really see how far up we have moved

This picture is facing Austria

Can you see the station? Look closely its there! Cable car just passed us going down

View of Grainau in the distance

THE TOP!

The next sequence of pictures are from the top of the Zugspitze

Notice the skiing in the center of the mountain?

The gold star signifies the tallest point in Germany

ME! Notice my hair...it was SUPER windy!

The cables lead to the ski resort at the top of the mountain

This sign tells you the height.. 2962(4) the height is still debated

Austria in the distance

Did we mention it was FREEZING!

Facing Austria

Look VERY closely and you can see the cablecar line we took to get up to the top

I zoomed it in for you in case you couldn't see

Matt and the sign saying this is the highest beer garden in Germany

The ride back down!

These pictures were taken on the ride back down

I cant believe I saw this...this guys was mountain climbing with only a robe and an ice pick!

Thats me in front of the cablecar & matts finger! lol

After the Zugspitze we decided to go back to the hotel. They were having a Prime Rib dinner and Matt was all in! The next day we checked out and headed for home. The pictures below I took in the car along the way home :) Enjoy!

Picture of traditional Bavarian home with fresco painting

Vineyards near Koblenz...so pretty with the changing colors!

Matt says it looks like a quilt!