Gluwein, Eggnog, Hot Chocolate OH MY!

Matt, myself, and my friend Nichole ( and her beautiful baby boy chase) decided to brave the elements today and go to the Trier Christmas market. Trier is a beautiful city about an hour away from where we live. It is known for its Roman ruins (the oldest and only remaining in the country). They are known for their christmas market. Part of the fun of the christmas markets is collecting all of the cups. The cups are different for every city. Trier has four. We were only able to snag two this trip (maybe the other two the next time). The cups are served to you with the local gluwein specialty. Matt and I didnt try their gluwein and opted for something different this time..Matt enjoyed an eggnog with rum and white wine and I had a spiked hot chocolate (with baileys..mmmm). We enjoyed walking around (as much as we could in the freezing rain that was pelting us in the face). We didnt stay too long and did what I call a "loop of the place" My dad made sure to tell me that it really was us getting loopy. Hey..it isnt our fault the serve yummy drinks to keep you warm and they happen to include alcohol! lol Enjoy the pictures!

Random picture- view of our xmas tree from the street in front of our house

Porta Nigra- Roman Ruins

More ruins

Matt in the rain on the way to the christmas market

The roofs of each stall at the market were decorated! So cute!

A mechanical "window display" Showed children baking

Matt enjoying his EXTREMELY strong eggnog

Russian lady selling stuff!

Sweet dough breads with different fillings..they had apple, chocolate, and mixed berry

Me enjoying my baileys hot chocolate!

The Pink Palace

The end result of being in the rain..soaked to the bone! You can see how windy it was by how red my cheeks are! lol

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