Frohe Weihnachten!

Ho ho ho and Merry Christmas! We’ve had an exciting few days showing off our town to our first visitors! Julie, Paul and Sarah came to visit for the Christmas holiday. On Friday night as we waited for Sarah to get off her plane, we enjoyed watching others greet their loved ones just like in the movie Love Actually. We were thrilled to be part of the excitement waiting for our friend to arrive! 

               

Cologne Cathedral

On Saturday, we took a train to Cologne and met Julie and Paul with another Love Actually-esque embrace. We started our adventures by touring the Cologne Cathedral, admiring the stained glass, fancy gold tabernacle and tomb in the basement. We continued the day by wandering through the city, enjoying the different Christmas markets, glühwein, grown up hot chocolate, brats and other treats. Our favorite market was definitely the one decorated with Christmas gnomes. 

Cologne Christmas Markets

We spent the next few days walking around Düsseldorf, wandering through more Christmas markets, Old Town, the city parks and the Rhine river walk. We saw the fancy pink house and the dancing Christmas tree and enjoyed several chocolates from the Lindt store and churros from the market. Of course, we also spent our fair share of time watching Christmas movies and working on puzzles. 

Prost! Good ol Alt Beier!

On Christmas Eve morning we adventured out to ice cream before the shops closed down. That was the one birthday wish Paul had which was easy to fulfill! We spent the day out in the sun walking around the city and at 2pm when everything started shutting down we made our way back to the flat to start our Christmas Eve dinner. 

When the puzzle is just as important as Christmas dinner...
#puzzletrumpsall 

Cooking Christmas dinner!

We enjoyed a feast for all ages on Christmas Eve with a homemade roast goose as the centerpiece surrounded by crisp green beans, glazed carrots, sautéd brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, garden salad and fresh bread paired with German beer for the lads and wine for the ladies. I think we used every dish in the house but we succeeded in making a delicious dinner. We followed dinner with a walk to the English Christmas Eve mass where we sat amongst others enjoying a familiar ritual in a familiar language. After church we took the long way home, walking along the Rhine in the crisp evening air. We ended the evening Skyping with family and staying up to await Santa’s arrival while working on our Christmas puzzle. 

Santa brought us stocking treats!

Christmas morning came with lots of cheer. We opened our stockings and enjoyed the morning together. The sun was shining brightly again (Merry Christmas to us!) so we went for another walk around the parks and through the downtown. We spent the afternoon puzzling (again) and enjoying a fancy meat and cheese tray with goodies from the local market.

Instead of our usual Christmas which always consists of several Christmas meals, numerous walks, many puzzles and games and lots and lots of family we celebrated with one big Christmas meal, several walks, many puzzles and a few family members. It was bittersweet at times but overall filled with joy, laughter and fun which is consistent with past Christmases. We hope you had a very merry Christmas as well!

Frohe Weihnachten!