It’s been a long time since my last blog post. A really, really, really long time. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to write about the things we’ve been doing, I have. I’ve just also had a thousand other things to do. On top of that our laptop and our desktop died within a couple of months of each other. Fortunately everything was backed up. I (confession – Ben has done most of the following) have, however, had to reload all of our programs, re-load pictures, re-install Windows Live Writer….you can see why the blog entry has been delayed. I’ve also been hindered by the fact that I am so, so, so far behind on my blogging. I think my last entries are about events that took place last April. It’s overwhelming.
For this reason, I have decided on A Fresh Start. I really prefer to write about things as they happen, so that’s what I’m going to do. If I happen to have extra time to fill you in on the missing 7 months of our lives, I will. I’m not, however, going to stress about it. So, here goes.
The holidays were very busy, but very fun for us.
We had Thanksgiving with our friends the Dawsons and the Browns. It really stinks to be without family year after year during the holidays, but having good friends really helps. I made pies. Of course.
Yummy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to enjoy the leftover goodness of these pies (I usually eat pie for breakfast for at least 3 days after Thanksgiving) because Friday morning I took off on a road trip with 3 of my good friends.
Our first stop was Seiffen, Germany – a little town on the border of the Czech Republic that is famous for nutcracker/Christmas pyramid/wooden toy construction. The octagonal church in the picture is the one that you see on many of the wooden Christmas decorations that come from Germany.
I wish I had been more into taking pictures in Seiffen, but I wasn’t. We stayed in Schloss Purschenstein, an AMAZING castle that had only recently been renovated and converted into a hotel. (It had only been open a month.) Maybe if it hadn’t been dark when we checked in and dark when we checked out the next morning, I would have taken a picture. In any case, I definitely plan on going back. I’ll get a picture then.
Our next stop was Boleslawiec, Poland. As a town, Boleslawiec is nothing to write home about. The pottery that is produced there, however, is. Check out what I saw on the wall of one of the shops we visited…
Timpanogos and Robert Redford, no less! I think my parents have that very image of Timp framed and on their wall. Anyway, we purchased some pottery, enjoyed massages and pedicures at the fabulous Blue Beetroot Inn, and ate yummy, yummy food.
Our final day we spent wending our way home. We stopped in Dresden for a few hours. I had expected Dresden to be thoroughly modern and boring (it got hammered in the war) but its Altstadt is beautiful. I can’t wait to go back with the family.
The Dresden Christmas market…
The famous Frauenkirche…
(Reconstruction finished in the nineties. The black blocks you can see are all that was left of the original church.)
The wall of kings…
This wall is composed of around 24,000 ceramic tiles and survived the bombing. It is longer than a football field. I only spent about 3 hours in Dresden – just long enough to realize that I want to go back. Another place to add to the list!
December was a flurry of Christmas celebrations, musical performances, Christmas markets and daytrips. Every year I think that I can make Christmas time more relaxed, and every year I fail. Today Ian went back to school and Ben went back to work (Naomi still has a few days) and I feel like I need some more time off to recover. Anyway, here are some pictures of our Christmas adventures…
The Christmas market in Michelstadt…
It was freezing cold that day. I think that the high temperature was 11 degrees Fahrenheit. The town is beautiful, and we’d love to go back sometime when it is WARMER.
The Christmas market in Heidelberg…
The rides and the treats are what make Christmas markets doable with kids.
At the Heidelberg market Naomi and Ian went in the stall behind the green pole to pet some donkeys. One tried to eat Naomi’s glove. It actually bit her hand quite hard. I had hoped that the experience might temper her enthusiasm for animals and instill some caution, but alas. Within 20 minutes she was asking to go back and pet the donkeys again. There is no hope for her.
The Christmas Nativity play….
We had 24 people in our little apartment for Christmas Eve dinner/caroling. Some of our guests spoke only Albanian and Italian, so I got to use my rusty Italian to explain everything that was going on. By the end of the evening, my brain hurt! It was a wonderful evening, though. I think everyone had a good time.
Christmas morning…
We’ll leave it at that. I see no reason to expose you to pictures of Ben and me in our pajamas.
The Strasbourg Christmas market…
The pictures here don’t tell the true story. Naomi was impossible in Strasbourg. She broke down every 5 minutes. Or maybe every 3 minutes. I had read online that there was a village for children at this market, so we’d gotten her hopes up with promises of cookie decorating and coloring and toys. Well, there was one room with some lame board games. Yippee. Strasbourg, however, is beautiful. Maybe some day I’ll go without kids!
That’s all for now. I’ve been working on this for over 2 hours now, and I really ought to take a shower. And go to the post office. And clean up my house…. I’ll be back soon!
9 comments:
Yay! I've missed your pictures and stories so much. I'm glad you're back! You go to the most amazing places! Christmas in Germany looks pretty fantastic. I love the pictures of your nativity at your house. The kids look great! And your pies look amazing, of course. I missed your pies this year. Great post, Emma.
I know exactly how you feel with the blog. I am stuck too -- hopelessly behind and feeling too busy to chronicle everything. Maybe this will be a fresh start for both of us.
Now...
NAOMI'S HAIR IS SO LONG! Wow, Germany at Christmas looks fantastic -- cold, but fantastic. It kind of makes Grovetown's downtown light display look ridiculous. Oh wait -- it IS ridiculous. Maybe if you'd have told me you were making 5 pies I'd have dug around in my couch cushions and flown over.
It kills me how often the people in the background of your photos seem to not care about the amazing scenery that's around them. Maybe that's one advantage to not living your whole life in Europe. Without being there all the time you can enjoy the splendor and abundance of culture more easily.
Christmas in Germany is so magical! I think every year I miss the Weihnachtsmarkts a little more. You managed to hit three of my favorites in one year!
Strasbourg is one of my favorite places, too. Definitely go back in the summer time when the kids will be more comfortable and up for exploring. If you walk from Place Gutenberg south toward the old tannery building, on the left-hand side will be L'Artisan patisserie. They make my absolute favorite-ever French pastry: un pain au chocolat-amande. No one else - and I've been all over France - makes it as yummy as they do. Go in and have one (or two or three - seriously, if you get just one, you will end up walking all the way back to get more) in my name... **giggle**
I miss your pies! They look delicious. Although Bec and Liz can cook up some mean pies, I missed the one pie per 2 people ratio we used to have...
I always say that I can write whatever I want and don't worry too much if I miss some details.
Oh how I wish I could spend a Christmas in Germany! Someday I will and I imagine it will be magical!
The kids are getting so big! Naomi makes a fantastic angel.
What great pictures!! It's good to see you blogging again. I'm counting down until I get to hang out with you in Germany!
Ah Strasbourg! That's where I spent most of my month long school exchange. Riding bikes to the ice diele and school. I miss it so much!
Thanks for the blog address! You have been busy! We loved Strasbourg. Rick kept staring at the church. Wish I could add more destinations to the list but we've got so many already...we'll be lucky if we see a fraction of them.
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