Merry Christmas! Fröliche Weihnachten!

I have been in Texas for a week now, and it's been a whirlwind of friends, family, and Mexican food. 

My dog Allie on a trip to the farmhouse over the holidays

I drove for the first time since July. I went shopping (on a Sunday!), and this time, converted from dollars to Euro...and decided I could buy a little more.  I've made Christmas cookies and sweet potatoes with real brown sugar, too. Not everything about this Christmas is American, though;  I brought a little taste of Germany home with me for Christmas: an Adventskalendar, chocolate, Lebkuchen, Spekulatius (cookies), honey, and marzipan. I didn't bring home any Glühwein, but I did manage to bring some Glühwein gummi candies. 

The day after I arrived home, Mom and I went to church at St. Martin's in Austin; it's becoming a new Christmas tradition for us.  Each December St. Martin's has a church service entirely in German.  It's my kind of church service:  heavy on the singing, light on the sermonizing. :-) 

I was excited when I realized I was able to follow the sermon (all in German!) much more than last year. Hopefully next December I'll understand even more...I guess I already have my New Year's Resolution for 2012.  Fröhliche Weihnachten und alles Gute zum neuen Jahr!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I have so much more Christmas spirit this year!  Part of it could be because I have been away for a while, and I am excited about going home for the holidays.  It could also be because Wiehnachtszeit in Germany just feels like Christmas. No talk of Black Friday here; it just feels festive.  I can't seem to get enough of the Christmas markets!  Lots of things are for sale, of course--Christmas ornaments and decorations, hats and gloves, candles, and jewelry--but mostly it seems (to me, at least) to be about hanging out, eating and drinking.

This booth was typical of the Hamburg Christmas market:  Lebkuchen, candied almonds, and candied apples. The best part? Fruit skewers covered in chocolate. (Or was it the Poffertjes? or the Belgian waffle on a stick? I don't know. The Bratwurst was pretty good, too.) 

Christmas market by the Rathaus in Hamburg

What says Christmastime more than a Glühwein stand with a manger scene on top??? :)








Salvation Army organ grinder at the Lübeck Christmas market...so much more pleasant than the bells!

Lots of colorful lights in Frankfurt

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...that's not something I am used to getting back home! Now, if I could just get a little snow before I leave...