Germany

Luckily for me, I had the opportunity to spend my Christmas in Wurzburg (Bavaria) this year. We stayed for five days with Robyn's friend Leonie and her family. The city was so beautiful and amazing and I definitely had an amazing time...but unfortunately no snow!

The first evening in town we were pretty exhausted, but of course not too tired to visit the Christmas market downtown! We wandered around in the markets and had a couple different kinds of mulled wine (delicious hot, spiced wine...usually red but we had a white as well).

The next day Leonie took us to Sommerhausen, which downtown area is still largely surrounded by the original medieval wall, including a large turret which someone has actually converted into a house.

The tower located on the wall is known as the "blue tower" or 'Blauer Turm". Apparently the tower once had a subterranean dungeon.

Robyn and I with the turret in the background.

Weinhaus

Christmas Party & Holiday Plans!

This past weekend we had a Christmas party with some friends who are also away from home for the holidays! It was a great time with mulled wine, and jello shots (which some have never had before). It's been a slow week this week as I am counting down the days until we head to Germany for Christmas! I am sooooooo excited! We fly out bright and early (we are leaving for the airport 4am on Friday morning) to Frankfurt and take a train from there to Wurzburg where we will be staying until the 28th. After that we return to Birmingham then off to London from the 29th until the 1st where Christina will join us to ring in the New Year. I'll be sure to post all about it and put all my pictures up as soon as I can! Until then I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Aston Hall By Candlelight!

I totally forgot to blog about this fantastic event last weekend! I can't believe I didn't do it immediately!

We attended Aston Hall by candlelight on Saturday evening. Aston Hall is the massive Jacobean style manor house built in the early 1600s (I posted pictures a couple of months ago).
Every year during the Christmas season they open the house up and stage it as it would have been when it was first completed. The house was filled with candles and actors (historical interpreters) were scattered throughout the house to fill you in with facts about the rooms you entered. There were various characters who have history with the house including Queen Victoria!

After wandering through the entire house your journey ends in the Great Hall (the entry way) where you were handed a page of lyrics to Christmas carols. A Victorian band was sitting playing various instruments and everyone joined in the singing. It was really neat and definitely got me into the mood for Christmas! It's kind of hard to get in the mood for the season when the weather doesn't exactly match the month!

The beautiful chandelier in the Great Hall all lit up with candles.

Funny English Candy

After a sweet tooth arose a couple of weeks ago, Robyn and I decided to venture to our local corner store to curb the craving. Candy hunting is quite the adventure here and there are millions of weird chocolate/ candy combinations that I have never heard of. We've been sampling this large haul for the past little while. I have to say my favourite is the yorkie bar (with biscuit and raisins yummmmm)!

End of November Post

November has been a relatively unexciting month with not a whole lot happening other than work!
We did have the opportunity to go see Hanson play at the HMV Institute in town! They are amazing live....I really suggest everyone go see them if you get the chance (they are currently on a world tour).

There is still no sign of snow in this country and I really don't think it'll be falling anytime soon as the average temperature during the day is about 10 or 11 degrees.Although the weather is weird for this time of year we are slowly getting into the Christmas spirit by visiting the Frankfurt Christmas Markets, listening to Christmas music, and watching Christmas movies.

Next weekend we are attending Aston Hall by candlelight, which is a Christmas event put on by the city of Birmingham. The old hall will be in full working order (complete with about 300 candles and actors) as it would have been about 400 years ago. So prepare yourselves for another post soon!

German Christmas Markets!!

It has been a long time since I have posted here.....but there haven't been that many exciting things for me to share with you!
Yesterday night the Frankfurt Christmas Markets opened in Victoria Square and this year they are huge!! They stretch all the way from Broad street, through Paradise Forum, Victoria Square, and all the way down New Street to the Bullring. This area usually takes about 20 minutes to walk through (going one way)....there are literally hundreds of stalls.
We met up with some friends and enjoyed some German beer and some hot chocolate with Baileys (in the cutest little mugs...I stole mine and brought it home).