'Tis the Season

On the first weekend of December, I went to one of the nicest (as I'm told) Christmas Markets in Germany in a city called Erfurt. 

Fun Facts: Erfurt is the capital city of the German state of Thuringia, has a population of 200,000, and is basically the big city closest to the Middle of Germany.  It's also really old, with evidence of settlement from 480. 

More Fun Facts:  Famous people lived here.  Johann Pachelbel, as in Pachelbel's Canon lived and composed like a bajillion (Ok, 70 per Wikipedia) organ songs here. Also, Martin Luther, who seems to keep popping up everywhere I go, graduated from the university here. 

Now, as I was travelling with some friends to Erfurt for the Weihnachsmarkt (Christmas Market), I didn't explore the city as much as I normally would have... But no worries, because I had a great day with some pretty awesome friends enjoying the Christmas Market like a real German (or any tourist).  

However, I can tell you that the City Center in Erfurt is really beautiful, the Erfurt Cathedral or Mariendom is gorgeous, and the City Hall is definitely worth a visit.  I am still totally awed by the old architecture all over the country.  Seriously, I am a total geek for hundreds of years old buildings, especially churches and castles.

Ok, I digress.  The Erfurt Weihnachsmarkt was pretty cool.  I wasn't totally sure what to expect as I have never been to a Christmas Market before, not even Christkindlmarkt in Bethlehem (which I'm sure is completely different than the markets here).  Now, having been to a few Christmas Markets, I can tell you the basic setup is the same everywhere.  They build wooden huts in the main public squares of all the cities and towns (always outdoors - No Christkindlmarkt tents here!) and vendors set up shop to sell food, drinks and crafts.  Seriously, they sell everything from glühwein to christmas decorations to gingerbread hearts to cotton candy to jewelry and lovely wooden crafts and decorations.

It was pretty cold, so I really appreciated the glühwein and the eierpunsch and the cappuccinos.  Definitely going to be making some homemade glühwein back in the US though.  So, if you're lucky, you'll get the invite to try some :).  It was an awesome day, I learned a lot of fun new German words and taugh my friends some new, non-business English.   And the best part was, instead of shitty Deutsche Bahn, we took the bus.  So, no delays or waiting outside in the freezing cold forever!

Anyways, onto the important part, Pictures!

Before

After. No Stephanie, you don't look like an angry mushroom in that hat.

Not the glühwein, but the eierpunsch

 

 

 

 Yea, I like the way they celebrate Christmas here

 

Bernd das Brot = Bernd the Bread.  Spongebob-like famous.

Seriously geeked out here.  Coolest thing ever.  A bridge with houses / shops built on it.  32 to be exact.

 

Cute!

I actually ran into somebody I knew 2 hours away from Melsungen

 Cute gloves! And love the matching nail polish.

10 Things I Miss About Home

So, going home for Thanksgiving was amazing!  I was on the verge of burn out here so it was great to see everyone from home and relax for a week.  It also made me realize how much I miss certain things from home, so I made a list of the things I miss when I'm in Germany to share with you.  Also, this post is a way of procrastinating downloading my pictures from this past weekend (but what are you gonna do? I'll get to it soon).

It goes without saying that my family and friends are at the top of the list, obviously.  Anyway, here you go:

1. My social life - i.e. my family, friends and going out regularly.

2. My Bed

3. Being able to walk into any store / restaraunt / bar and speak english.

4. The Bethlehem Vacation Club - totally could have used a Halloween adventure! Or a pub crawl!

5. Steak

6. My Bed

7. Football - a little sad I never got to go to a Penn State game this year.

8. Clothes Dryers.  Seriously, not a fan of air drying.

9. Getting hit on by old men in bars...oh wait, no.  Don't miss that.

10. My Bed.


Well, there you have it.  It was actually difficult to come up with this list beyond #4 , but I do miss home.