Thanksgiving-Christmas
This year we have had a collection of holidays all squished into one week. It began last Saturday at my colleague's Thanksgiving party in the Swabian forest. Then I went to a Christmas market on my business trip. Then on Friday we headed to Göttingen for our annual Thanksgiving, and after we ate, we went straight to another Christmas market! Here are the highlights in more detail:
On Monday night I took a train directly after work up to Bad Soden. There my coworker and I spent 3 days in a sleepy hotel in a quiet area just north of Frankfurt, learning the complicated ways of our company's management system / database (which was developed in the early 1990s and definitely looks like it). Luckily, the program was written in English, so I had no issue understanding what things were. How to use it was the bigger problem.
On the eve of our departure, my colleague and I hopped aboard a train and went to downtown Frankfurt to hang out at opening night of the 2014 Christmas Market. It was a Wednesday, but still so full that you could hardly move. The real charm was to be found at the "Römer" - the classic square where all the Frankfurt postcard photos are taken. Here, you really feel like you're at a medieval yule market.
After a glas of rasperry Glühwein ("glowing", warm wine), we strolled along the Main River and enjoyed the not-so-cold evening and the city lights. Frankfurt is a banking city with a fairly fancy... everything. It makes for an interesting stroll!
I came home on Thursday night, worked on Friday and, directly after that, hopped aboard another train to Göttingen. Saturday morning we awoke, ate breakfast and began working on the turkey around noon in our PJs.
We worked for about 4 hours to produce salad, corn souffle, potatoes, Brussels sprouts and one heck of a crispy-delicious turkey. It just gets better every year. The highlight for 2014 was definitely the fact that nobody changed out of their pajamas until 6pm. Oh, and Katja had American flag napkins.
On Monday night I took a train directly after work up to Bad Soden. There my coworker and I spent 3 days in a sleepy hotel in a quiet area just north of Frankfurt, learning the complicated ways of our company's management system / database (which was developed in the early 1990s and definitely looks like it). Luckily, the program was written in English, so I had no issue understanding what things were. How to use it was the bigger problem.
On the eve of our departure, my colleague and I hopped aboard a train and went to downtown Frankfurt to hang out at opening night of the 2014 Christmas Market. It was a Wednesday, but still so full that you could hardly move. The real charm was to be found at the "Römer" - the classic square where all the Frankfurt postcard photos are taken. Here, you really feel like you're at a medieval yule market.
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| Fancy Frankfurt shopping street |
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| The Römer, near the Main River |
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| Fancy Frankfurt hotel |
After a glas of rasperry Glühwein ("glowing", warm wine), we strolled along the Main River and enjoyed the not-so-cold evening and the city lights. Frankfurt is a banking city with a fairly fancy... everything. It makes for an interesting stroll!
I came home on Thursday night, worked on Friday and, directly after that, hopped aboard another train to Göttingen. Saturday morning we awoke, ate breakfast and began working on the turkey around noon in our PJs.
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| Oh, the excitement. |
We worked for about 4 hours to produce salad, corn souffle, potatoes, Brussels sprouts and one heck of a crispy-delicious turkey. It just gets better every year. The highlight for 2014 was definitely the fact that nobody changed out of their pajamas until 6pm. Oh, and Katja had American flag napkins.
Full and ready to go, we then bundled up and walked down to (drum roll, please) the Göttingen Christmas market. More Glühwein was enjoyed by all as we perused the stands. I opted for a hot chocolate with Baileys and whipped cream. Fabi ordered something called a "lupus special," which has nothing to do with the skin illness and everything to do with Jägermeister.
On Sunday we took a walk around the lake in Göttingen before heading back home to Kleinbottwar. The drive is a long one, but weekends at Fabi & Katja's place are always worth the trip! It's wonderful to just relax and not feel obligated to do anything.
So, Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Advent to everyone! Light candle #1 and enjoy.
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