German Christmas Market in Koln

Christmas festivities have officially begun in Europe. I have always wanted to experience the original German Christmas market firsthand. So on the first Saturday of Advent, Wieste and I travelled to Koln, Germany. Within 10 minutes of departing Holland, we were in Germany. The landscape immediately was transforme into big rolling hills, bigger cars and "Michigan style" roads. Another hour further, we entered the beautiful city of Koln, situated on the Rhine River. I was so excited to travel that I couldn't wipe the grin off of my face.

As we walked up and out of the parking structure, we were already within 1 of the 7 markets: Nome village. It was so exciting and overwhelming at once: New Country, New language, People everywhere, Delicious smells and Christmas music in the distance. It was fun to see Wietse's impression as well. He lives 10 minute away from Germany, but has never been to a German Christmas market. You find this many times with Europeans, but I have a feeling he will become the minority now that he has me!

After we were able to close our mouths full of astonishment, we came up with a game plan. 1.Toilets (Bathroom) 2. Find the Big Cathedral 3. Walk to at least 3 other Markets. The internet said to take the trams from market to market, but Wietse and I felt confident with our Chicago walking feet.

Over a million visitors come from all over the world to this Christmas market. However, I mostly heard the German language. Now that I have been exposed to the Dutch language for 3 months, the German language sounds nothing like Dutch. We made it to the Dom Cathedral as it is very difficult to miss. It is the 2nd tallest Gotchic cathedral in the world. After stumbling upon the church and watching a few street performers, we entered the Christmas market, labeled Most Beautiful in Europe. Remembering from the past and special recommendations, I ordered gluhwein. It is a mulled wine, warmed with spices and other liquors like Brandy and Amaretto. Wow, it warmed me up and made the walk upon cobblestone streets even more wobbly. We sipped on our chocolade and gluhwein in our take-home souvenir mugs, andwalked through the Buden (quaintly designed huts) selling anything from crafts to toys to christmas ornaments.

Throughout the day, we snacked on German traditional foods with Bratwurst being my favorite. We tried weird meat pates, ate gingerbread, had poffertjes, frites, cheese and roasted nuts. We made it to 4 of the 7 markets (Heumarkt, Cologne Cathedral Markt, Neumarkt and Rudolfplatz). Each had their own theme and magical atmosphere. Heumarkt was the Nome village, the Cologne Cathedral's theme was the Church itself, Neumarkt was Angels and Rudolfplatz was a Fairytale theme. I enjoyed the markets most at night, seeing all the lights and decorations illuminated.

We brought home with us less than I expected. Some of the handcrafted items were rather pricey and we found that the experience itself was far greater than any gift. However,we did not leave empty-handed either. We left with some gingerbread treats and nuts, our 4 fancy mugs (each market had their own), a Christmas gift for family and our most prized possession- The Smoking Chef. "Smoking Santa's" are an old German tradition and are quite idyllic. You put the incense inside and the smoke blows out of the pipe of Santa or a Snowman or some other character. We chose a chef with a big mustache.

As much as I loved travelling "10 minutes" to a neighboring country, I was happy to go home. As I relaxed in our small European fiat and pondered about the day in Germany, I was happy to call Holland "home" for the first time.

Mi amore Bella

Wietse and I are proud parents of a brown labrador beauty. We have wanted a dog since living in Chicago. Knowing that we would be moving 3,000 miles away, we thought we should wait until we were in our new homeland.

It has been 2 1/2 months since my arrival in Holland and Wietse could not wait a day longer. We ran out of reasons why we shouldn't get a dog. After Wietse's extensive research and preparation to bring our little one home, we set out on Saturday morning to Cow-land.

We arrived and were pleased to see dog loving people and a nice home. When we came upon the 5 puppies (4 brown girls and 1 black girl), I was overwhelmed with so much excitement, that it froze me. They were all so adorable, but only 2 seemed really interested in Wietse and I. We admired "Bella's" indepedence and constant eye contact. She was fun loving and playful with her sisters, but never took her eyes off Wietse or I. We were sold on those beautiful brown eyes and so excited to bring Bella to her new home and surroundings. Based on the family tree, she is 98% labrador and we think the other; 2% bear. She looks like a little cub bear.

Puppies are the most innocent loving creatures anyone could ask for. And to date, 30 hours later, our 8 week old puppy has not had any accidents in the house. She is a bunde of joy and has already stolen our hearts. However, I do look forward to a full night's rest.