Weihnachtsmarkt and Schnitzel

Guten Morgen (or Haag)!

Josh and I returned this morning from our excursions in Germany and Belgium. We had an AMAZING time and I could probably go on for pages about the myriad big and small ways that God blessed us, ordered our steps, and provided a restful holiday full of new friends and new experiences. So to save talking your ear off, I'll give you some pics and hit the highlights. If you want to hear more, you can always skype us! -- By the way, pronunciations are in parentheses for those who care.

We started off at 4:30 in the morning to catch our bus to the airport.

This is not how it looked at 4am, but it is a beautiful shot Josh got a few days before we left.

We took our bus to Stansted and flew a scant one hour into Deutschland (Germany) where we began our grand European adventure. After arriving and going through passport control, we picked up our rental car (affectionately dubbed Vincent), plugged in TomTom (our GPS - we didn't name that one, it cam named), and headed towards Köln to meet up with our hosts. 

Meet Vincent

We didn't know where to park exactly, so we parked at a shopping mall across the street from our couchsurfing crash pad (don't knock it til you try it! We had amazing hosts who loved Jesus and taught us so much more than we ever would have known if we had stayed in a hostel or hotel. We can't really express how thankful we were for their amazing hospitality. They were definitely the highlight of Cologne/Köln and I'm bummed we didn't get a picture with them). Before we met up with them though, we headed into the city to sightsee and to find the Weihnachtsmarkt (VY-knockts-markt) (Christmas markets) since that was the main reason we went.

On our way we saw some amazing bakeries that still make my mouth water just looking at the pictures. Supposedly one of the things you can't get outside of Germany is real bread. Just ask a German...

This was our view from the bridge where we crossed the Rhein (RYEn)

We had looked up where some of the main markets were, but it wasn't long before we stumbled on some we were unaware of - they are dotted throughout the city.

Me in front of one of the temporary building in the Alter Markt Christmas market

In these markets they pick a theme and decorate accordingly. The first one we came upon was a gnome ski resort (or something like that). It was really fun and gave us a great first impression. They have everything from outdoor bars (usually several) with Gluhwein (glue-vine) which is a lot like mulled wine and hot chocolate with sahne, to ice skating rinks, to loads of stalls with handmade and commercial items for sale. See some examples below:

This was my favorite decoration - yes, he's real

The carver was doing a live demonstration with his chisel and hammer. So cool

Real marionettes - reminded me of the Kennedy Center :)

The food available was... indescribable really. We tried Reibekuchen (RYE-buh-koo-ken) - a kind of fried savory potato pancake at the suggestion of our hosts after our first night with them. You eat it with applesauce (or other things we didn't try) and it is quite delicious. 

Beautiful lanterns in the trees were even prettier at night

From there we went to the Dom (Dome), the Cathedral Cologne is most famous for. It was imposing...

 And the stained glass windows were beautiful

It also had a massive organ

During our stay (2 days) we visited a bunch of the markets. None of them topped Alter Markt though.

 <<This was the Angel Market >>

 We also went to a sea-themed market, which was really unique and a lot of fun.

They had some delicious-looking salmon smoking on an open fire

Sometimes just the location of the market made it worth visiting, like this one in Rudolphplatz

Some more beautiful shots from Cologne (I have a talented husband...)

Yes, look closely, that is, in fact, a giant ice cream cone on that building

 One night we went to Peter's BrauHaus - the equivalent of a pub. We had pork, mashed potatoes,  sauerkraut, and Josh had the highly recommended "Kolsch" beer that our hosts insisted he try at some point during our stay. Everything was delicious (except the beer, I'm really not a fan... Josh thought it was good though).

After a short but happy stay in Germany, we plugged TomTom in again and wended our way through the Dutch and Belgian countrysides. It was beautiful and I wish I had taken more pictures, but we got to see beautiful farms, lots of horses, sheep, cattle, geese, and more. Everything I wanted Europe to be... beautiful. We headed straight to the B&B where we were staying (Het Abelenhof) which was amazing. I think I can say with confidence we would both highly recommend it to anyone staying near Bruges (Brooj). Our hosts were an older couple who was very kind and had lots of lovely suggestions for things to do and see. Breakfast was beyond words (so much food and so good!) and below are a few pics of the room and bathroom just to whet your appetite.

Pistache - our room

Beautiful bathroom shared with one other room

Wondrous 3 way shower - I preferred the "rain" function from the ceiling :)

The salon with espresso machine!

We had wisely consulted with Katie, Evelyn, and Angelyn, friends of ours who had lived in Belgium for several years, before coming over and they basically impressed upon us that Belgium was a foodie paradise where it was imperative to try moules et frites (mussels and fries), beer, chocolate, and waffles. We did try all of them and were truly delighted. We couldn't have picked a better Christmas trip for our tastes if we had tried. Thanks ladies for all the recommendations! We wouldn't have had nearly as much fun (or good food!) without you!

 

We toured Bruges, a magnificent medieval city, and went through their Christmas market. It wasn't nearly as impressive as Cologne's, but the free harp concert, the amazing architecture, the wondrous food, and the ice and snow festival more than made up for it.

Lots of medieval architecture!

A beautiful church we visited - they had the only Michelangelo outside of Italy, but I'm sad to say we didn't see it. They charged admission to the small section of the church that held it and we were saving our pennies for moules et frites

The canals were another unique and beautiful part of Belgium

The waffles were beautiful! And tasty... We had ours with milkshakes!

Waiting in line to go into the Ice and Snow Festival which was themed around The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

It was breathtaking, and the pictures do not do the sculptures justice

 

They even had an ice library in the hobbit hole!

Rivendell in ice, and I thought it couldn't be any prettier...

This sculpture was MASSIVE. It was probably 10 feet high

You could even climb inside some of them!

The dragon was a slide for the kids!

 

 We did make it to Brussels and saw the Grand Place, but unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time or money to spend, so I don't think it left the impression it could have. The international market was a lot of fun though and the eclair we got there was very tasty.

Obligatory tourist photo with giant Smurf (invented in Belgium)

Delicious pittas, as per Katie's recommendation :)

Beautiful (former) guild halls on the Grand Place

The moment of truth, eating real Belgian chocolate

Yep, it's delicious

I love speculoos! They are hard cookies made in some really fabulous molds :)

The cathedral in Brussels

Kind of on a whim we ended up going through Ghent, which was, in my opinion, either the highlight, or one of the highlights of the whole trip. We started trying to figure out how to squeeze another trip in back to Ghent at dinner while we were there.

Literally one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen

And they have a real 12th century castle!!!

On our way out of Bruges, heading back to Cologne, we saw this gem below. Josh was kind enough to suggest we pull over so we could get a proper photo of it.

The genuine article: a real windmill

I would apologise for the length of the post, but I figured those who wanted to know/see what we did would enjoy all the pics and those who didn't wouldn't read it anyway, so I hope you enjoyed a peek into our adventures in Germany and Belgium! It certainly whet our appetites for more European travel. :) We are so thankful for this crazy, fun-filled, tough, stretching, incredible year. Thanks for your love and prayers - we miss you guys!