Rex is here!!

On December 17th Rex finally arrived here in Germany!! It was a very long and challenging process that couldn't have be accomplished without Tyler, my Dad, my grandparents, Luann, Jenny, and Melanie. It was confusing process but SO WORTH IT! It is so nice to have him here!

He landed here bright and early at about 930am and we arrived at the airport early to figure out where we need to pick him up from. We ended up getting him from the cargo area (first time ever doing something like that) and paid about 130 euros in fees. Melanie was such a huge help because she was able to seamlessly communicate with everyone (because she speaks German). I am sure it would have worked out in English since everyone seemed to speak it but it was a major stress relief to have her there to help out.

We had to run around between buildings, pay different fees, and then finally were told to wait outside and they would bring him out.

Rex came in with a bunch of fish and little baby chicks.

so many fishes.

and massive baby birdy crates.

this is a little closer and you can kinda see the birdies.

the warehouse behind us was rapidly beginning to fill up
with little baby birdies.

Once they brought Rexy out and I saw him he was HUGE. He had gained a lot of weight and grew a bit. I walked him around a little bit, he went on a potty break, and then we attempted to take apart the kennel. It was way bigger than we thought and the attendant that brought him out helped Jenny, Melanie, and I take it apart and put it in Jenny's SUV.  It had to be split into halves and her seats had to be folded down.

After we left the airport we all stopped by the nearby mall for some Chipotle. I haven't had it since the states and, with there being one in Frankfurt, I totally wanted to stop for lunch. We brought Rex into the mall with us and he behaved great!

Then after that we dropped Melanie off at school and headed back to Baumholder. Rex has been doing great though. He and Kaela get along pretty well- she just likes to dominate or molest him a lot, NBD lol. Poor guy.

They both played well with Patty's dog Max, just ganged up on him a bit, poor fella.

Sankt Wendel Weihnachtsmarkt 2014

The second Christmas market I went to this season was in a nearby town called St. Wendel. The market was huge and had lots of great booths. This market usually only runs for two weekends and is very popular and busy. I went with my girlfriend Jenny and we had a blast! It was our each of our first times going to this market and we didn't know what to expect. Jenny said she read online that they were nearly 100 vendors!

So I gots dolled up (trying to still stay warm here in Germany and look cute!) and we headed over to the market.

Once we got to St. Wendel, since it was my first time there, parking was a bit confusing. We drove around for a while trying to figure out where the market was exactly and where to park. Luckily we stumbled upon a parking garage and it was in a great spot! 

When we arrived and parked we first ventured into a medieval section of the market. We didn't know that this was merely a piece of the total market until later on. First thing we saw were the 3 wise men and their camels.

We walked around, snagged some gluwein and looked at all the different booths.  In addition to the 3 wise men and their camels there were also several street performer type people that were walking around. Here are some photos from walking around:

They had great little fire pits all over the place. Great stops to warm up!

Next, these are some of the items the different booths sold in the medieval section of the market.

She was spinning yarn.

The guy in the back was doing wood carving with the peddle contraption.

He was even teaching a kid how to do it.

Walking around a bit more we came across a fake snow hill. The kids were sledding down it.

One of the yummy foods we saw was this chocolate chip bread in the process of being made. I knew I'd end up trying some. 

And then there was Santa :D Walking around giving candy to the kids (oh and to us :D)

In this area of the market we had the BEST gluwein ever. It was called bratapfel gluwein which means grilled apple. It was made with a white wine and I LOVED IT!

This is where we got the gluwein:

It had like a Bohemian flare to it.

This was the menu the had for their different flavors.

 Yay gluwein!!

Jenny and the bestest gluwein ever!

and me with mine!

our mugs

After getting something to drink we explore the other half of the medieval market.

awkward animal feet?

sheep fur? (i think) rugs

and the even had sheep booties!

Jenny at another heating pit stop

This was another booth I thought looked cool

 And then of course, I was the weirdo who took pictures of the trashcan. It was a wicker basket lol

In addition to just seeing the 3 wise men we saw them walking around on their camels.

At one of the booths there was this guy making stuffs> blacksmithing it up.

Lots of mead.

more mead.

even more mead.

 Now it was time to get some food in our bellies. Jenny ordered the wrapped dog and I got that chocolate chip bread we saw earlier.

I love these torches. Very simple but I loved the look. The market was a lot of fun and I love the medieval decor.

Here were the other street performers.

And then we saw a nativity scene. It looked a lot different that many I've seen in the states.

After we walked around a bit we were going to leave. We thought the market was a lot smaller than Jenny read so we thought we had seen it all. Before we went to leave we tried to find a bathroom. We followed some signs to the restroom and came across the rest of the massive market. So happy we didn't leave without checking that out! 

This was the front banner at the market. (the other side)

super cute stuff! Loved how they had lights in em.

This other section of the market was wrapped around the church. SO MANY BOOTHS but sadly, SO MANY PEOPLE.

 This area of the market was more traditional and had LOTS of booths and stores to shop at and to buy food. We snagged some more gluwein and kept walking around. It was SO PACKED and it made it hard to enjoy the market actually in my opinion. I started to notice that it was nearly impossible to actually get up to see a booth because there were so many people. At one point we were just getting ushered through the streets in the middle of the walking mob and that was when we decided to call it a day. I would have loved to have been able to stay and shop and look around but it was just so hectic and there were so many people. I think that things like this are going to be more enjoyable next time around if I go on a weekday. It will be less busy and easier to walk around and enjoy the event itself.

All in all this market was lots of fun and I know I'll go back next year. It was super close to Baumholder so that was a major bonus. I like being able to stay near to home and still explore and enjoy Germany. 

Once we got back home we visited at my place and had to endure lots of Kaela kisses. She may or may not have tried to rape Jenny, all out of love I'm sure though lol.