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.

Burg Lictenberg Christmas Market 2014

That weekend after Thanksgiving, on the 30th, our FRG all went on another "month of deployment down" outing and this time headed to a small Christmas market in a nearby town. It was a medieval market and, with it being the first one I had gone to, I was very much looking forward to it.

I rode to the market with Melanie and Jenny and we saw the rest of the group there. Now that I've been to other markets I realize that this one was "small" but I really enjoyed it. It was set up around a smaller old castle and all the booths were on the paths the wound around the building and its grounds.

This was the entrance of the market.

First - we bought gluwein (my first time trying it!) and it was delicious! Gluwein is a warmed wine with spices and fruits. This one was a white wine with cinnamon and apples.

Jenny and Melanie and their baby gluweins!

There were lots of booths and different items to buy- it was a bit overwhelming! After going to a few markets I think the best way to experience them is in smaller groups. There is so much to see and explore and when you're in a huge group you spend most of the trip trying to find people you've lost while walking around. This time just having it be the three of us was nice and easy to move around.
  
One of the first stops we walked past was making sweet bread. They wrapped the dough into a cylinder and grilled them over hot coals. I knew I was going to get one of them - just waited till we were on the way out! 

It is so impossible to only buy one or two things with all the cute stuff the vendors sell! I loved these iron/wood candles. Jenny bought one of the iron scrolls. I want to say it said something about life (or luck) being better in twos? I don't remember exactly. 

And there was even a goat next to one of the loom tents!

As we walked further into the market it got a bit more medieval-y. There were even some dancers performing near some of the booths.

The dancers.

 Then, with this being a medieval market there had to be creepy medieval-y stuff to buy.

Creepy skull with hair.

And I saw cannabis scented incense? That was a first.

They had fire pits placed around the market- LOVED THEM. It was super cold out so it was nice to have little warming stations strategically placed about that we could visit.

pardon my terribleness in this picture.

massive advent wreath!

 Below are two photos that show a little bit of the castle. 

One of the many things one of the vendors sold were these wooden candle holders. Melanie ended up buying one. They're super cute! I totally wanted one of them!

Before we left Jenny snagged some food. Pasta with bologna and potatoes? It took us forever to figure out that the meat was bologna. Melanie (who is German) couldn't figure out how to translate the dish's name into English and didn't know what bologna was BUT once we pronounced it ba-log-na she knew exactly what we were talking about. I found it a bit comical.

These three cups were our gluwein cups. We ended up keeping them :) At the markets you pay a deposit for the cup and, if you keep the cup they obviously keep the deposit. I wanted to keep it because it was from the first Christmas market I visited.

Lastly, before we left we stopped to snag some of the sweet bread. I got one covered in cinnamon- super yummy! I love all the amazing goodies and foods they sell at their festivals, so sinful.

yummy sweet bread.

The only thing I bought besides food or gluwein was this tree pictured below. It was hand carved and this one was about 16'' tall. I know when we are done living here we will have so many neat Christmas decor pieces and household decor- I'm excited to see what all we accumulate!

The market was fun and very close to home. Burg Lictenberg is only about 20 minutes away. It would be a nice little day get away for next Christmas season and we just might hit it again next year (with Robert of course!)!

Thanksgiving 2014

So LOTS of catching up to do! First- a blog about Thanksgiving.This year I spent the holiday with a few other wives and their families. Jenny, Melanie, Patty and Patty's son Kameron all came over to my place for dinner. Each person cooked (or attempted to cook) dishes and we all came together to eat at my house :).

our attempt at a group picture. not amazing since we used the camera timer and
set it on a bookcase! :)

It was a lot of fun too because it was Melanie's first real American Thanksgiving. She is German and is a girlfriend to one of the guys in Rob's company. We all spend a lot of time together and were super excited to have her there for the holiday- BUT having a first timer amongst us definitely laid the pressure on!

I was in charge of a few desserts, sweet potato casserole, the turkey, and the gravy. The pumpkin pie was easy- just baked a store bought one. My cherry cheesecake bars turned out AMAZINGLY (anything with cheesecake is my absolute favorite!). The sweet potato casserole was good too- pretty sweet but tastey; Kam couldn't stop stealing the marshmallows off the top. Then there was my turkey and gravy- neither were anything near a "win".

TURKEY- So, the turkey had several mishaps. This doesn't surprise me since I've A) never cooked one and B) am a part of the Re family (who is known for cooking mishaps on holidays). Anyways, like I said LOTS of issues. Firstly, the turkey thawed in the fridge for 4 days - which apparently is not enough. When I took it apart that morning it had little ice chunkies in it (first bad sign, no bueno). Then, I learned I think that rubbing down a turkey with seasonings and stuff is ewy. Rob would have laughed because I am so weird about food when it looks like it did when it was alive. So pathetic I know. But yes rubbing it all around was ewy. Then, while seasoning and stuff. I removed the inside baggy and gravy (but apparently left things I shoulldn't have - which we learned later after cooking :/). Then, once the cooking began I learned I only could find the rubber top to my baster and not the actual tube- yet another fail. what is that fail number 4 now?! So basting was horrid, wish we had photos of that. Then came time to check the temperature (another part of the process no one knew how to do). We all hovered around Kam and the oven with YouTube and the thermometer and welp, ruined that step too. Our thermometer said it was ready, and it really wasn't. So since we thought it was done Kam and Jenny started carving it. When starting to carve they found the neck. I apparently let it inside? So unappetizing looking. :/ But, as far as the carving goes- The turkey was only like 8-9lbs and carving didn't work well. Jenny and Kam claim a bigger turkey would have worked better. By this point I'm pretty sure I was grossed out by the turkey- it looked rather mutilated, oh and STILL BLOODY. We were thinking we may have touched the bone when  checking the temperature and that was the problem? Who knew. Point is it wasn't ready so they carved it up and we put it all on a tray and back in the oven.  BUT, no one ever ate it. 

oh turkey...

gnarly neck that I left in the turkey. nasty faces.

they say don't play with your food? oops. we did that.

so many good photos - I couldn't resist.

Then came the GRAVY. EW BAD GRAVY. Why was the gravy so hard?! We used the pan drippings and the gravy packet and some water. It was suuppper runny. We added some flour - bad bet. It was nasty and chunky. It tasted like gravy but lordy not appealing. Lots (and by lots I mean all) of it was thrown away too. Buried right alongside the turkey.

As far as the rest of the dinner, Patty saved the day by bringing a ham but she injured the potatoes with lots of milk and chicken broth. Melanie brought lots of coffee cake and rolls (both of which were yummy and even edible!). My grandma would have LOVED the coffee cake recipe- super coffee-y. Jenny made green bean casserole (which we must have left out of the oven too long because by dinner time it was literally cold, not just a little cold, a lot of cold) and the BESTEST STUFFING EVER. I'd say the best main dishes were the ham and stuffing. The stuffing had sausage in it?! I just know that recipe is happening every year now. Oh and the canned cranberry sauce and the rolls turned out good too :D

my yummy + sweet sweet potato casserole. served
with the perfect mallows.

More side dishes! No one messed up the cranberry sauce!! :D

All in all we had a great time! Lots of laughs and definitely good memories to go along with it. After dinner we all enjoyed some wine and watched Free Birds. The movie was made by the same people that did Shrek and I loved it! It was super cute and I wouldn't mind watching it again next year. We realized there really aren't many "Thanksgiving" movies. The time difference made it kind of a pain to watch the parade but that was really the only "tradition" I didn't follow through with this year. Next year I'll find a way to squeeze it in!!