'Tis the Season: Christmas Markets in Germany 2014

Nuremberg Market

One major adjustment you have to make when you move to Germany is accepting the fact that winter is miserable and feels like it will never end. I usually love winter, but Germany will ruin it for you. The sun comes up around 9 AM and sets about 4 PM. You're entire day of sun light is spent at work, in an office. That is, of course, if the sun even does make it's appearance from behind the thick, deep clouds that are a permanent fixture in the sky from October to April. Every single day, it rains at least a little. Sometimes it mists the entire day or alternates soft, steady rain. Snow is even more rare than sunlight, even though the wet air makes it feel cold enough to snow. If you have seasonal depression or a vitamin D deficiency, Germany is not a place that you would enjoy living.

Luckily, Christmas markets help make the start of winter a little more bearable. I wrote about the markets last year as well. They get talked up a lot by Americans in Germany. I won't lie, they really aren't anything too special. Most of them sell the same things and most of what they sell is crafts or Christmas decorations. The only redeeming factor that makes you want to visit them all is the food and drinks. Gluhwein (mulled wine) is a staple of all of the markets and each one will have different regional varieties. Some are fruit flavored like apfel (apple) or kirsch (cherry). Most are just red or white. You can also get non-alcoholic varieties. Other than the Christmas decor and gluhwein, the markets are pretty similar to any other festival in Germany.

Christmas market in our town.

2 Year Anniversary: Trier, Germany

Sunday was our 2 year wedding anniversary! I must say, the second year was much more stressful and trying than our first year. Actually, despite Greg being deployed for most of it, our first year of marriage was a cakewalk compared to this past year. Hopefully year three will be a little more quiet!

One Year

A week ago, Greg and I celebrated one year of being happily married. Even though we've only spent a month of that time living together, it was great to get away and reflect on the roller-coaster that was our first year of marriage. With so many military members having these miserable marriages that end so quickly in divorce, I'm happy to say that Greg and I are adjusting very well back into our relationship together since he's been home.
We drove out to Pagosa Springs for a long weekend of snowboarding, hot spring dipping and drinking. As is typical for us, we took more pictures of the stops we took on the way to our vacation than our actual vacation. On the way there, we stopped at the Royal Gorge to walk Augustus and generally terrify myself on the giant bridge to nowhere. Augustus had an intense stand-off with a bighorn ram, but somehow, we all managed to make it out of that park alive.

Imagine a rickety wooden bridge swaying over a million foot drop to jagged rocks.

The scenery everywhere was awesome. I wish we lived farther west in the Rocky Mountains where everything is beautiful all the time and it snows in increments of feet.

Pictures don't even do it justice.

On Sunday, we spent the day at Wolf Creek, where they actually had 4 feet of real snow on the slopes. No need for the fake snow they have to throw down on most ski resorts in Colorado. I took a snowboarding lesson while Greg boarded the most difficult slopes alone. We are at two very different skill levels, obviously.

It was about 5 degrees outside by 3pm

The rest of the time we ate, drank and froze our butts off getting in and out of the hot springs. On New Years, I was so exhausted I passed out around 10 pm. Guess we're getting old? Augustus had to sleep in a cage because the cabin owners were heartless chihuahua haters. He was happy when it was time to head home.

Along the way back, we stopped at the Great Sand Dunes which really just looked like giant snow drifts this time of year. Augustus chased Greg around off leash to get out some of his energy and then passed out the rest of the way home. 

Just a man and his chihuahua

It was a great trip! Next year, I'm thinking Paris for our anniversary and New Years. I mean, we'll only be a short train trip away, right?