GERMANY!

Okay so Life in Italy with the Brenners took a road trip to Germany.  The girls had a swim meet in Ramstein so we thought we would make a long weekend of it and explore Germany.

First of all, the swim meet was TERRIFIC!  The girls swam great.  They both dropped seconds in each event they tried.  Blythe took 3rd in the 100 IM, 1st in the 100 freestyle, and 2nd in the breast.  Delaney took 4th in the 50 freestyle, 2nd in the 100 freestyle, and 6th in the breast stroke.  We had no disqualifications and they scored points for the team in each of their events!!  Go Brenner girls!!

We flew to Germany and as Delaney looked out the window and saw snow, her excitement mounted!  The girls could not wait to get off that plane to throw a snowball or two.  Thank goodness for Lands End!  Grandmum ordered them winter stuff for Hanukkah and it came in just in time. They had boots on and they just needed to add their coats and gloves.  They stomped the whole way into the terminal!!

The drive to Ramstein was beautiful.  Seeing all the snow covered trees and rolling hills was just gorgeous!  It certainly put us in the holiday spirit!  We hit our first Christmas market in Ramstein.  They just had a few boots with food and gifts.  They had some really cute holiday smokers.  How picked up a couple for a friend at work and we picked out a cute pot bellied man.  He will look cute on the mantle with our other decorations!

A little smoker!

We went to dinner at big Emma's.  It was a German beer house.  We had heard the food was good but huge portions.  I had a half portion of wurst and it was 4 huge sausages.  We did find out that the girls LOVE schnitzel.  It is really yummy!  Now we need to try some noodles!

After the meet on Saturday, we headed to Kaiserslautern to their market.  It was so much fun.  All the different smells and sights.  All the boots have lights so it is all very festive.  Delaney even managed to find the perfect place for some great holiday photos.  It was super cold outside.  I can see why the Germans drink gluwein, while at these things.  Gluwein is mulled wine.  It is hot so it warms you up!  Sometimes they add liquor to really warm you up.  We got one with jagermeister, boy was that strong.  Brought back some rough college memories.  How could not even finish his!!  I think the kinder was better. This was the kids non alcoholic version.  They also made real hot chocolate.  It was not the girls favorite but I loved it!!  At these markets, they have little fires along the way so you can warm up as you go.  It was such a fun way to get in the spirit!  We tried all sorts of things from brats to wild boar stew.  It was fun to be eating such different food!

This is her copper bowl.

Family Photo!

Sunday we went to Heidelberg.  This is a beautiful city on the river.  There was a pretty big Christmas market here.  We wandered the streets checking out all the things the town had to offer.  Blythe used her Hanukkah money from Aunt Linda to buy a ceramic dragon smoker.  He is really cute.  She can not wait to get him working!!  We saw some great decorations and went into some of the most festive shops.  We experienced some more food and enjoyed a waffle before heading up to the Heidelberg schloss (castle).  The castle was really amazing.  Parts of it were falling apart but it still towered over the city.  There were amazing views of the city below from the castle.  There were more markets outside the castle.  There was a metal worker right next to the castle.  The girls begged to make something.  It was late in the day and the sign said the project could  take up to an hour to complete.  The girls wore us down and we let them each make something.  Blythe chose a bowl and Delaney chose a bracelet.  I have to say that it was well worth the money.  The girls turned their strips of copper into really neat creations.  Yes daddy and I helped them, but they really stuck with it.  They worked really hard and were eager to complete their projects.  Even as the sun went down and it started to get cold, they kept working!  Their hard work paid off and they have really unique souvenirs.  We were really glad we took the time to make them =)

The castle glowing at night!

Delaney working hard at the anvil!

Back on base that night, we stopped in the Germany beer hall.  There we had noodles!  All I can say is that Julie Andrews was correct, Schnitzel with noodles is one of my favorite things!  Yummy!!!

The gingerbread house.

Eating Reibekuchen

Monday we stopped in Berncastle-Kues on the way to the airport.  This is a quaint little town in the valley.  The streets were all crooked and narrow.  The houses were typical German style homes.  How and I enjoyed just strolling the streets looking at the architecture.  This market had all little fair tales throughout the streets, one house was decorated like Hansel and Gretel.  We even found the Nutcracker castle. At this market, we found a new food, reibekucken.  I saw someone eating it so I had to try it.  It was a potato pancake that was out of this world!!  We all liked them so much we had to get a second order!!  This time we opted for the applesauce.  Yummy!!  These were way better than any latke I could have made!! This was the perfect ending to our trip to Germany.

 I hope this is the first of many trips because this was such a beautiful country! Thank you Germany for getting us in the holiday spirit!!