Christmas Markets Galore

The hotel beds were so comfortable, thank-God because I needed some proper sleep. Also great shower and breakfast offered. We're were off at 8am to hit the Xmas markets in a few different towns. We're staying in Trier, the oldest city in Germany. Our first place to visit was Koblenz, about an hour away. More time on the bus - dear God.

Koblenz is a city that is situated where the Rhine and Moselle Rivers meet and at this point there is a massive monument of Emperor William I on horseback - it's quite impressive.

Just beside this monument stands 3 pieces of the Berlin wall - as you'll see from my pictures. After being a tourist and taking many pictures, Stacey and I headed into town to discover these amazing Christmas markets Germany is famous for.

The architecture here is so neat, I love it. The markets are set up in several places around the city center and are little wooden sheds open as kiosks. There is never ending food and drink as well. I quickly learned the German food is fantastic. So much variety rather than your typical burger and fries. Stacey and I sampled one of the desert like items. It was like a pancake with apple slices folded into it. The guy warmed it and served it with sugar sprinkled on top. It was so good.

Next was our wine tasting in Winnigen. We went to this very neat, cozy winery/vineyard. The couple who own the vineyard have built a small pub/restaurant like service on their property where they hold their wine tastings. It is a very welcoming place. The wine wasn't anything I like as most of it was white, but it was still a neat experience to have a German explain his wines to us.

Next we're on our way to Cochem, a small market town about 30 minutes away. This town was also kited out with Xmas market kiosks and food. Here, Stacey and I tried their deep friend potato pancake something or other. I have no idea what anything was called and even if I did, I'd never be able to pronounce it or spell it. This potato thing wasn't great as it was soaked in grease. Better luck next time. Cochem is also nestled alongside a river and has narrow little streets in its town center. There's also a castle that sits on the hill overlooking the town.

The last stop for the evening is Bernkastel. Wow! There's a huge building outfitted as an advent calendar! It's was amazing all lit up. Each window was decorated to look like a day on the calendar. Impressive. Another very cool town with quaint, narrow streets. By this point we are all starving so we all split up to go grab some grub. Stacey and I went to the first restaurant we saw that looked pretty decent. The atmosphere was great and the food fantastic. We had a great time relaxing and chatting and listening the the German chatter around us. By the time we were finished eating, all the markets were closed so we walked around with a few of the other girls and took in the sights.

We landed back at the hotel around 10pm. Stacey visited my room for more chatting and checking out what we bought.

Off to Germany!

The train arrived in London at 05:20. I relaxed in my bunk until 6, then I was off on my next adventure - the tube! The tube leaves right from London Paddington train station, which is super easy to get to. I only had to make one connection and it was smooth sailing. Once I arrived in West Ruislip where the base is, I only had a 6 minute walk and I was at the detachment.

The place was packed with people I didn't know. I just kind of hung around and had some of the continental breakfast they laid out for us. Just before we starting loading the bus I met Stacy. Right away her and I hit it off so we sat on the bus together and never shut up for several hours later. We left the detachment around 8:30am because of an accident on one of the motorways. Due to this accident it took us a long time to get out of London. We finally arrived in Dover around 10:30am I think. We had a few minutes wait and then we loaded on the Euro Tunnel (aka Chunnel). I thought the Chunnel was an underground highway system, but I was completely wrong. It's actually a train system. The vehicles drive into what is similar to a boxcar on a train. The train then travels through the tunnel - God knows how many meters/kilometers underground. There is enough room to get out and walk around the boxcar and to walk into all the connecting cars. The only facility available are a few bathrooms. It took about 45 minutes and then we were able to see sunlight again. There are really small windows in the car so you can't really seem much anyway, but you can tell when you're underground as it's nothing but darkness outside the windows.

We're in France! The chunnel finishes in Calais, France. We are now an hour ahead of the UK. We spend a few more hours driving and stop in a town somewhere in France to grab a very quick bite to eat. Most of us went to the grocery store that was there. It was very busy and I had a hoot trying to understand what I was buying and even more of a hoot trying to pay for my purchases via the self service check-out. I managed quite fine, but realized later than there is an English option for payment! Oh well, it was an experience. The highway we take to get to Germany travels about 30 miles from Vimy Ridge and that highway is scattered with large crosses bordered with a stone fence. These crosses are the mark the fallen during the war.


A few more hours and we're in Belgium! So cool! We stopped in a small town for supper and Stacy and I took a quick walk around. I attempted to take a few pictures but it was raining a bit so didn't have much luck. Also, very cold tonight. Back on the bus we continue to drive and pass through Luxembourg, ten finally we're in Germany! We eventually arrive at our hotel around 9:30pm and we're bagged. Way too much driving. It's an early night with most of us hitting the hay not long after arrival. Whew, 5 countries in 1 day is tiring!

Sleeper to London!

What a crazy week and day at work! With this being an even shorter week for me than normal, there was a lot to jam into those few days. We've won a few projects as well recently and the pace has picked up quite a bit, which is great. I ended up working until almost 7pm tonight and spent another hour at home trying to submit tender documents online because our internet was down at the studio. What a pain in the ass. I was basically running out the door to catch my train.

I'm on my way to London tonight as I leave tomorrow morning for Germany! Yay! The coach leaves the Canadian detachment in London at 8am so getting the overnight train was my only option. I was actually excited to check this sleeper option out. I booked a single cabin so I wasn't sharing with any strangers. The train departed Truro at 22:44 and I had my own little room with a bed and sink. It's small, but it's all you need. I was able to sleep a bit and even though the train can be a bit loud and bumpy at times it was somewhat soothing to fall asleep to the steady movement of the train.

Ah Sunday...

Keith is cooking again making chili for supper and I'm about to make shortbread cookies. I'm hoping to do some Xmas baking closer to Xmas, but have to make sure this pain in the ass over of ours will actually bake the cookies and not just burn the edges. I figured I'd try a trial run today. I guess today is more of a cooking day then yesterday. Keith is out mowing the lawn and cleaning the BBQ. Doesn't sound fun at all.

Cooking Day

It wasn't a very nice day so Keith and I went grocery shopping and that's about it. Keith spent few hours making mulligatawny soup and I shopped online for New Years favors, a chocolate fondue fountain, and Xmas stockings. The soup was fantastic. I don't know how he does it but no matter what he cooks it tastes great. The evening brought more movie watching - Month Python's The Holy Grail and The Siege with Bruce Willis and Denzel.

Movie Night

Happy Birthday Aaron!

When I got up at 8am this morning, there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky. This is a picture from our bedroom overlooking the married quarters behind our house.

I spent the entire day Xmas shopping. Nope, I'm not tired of it yet! Instead of torturing ourselves by going tomorrow (as Saturdays are crazy) I told Keith I'd go and do as much of his family as I could. I headed into to Truro and spent the day there visiting several shops. I love shopping! I even managed not t come home with anything for myself. That's pretty good! When I got home Keith and Speedy were hanging out having a beer. We spent the evening at Rosanna's place with Dave, Rach, and Speedy having wine, chatting, and watching a movie, Bad Santa. It was nice for a change as we haven't had movie night in weeks.

More Wrapping

Got the last of the gifts today and finished wrapping and getting them ready for shipping. Also made banana muffins. It was sad getting the gifts ready knowing I won't be home to watch my family open them. Very weird feeling really, with this being my first Christmas away from home. This is not going to be easy. The parcels will be shipped off tomorrow. It does feel good to have the shopping out of the way.