Christmas in Germany

This Christmas break was one of our most memorable, as we visited Germany to spend time with D's parents and sister. I can't tell you how much fun we had exploring European cities, attempting to recall a little bit of our respective college language studies in order to make our way around the markets, and getting to look at baby pictures of Daniel! I mean, come ON, look at his little face:

Every city we visited in Germany and France was basically a Christmas/winter wonderland explosion. Germany is known for its Christmas markets, and they truly are the best. They have the best street food (pretzels, crepes, bratwurst), hot chocolates and mulled wine, and booths selling gifts like loose leaf teas, beautiful cookies, ornaments and Christmas pyramids. Every street in pretty much every town we visited had decor EVERYWHERE, dripping between buildings and filling the shop windows. I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

My favorite part of the whole trip was just getting to spend time with the family. It was the first Christmas I was away from my own immediate family, but my Clark family made me feel right at home. Aside from one unfortunate night of getting my butt kicked playing Uno, I had the best, most relaxing time. And thanks to the joys of Facetime, it didn't even really feel like I was missing out back home.

The worst part of any great trip is always leaving, and the flight back felt long since we didn't have all the excitement to look forward to. Long days of travel can be brutal, but what can make it the least excruciating experience possible is packing well. I've definitely learned what essentials I need in my purse for long plane rides (snacks, cleansing face towelettes, face cream, lip balm, soft socks/slippers, my Kindle loaded with books & Sudoko puzzles.) I was also so thankful to have been gifted an awesome Barefoot Dreams "blardigan" (blanket/cardigan combo) by my mother-in-law Julie, which kept me cozy on the long flight home.

It dawned on us on this trip that we haven't flown together anywhere in a long time, and it gave us a little bit of an itch this year for travel! Can't wait to see where 2015 takes us.

-S