Christ Kindle's Markt {Nuremberg Christmas Market}

Nuremberg has the oldest Christmas Market in Germany, and a "kinder" or "children's" market too. We drove to Nuremberg for the weekend to enjoy the city, but especially this event. We've been told by fellow travelers that this is a site not to miss. This market did not disappoint! We really enjoyed several of the snacks and yummy food. We tasted "kinder punsch" which translates to Children's punch, and is basically spiced cider. They gave it to us in these cute boot mugs. In Germany, they serve drinks in real glasses and you are charged for the glass, and then you can get part of your money back if you return the glass. We kept the mugs because we are in need of some more hot chocolate mugs, and these will help us remember our fun times in Nuremberg! We also tasted the Nuremberg soft gingerbread {this is the cookie with the almonds on top}. It's called lebkuchen. I learned how to make these in a German cookie class I took. They are yum! We had chocolate dipped bananas, candied macademia nuts, dried pineapple {ananas}, and of course some brautwurst {my kids called them hotdogs...who cares, because they love them!} My children enjoyed watching toy trains, riding a double decker carousel, seeing all the lights, and gorging themselves on all the treats this Christmas market had to offer!

Nuremberg Imperial Palace

We went to Nuremberg over the weekend, and enjoyed the Christmas market {next post} and the Imperial Castle. This was a fun city! We really enjoyed touring the castle and seeing the city views. My kids still enjoyed being kids and rolled down the hills and hung on things like little monkeys! On the train a German woman told me {as super boy climbed all over the place}, "I love watching American children. You are so laid back. Your boy has a good 'fire' in him. Germans are too uptight!" Well, I'm glad she enjoyed his "fire" because I was busy trying to put it out!!

Tubingen Chocolate Festival

Tubingen is one of my favorite cities because there are so many fun shops and so much history. I love walking around it's cobblestone streets. When I found of that Tubingen was hosting a chocolate festival, I thought to myself, "YES please!!" So, I took my in-laws and super boy out for a chocolatey-goodness-adventure! We stopped by many booths and tasted/bought some VERY yummy chocolate. We also saw chocolate in some unique forms. We saw hot chocolate, chocolate dipped fruit {strawberries are my personal fav}, chocolate carved into an SLR camera, chocolate that looked like glass, and even chocolate lingerie {there's your next bridal shower gift!}

Christmas, Christmas Time is Here

It's so magical how as soon as the tree goes up, there is such a happy feeling in the air. I love all that the this season brings into our lives. Over the years we've established a few of our own traditions. One of our favorites is our advent calendar {where we do something fun each day of December}. G even wrote about it during journaling time at school. Our newest addition "Stutty Rudy." He is our elf who watches to see if we are naughty or nice and he has a few tricks up his little sleeve. This morning he turned our milk green! The kids have fun finding him each morning. He came with the book, Elf on a Shelf, it's a great one! My kids picked "Stutty Rudy" for "Stuttgart" and "Rudolf". My kids are so creative, wink. We also joined in with the Germans for a tradition. On Dec. 6, St. Nicholaus will leave little treats and trinkets in the children's shoes if they set them out the night before. I {I mean, St. Nicholaus} took this picture after they went to bed. LOVE this season!

Rome: Day 2

Our next day in Rome, we headed toward St. Peter's Basilica and Vatican city. We didn't actually go in because we knew it would be a bust with the kids. We enjoyed being outside on the beautiful day and seeing all the sites. We even purchased a Pinochhio ornament for our tree and took a picture of him by St. Peter's. The kids enjoyed playing tag, watching the Spanish Guard, listening to the church bells, and chasing pigeons.










Mimi and I had to buy a scarf. They were all over the place and we both ended up with some fun ones. Behind us is St. Angelo's Castle. The kids needed a pic with Santa Pinochio and with the orange Vespa. Super boy bought a little treat all by himself. He even said "Ciao" to the shop owner when he left. He may not be a great talker, but he can speak Italian!



Mimi and Papa gave us a night out and stayed with the kids at the hotel. We enjoyed the night lights of all the sites and just being the two of us. We only stayed out for about 2 hours because our feet were SO tired! We went in all the shops and found my Roman plate to add to my collection.