Christmas Markets

Shanna & I said this year that we wanted to visit Christmas Markets outside our area, and outside of Germany.  This past weekend was the first time this season we'd had a chance to do that.  We spent the weekend in Colmar, France and on the way home today, stopped in Freiburg, Germany.

I got off work Friday at 3pm, headed home, got the dogs, and drove out to Esslingen where Shanna was enjoying a Christmas party with her coworkers.  I took the dogs in the restaurant and we had dinner, then we hit the road.  It was raining a bit, but the wind was ridiculous.  More then once I felt like the car was getting blown into the next lane.  We eventually made it, though, around 9pm that night.  We were both exhausted, but we hadn't had dinner yet, so we ate at the hotel restaurant.  We brought the dogs down with us, and when the waitress saw them, she petted them and put her hand out to Milo and said "Bonjour'...and Milo shook her hand!  I couldn't stop laughing.  She put her hand out, so that's what Milo recognized, but seeing her say "Bonjour" and seeing Milo shake her hand cracked us up.

Saturday morning when we took the dogs out to do their morning usual, I noticed a plaque on a rock in front of a tree.  It was a Sequoia tree from California that was dedicated from the US to the people of France in recognition of 200 years of friendship.  After that we ate breakfast at the hotel, and they had the most amazing spread of cheeses out.  My favorite was this goat cheese that I couldn't get enough of.

After breakfast we put the coats on the dogs and hit the town.  Colmar had five separate Christmas Markets, but they were all connected, so you could easily walk from market to market.  The first one we came to was the kids Christmas Market.  They had vendors with kids toys and a few rides.  One that stood out was the mechanical horse rides.  Kids would sit on the horse, and it'd ride along a track in a circle.  For those that have heard the story of the debacle of when I attempted horse riding, this would be the closest I'll ever come to riding a horse again.

From that market we walked along one of the many canals that run through Colmar and noticed a sign that said at 5pm that day there would be kids singing Christmas Carols in boats in the canal.  We made a note to come back later that evening.  Next up was an indoor market with all kinds of fresh food being sold.  Cheese, bread, seafood, you name it, they had it fresh.

We walked around the various markets until it was obvious the dogs were starting to get worn out.  On the way back to the hotel we came across an old Carousel that had been converted into a cafe!  It was closed, but we took a few pictures.  The owner (we assume) was cleaning up inside and his dog was in there...it looked like a Jack Russel, just like Murphy.  As we walked around the Carousel looking in, the dog was running along with us, inside, growling at Milo & Murphy.

We headed back to the hotel from there and laid down for a bit.  Once Milo & Murphy were settled down we left some toys out for them in the room and left them there.  They've gotten to be great hotel dogs...even though Milo whined a bit, he quickly quieted down and they were quiet the rest of the night until we got back.

From the hotel we walked back into town and headed to some of the places we couldn't go earlier because we had the dogs.  First up was St. Martin's church.  It was built in 1375, and has survived ever since.  Inside there was a plaque thanking the Virgin Mary for protecting the city during WWII and liberating it from the Nazi's on Feb. 2nd, 1945.  There was also a plaque dedicated to those killed in WWI.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering through the beautiful old town area.  It looked perfectly preserved, exactly like it might have 500 years ago.  Shortly before 5pm we headed back to the bridge over the canal.  We got there early, but there was already a crowd.  Luckily a spot opened up and we were able to get a good spot overlooking the canal.  Shortly after 5pm, when it was dark, the first boat pulled up to the bridge.  5 more pulled up and lined up side by side across the canal.  Then a boat pulled up behind them with Santa inside and a ton of presents.  The kids then began to sing various carols, some we recognized, but most we didn't.  It was strange hearing "Oh Christmas Tree" and "Jingle Bells" in French.  The Jingle Bells song was neat because they sang it in French and English.

Once they were done we took a walk, looking for dinner.  There was a place we thought looked good, but the lady said they didn't open until 6:30, and it was only 5:30.  Place after place we went to were all closed until 6:30 or 7pm.  So we got some Gluehwein (or Vin Cauld as it was called in French) and sat on benches along the canal for a bit.  We also headed to a Belgian Bar we'd seen earlier in the day.  Eventually it was 6:30, but when we went back, the same lady said they were booked for the night.  Why she didn't tell us that an hour ago was beyond us.  We tried a few more places, and they all said the same thing...they were booked solid with reservations all night long.  Who would have thought we'd need reservations??  We eventually found a place that wasn't too expensive, and what a find.  The food was AMAZING.  The waitress didn't speak much English, and the menu was entirely in French.  Here's an example of what the menu looked like:

So we decided to be adventuresome and randomly picked two things off the menu.  I got a DELICIOUS chicken cooked in a Riesling sauce (although it was brown, which I thought was strange), potatoes and mushrooms.  I demolished the entire thing, even the mushrooms.  It was one of the best meals we've had while living here in Europe.  Shanna got Salmon on top of buttery garlic mashed potatoes and capers.

For dessert we decided to roll the dice again, and again came up with a winner.  It was a plate with a shot of cappuccino, a brownie, ice cream, and a glass with some sort of strawberry sauce and whipped cream flavored jello.  I wasn't a fan of the coffee since I don't like coffee, but the rest of it was fantastic.  All & all it was an amazing meal, and I'm so glad we ran into problems with other places which forced us to try this place.  Had we gone somewhere else, the menu would have been in English and we wouldn't have tried something new.

After dinner we were full, and worn out from walking around all day.  We went back to the hotel & called it a night.

Sunday morning we woke up to snow coming down outside.  I was less then thrilled since we had 2 1/2 hours to drive home, and the last thing I wanted to do was drive home in snow.  But we got lucky.  It only lasted for 15 minutes, didn't stick, and the sun came out after.  After breakfast & checkout, we loaded the car up and headed to Freiburg, Germany.  It was close to Colmar, and on the way back home, so it was easy to get there.  Freiburg was pretty neat...it was no Colmar, but few markets are.  We walked around the old town area, and saw something interesting.  Apparently, Freiburg is a sister city with Madison, Wisconsin!  Who knew?

Shanna found a wood molding of a boy & a snowman that she can use to make Christmas cookies, as well as some special paper so that she can use that same molding to make Christmas Cards.  It's too late to do it this year, but maybe next year.  We wandered around the market, and once done, headed back home.

This past weekend was a LOT of fun, and Colmar is by far our favorite Christmas Market.  The food, drinks, and ambiance of the town was amazing, and we highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in Southern Germany or Eastern France.

Over the next few months we have trips to Hamburg and Ireland planned, so check back soon!

To see the pictures, click here or any picture above.

Thanksgiving in Sicily

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but not too much has happened.  Last week I started at SAIC and life's been busy getting myself acquainted with the new job.  Last week was Thanksgiving and over the summer, Shanna & I decided we wanted to go somewhere warm.  After kicking around various ideas, we settled on Taormina, Italy, on the island of Sicily.  I mentioned it to my parents and invited them along.  They got their tickets and met us down there.  They flew into Rome Sunday, toured there, then flew to Catania Airport Thursday and met us there.

Thursday morning is when we left, and it was EARLY.  So early, in fact, that it was before the trains started running, so we had to drive.  We only live 15 minutes from the airport, so we got there plenty early.  It was FREEZING that morning.  By mid day it's been in the 50's for the past few weeks, but before the sun rises, it's been in the high 20's.  Our flight to Catania went smooth, and when we stepped off the plane, it was 70 degrees & sunny.  I had previously arranged for a shuttle service from the airport to the hotel, and am glad I did.  There wasn't really a public transportation option, so we'd have had to get a taxi for the 45 minute drive.  The drive was absolutely beautiful.  Catania & Taormina are right on the coast, so our entire drive was along the coast line.  Last May I visited Rome with some friends, and while I enjoyed it, I never really saw the Italian country side that I think of when thinking of Italy.  We definitely did this time though...it was the Med on our right and the beautiful old Italian countryside on our left.

We eventually got to our hotel and checked in.  I'd read in the reviews how friendly the staff was and how beautiful the view from the outside terrace was, and neither disappointed.  Our family must have been the only people checking in that day, because when I walked in & said I wanted to check in, the guy behind the desk, Sebastiano, said "Yes, welcome Mr. Norton.  Your parents are down at the restaurant.".  After we checked in, we walked out on the terrace and saw Mount Etna.

We then headed down to the restaurant and met my parents & brother there.  It was good to see them again.  We ate lunch and walked around the old town area for the rest of the afternoon.  Shanna & I called it an early night since it'd been a long day.

The next morning the plan was to explore the city.  The hotel provided breakfast, and then called a cab for us.  There was a village way up on a hill over looking the city, and up there was the remains of the old castle & fortress. 

On the drive up, our cabbie gave us a mini-tour, explaining all the things we were seeing.  He even pointed out the huge land mass in the distance across the water...turns out that was mainland Italy.  When we got to the top, we headed to the old fortress.  There wasn't much left of it, but it had a beautiful view of Taormina & the Med. Sea.

After exploring the fortress, we explored the little village up there.  There was a church (of course) and several restaurants and shops.  Mom & Shanna spent most of the afternoon wandering through the shops there, picking up all kinds of little things.  We also ate lunch while up there at a restaurant with a panoramic view of the city & hills.  The picture I posted above is pretty much what the view of the city was like from the restaurant...the picture below is of the hills.

Later that afternoon, we walked down from the village to a chapel on the hill side, but it had already closed for the day.  That night was the big Arkansas/LSU game, so we went to a local supermarket to get some beer, then set up the laptop in the lobby of the hotel, where they had free WiFi.  Arkansas is becoming an international sensation.  We've watched them play over the internet in Austria, Germany, France, and now Italy.  Unfortunately they lost, but it was still fun watching some college football.

Saturday we'd talked with Sebastiano, and he set up our day for us.  A driver would take us down to Siracusa, and we'd be met there by a guide who would give us a personal tour of the city.  Once we got there, we were met by Rosa.  The first thing I noticed was her perfect English...so perfect, in fact, that she seemed to have an American accent.  It turns out she was born in Sicily and when she was 8, her family immigrated to Connecticut.  When she graduated from High School, she moved back to Sicily and has lived there ever since.  She still has family in the US, so the visits have helped her keep up with her English, and her American accent.  We started in Largo Port, and walked through the city.  We started down a street with a house that was one of the few buildings to survive the devastating earthquake of 1693.  That fact jumped out to Shanna & I because we remembered learning that earthquake also decimated Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing 90 percent of the population in Dubrovnik.  We eventually got to the Siracusa Duomo.  That church had a fascinating history.  It was first built thousands of years ago as a Greek Temple for Apollo.  When Christians took the territory over, they converted it to a Church.  Eventually Muslims took the town over, and converted it to a Mosque.  Finally, the Catholics took the city back over and turned it back into a Church.  When you go in, you can see the old Greek columns, the area where the round top of the Mosque used to be, and of course, all the Christian symbols currently there. 

We continued walking around the city, seeing all the various landmarks, including the remains of the first Greek Temple built in the city in 800 B.C.  Our driver picked us up and drove us across town to the location of Roman & Greek ruins.  The Romans had built a small Gladiator ring there.  In the center was a pit with two columns in the center.  The Gladiators would stand on the columns and try to knock the other off.  The loser would fall into the pit of water, which had crocodiles in it.  She also showed us the mass graves they'd bury the dead Gladiators in.  Right around the corner from it was the old Greek Theater.  The hill it was built into consisted of Limestone, so all the Greeks had to do was chisel the stage & seats out right in the mountain.  It's the only Greek Theater in the world built that way.  Behind the theater we walked through the old rock quarry where they mined the rock that was used to build the city.  They used slave labor, and it was an accepted fact that once you went in, you never came out.  The slaves who died down there were just left there.

Finally Rosa showed us the old altar area where they performed animal sacrifices.  The king at the time sacrificed 450 cows for protection against the Romans.  What the people didn't know was he had made a secret deal with the Romans to not attack.  Siracusa had peace for 22 years of his reign.  When he died, a resistance movement sprang up and killed all the Romans who were living in the town and blockaded themselves.  Archimedes, who lived in the city, came up with inventions to keep the Romans at bay.  It's a 3 day journey by boat from Rome to Siracusa.  He first came up with catapults that launched stones doused in oil & lit on fire.  They repelled the Romans, who had never seen anything like that before.  They assumed Siracusa had a God protecting them.  When they tried again, Archimedes had a new invention.  He'd put a huge magnifying glass on a wooden lever that could move up, down, left & right.  The result was they could set the Roman ships on fire from a distance.  The Romans finally conquered Siracusa by sending spies, who found out the real reason Siracusa was able to fend them off.  One night the Romans snuck in and the spies let them in.  They then proceeded to decimate the city, and beheaded Archimedes.

The history of the town was absolutely fascinating.  The next & last stop was a Basillica in the town of Arcireal.  It's famous because it has the tomb of St. Clemente, the fourth pope, who died in 89 AD.  It was absolutely beautiful inside.  After we finished there we headed back to Taormina.  Shanna & Mom walked through a few shops until we came to a restaurant to eat at, Mama Rosa's.

It was some of the best Italian food we'd had.  We actually didn't have a bad dish the entire time we were there, but this place stood out.  I had lasagna & ravioli, and Shanna had seafood ravioli.  It was our last dinner before my parents left the next morning, so we had wine, great food, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  My parents & brother had a 6am flight out the next morning, so we said our goodbyes that night.

The next morning we got up early.  Shanna & I had a 5:30pm flight out, so we decided to do one more tour before we left.  Sebastiano made all the arrangements, and even acted as our driver that day.  Shanna & I first took a picture on the terrace with the sun rising.

The plan for the day was for Sebastiano to drive us to Mount Etna, us to tour it, then he'd drive us to the airport in Catania.  We hit the road, and it was a crystal clear beautiful fall day.  The leaves on the trees were turning and there was only a little bit of smoke coming out of the Mount Etna volcano.  We got there a little early, so Sebastiano took us to a crater that was now dormant.  All around us most of the frost had melted, but it didn't in the shadows.  The result was you had some interesting shapes of frost.  At that point we were only 2,000 meters high (approx. 6,000 ft), but we had a beautiful view of Taormina.

Finally it was time for the tour to start.  Normally they have a cable car running up most of the mountain, but it was broken, so they took us up by bus.  By this time the clouds had rolled in and you couldn't see much, but when we got to the 3,000 Meter mark (9,000 ft), we were above the clouds and it was bright & sunny.  It was amazing seeing the clouds from above.  The guide gave the tour in Italian, but we had some English speakers in the group, so he'd explain things sometimes in English too.  He showed us the house the guides used to live in that was now covered in Volcanic rock from the eruption in 2002.  Some parts of the rocks were above a fissure, so if you grabbed a handful, the rocks were actually hot!  It was surrounded by snow, so it was really weird grabbing hot rocks.  He walked us all over the top of the mountain, and it was one of the most amazing experiences we've had since moving here.  After the tour, they bussed us down part of the way, and now the cable car was working, so we took that the rest of the way down.  At one point the cable car came to a complete stop, and it was just Shanna & I in the car.  It was cloudy again, so you couldn't see far around you, but we could clearly see the LONG drop below us.  Thankfully it only stopped for a few minutes. :)  When we got to the bottom, we walked through some of the gift shops, and I finally found a souvenir I wanted.  I usually get beer steins, but I thought this time I'd get something more appropriate for Italy...a wine carafe!

Sebastiano then drove us to the airport.  It had been a long day, and in that warm sun, I was OUT.  Shanna told me at the airport that Sebastiano had noticed me asleep and made sure to go over speed bumps as slow as possible so he wouldn't wake me.  As you can see from this post, the hotel was GREAT.  If you ever find yourself in Taormina, stay at the Hotel Continental.  You won't regret it.

The trip home was uneventful, and we finally landed back in Stuttgart around 11pm...and it was back to the cold weather.

This trip was a LOT of fun, and Shanna & I agreed that this is one of the few places we really want to go back to to explore more. 

You can view the pictures by clicking here, or any of the pictures in this post.