Christmas Eve Eve road trip

Nothing says Christmas like a road trip.

Our first stop was Colmar which is a small city in the Alsace region of France about 2 and a half hours away from us.  It was spared from destruction during the French Revolution and the World Wars and so has a great cohesive architectural style.  It also has a Christmas market and excellent restaurants.

 

Here is Maisie's arm trying to get the attention of a three week old pygmy goat.

And here is a delicious looking giant pretzel stand.

My personal favorite was the Chocolate Nativity

After a delicious meal and a glass of glühwein we were on our way to Strasbourg

This is a fantastic place with Rhineland black and white timber-framed architecture and this amazing sandstone Gothic Cathedral.  The Christmas market here was huge, delicious and crowded.

This is a local specialty of chicken wrapped in pastry.

Maisie found a couple of Santas.  One was slightly less creepy than the other...

 

Maisie also found some local wild life

The streets were decorated in fabulous style.  My favorite was strung with chandeliers.

We stayed the night at the Soffitel and then hit the market again the next morning (Christmas Eve day).  Here are Michael and Maisie enjoying a delicious cup of Italian style hot chocolate which is more like hot chocolate pudding (yum).  The weather was not as we hoped so after a couple of soggy hours we were back on the road.  This time we were headed for Ronchamp for an architectural pilgrimage.

To be continued....

As Promised

Gary all dressed up

More Christmas photos soon....

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Copenhagen

I have wanted to go to Denmark ever since I saw it in a Richard Scarry book I used to read at my Grandma's house.  Maisie and I finally got to go last week but about 12 hours after landing, an unscheduled flu took hold of me and kept me in bed for the first 48 hours of our visit.  Fortunately, we were staying with the family of the friends we were traveling with so Maisie had someone to look after her and an amazing house full of kind people and animals to keep her occupied while I tried to recover.

This is my friend Helle and her sister Eva.  Eva runs a B&B from her giant, beautiful home north of Copenhagen where we stayed.  Just before my 48 hour hibernation began, we took her dogs for a walk through the woods beyond their property.

So beautiful.  Love the green, mossy trees.

The house has an honest to goodness thatched roof that was so cool.

This is Nina (Maisie's friend from school) and Maisie with our host's Mastiff, Hermes.

Here are a few more of our hosts...

On day three I was well enough to get out of bed so Helle took us all to Tivoli Gardens which is the oldest amusement park in Europe right in the center of Copenhagen.

It was 30 degrees and snowing so the girls did their best to enjoy themselves.  It was a really fun place and surprisingly busy considering the weather.

The lines weren't too long so the girls were able to have their choice of the rides.  Their favorite was "The Tower" which is one of those rides that takes you to the top of a structure then "drops" you.  As a parent, it's difficult to watch!

Below is the lake in the center of the park.  I loved the lights on the willow trees.

After we'd had all the amusement park we could take, we headed to the main square downtown to do some shopping.  There were lots of police but no protesters so we could shop in peace.  There was lots going on, several eco-friendly info kiosks and green info.  It was a cool atmosphere.

Hopefully we'll make a return trip soon.  I'd love to see more of this city!

O Christmas Tree

Well, it's been three consecutive years where I didn't have to ruin Christmas by cursing at the Christmas tree because I couldn't get it to stand up straight.  The most difficult bit this year was getting a consensus among the three of us on which tree was best.  Maisie won because she named the tree she liked and then once she named it, we really couldn't walk away because now he's family.

Introducing...... Gary (no relation to Uncle Gary)

Michael did an excellent job of helping him stand up straight

Maisie did an excellent job helping too

The two M's and Gary

The two girls leaning away.

We're not used to having a tree stand up so straight!  We've decorated him since but haven't taken any photos.  We'll post those soon.  In the meantime, Maisie and I will be taking a quick trip to Copenhagen this weekend.  I'll try to take some good photos to share.

Enjoy the Holiday Season everyone!