Merry Christmas to all. I'm writing this post on Christmas Day here in Germany. We have been welcomed into a warm home, by the warm hearts of Amanda's host family (Thomas & Saba Kascha, and their children Linus & Emily.)
For those of you who may have some vision of Amanda living among the cobwebs of a dark, cold attic, worry no more. Yes, she's living in the attic. But, it's basically the Master Bedroom of their home. The parents currently choose to live on the second floor (adjacent to the children's rooms.) So, Amanda inherits the Master Suite (complete with her own bathroom, shower, skylights, etc.
Also, her host family are WONDERFUL cooks, and have warm hearts and souls. Thomas and I share very similar interests (cars and such,) while Kelly and Saba have been sharing the joys of cooking, comparing recipes, and playing with the kids. They have opened their home to us, and truly treated us like lifelong friends and graciously shared their holidays with us – treating us like one of the family.
On Christmas Eve, we sat around the table and talked as we ate beef & cheese fondue. Afterwards, we exchanged gifts and ornaments, and then had tiramisu with a few after-dinner drinks. It was a delightful evening that we will cherish.
This morning, the children opened a few more presents and received their stockings. We have made plans to make a traditional American (turkey) Christmas dinner for our hosts. Apparently, whole turkeys are pretty uncommon here in Germany. Saba spent an entire day playing phone tag, trying to figure out where she could purchase one. Similarly, their grocery stores don't carry anything that resembles brown sugar. We also had near-misses on a few other ingredients. But, we found substitutes for the most part, and we will begin cooking soon. (Orange-glazed, roasted turkey, Kelly's sweet potato soufflé, mashed potatoes and gravy, and our new bread pudding for desert.)
Tomorrow, we are going to take the kids ice skating. On Thursday, we depart and head to Munich, Germany (to visit with one of Amanda's friends.) Friday morning, we visit Germany's most famous castle: Schloss Neuschwanstein (the castle that the Disney castle is modeled after.) After the castle, we drive through the Alps to Innsbruck, Austria (for our snow skiing adventure in the Alps.) We have made reservations at the Gastof Dollinger through New Years Day.
But, that's not the end of our adventure... On New Years Day, we will drive down to Venice, Italy (for two days) at the Villa Beatrice, in the Lido of Venice.
Afterwards, the shortest trip back to Düsseldorf is the way that we arrived. But, we don't want to cover the same route twice. So, we will detour a bit to come back through Switzerland, and maybe even Luxembourg, too.
Today kinda marks the halfway point in our trip. But, time seems to be disappearing from us more rapidly now. It now feels like the departure clock is beginning to tick. Bah Humbug!
Schöne Weihnachten (Merry Christmas,)
Nick, Kelly (and Amanda.)
3 comments:
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Sounds like one that you will remember for a long time! What is Amanda doing in Germany? You need to look up the Lembeck Castle!
Sounds like an awesome time! I'm so happy for you guys. Tell Amanda Chrissy and Danielle are both hoping to come in May. I passed on a ski trip to Innsbruck back in my Brussels days in favor of meeting up in Paris with a friend who was at Oxford, so I can't wait to see pictures of what it's like there! And you guys will like Venice. I feel like it's someplace Kelly will find familiar. I loved the water taxis and winding alleyways.
Dianne,
Schloss Lembeck is only 39 miles north of Amanda's place here near Düsseldorf. Unfortunately, we are heading southbound this morning. :-(
I will tell Amanda about it, and maybe she can go up there sometime.
Nick.
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