Schultüte

One more week and Sam will be starting school.  It is all new to us, since neither Milt nor I ever attended a German school.  One of the most important things about starting school here is the Schultüte that every child entering the 1st grade receives.  It is a large decorated cardboard cone that is filled with small toys, school supplies, and sweets.  The idea being that this gift will make the start of school a bit sweeter.  A nice tradition, I think.

There are plenty of pre-made ones that can be purchased, but I thought it would be nicer to come up with my own design.  My little guy is totally into dinosaurs at the moment, so I wasn't surprised that he choose them as a motive when I asked him.  I am still working on it, but this is how my project is doing at the moment.

Frankfurter Weihnachtsmarkt

We finally made it to Christmas Market in Frankfurt.  It was cold and the gluehwein was hot.  Perfect.

 

I picked up one of the stars in white to hang in the window over our front door.

Lots to do this week. Family is coming over on Christmas Eve (Heiligabend) and on Christmas Day we are heading to Austria for a couple of days.  Things I will undoubtedly become hectic at some point. Like tomorrow.  Will try to remember to breath deeply, light some candles and perhaps have a cookie or two.

Christmas Fairytale

One of my favorite guilty pleasures during the holiday season is to watch Drei Haselnuesse fuer Aschenbroedel (Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella), a film colloboration between the Czech Republic and East Germany.

It is a fairytale with a modern heroine set in a snow covered landscape and accompanied by a dreamy soundtrack.  Over the years it has developed into a classic in Germany and is shown on TV every year between Christmas and New Year.  I wouldn't miss it.

Weihnachtsmarkt, Plan B

We had to push the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt to next weekend.  I am at the tail end of a cold and the weather was awful on Saturday.  The thought of pushing through the crowds of people all holding umbrellas just didn't appeal to me. Today the weather was a little better, so we headed to another local Weihnachtsmarkt.

 

A spice stand!  I came prepared with my list and am stocked up.

Couldn't go past this with Sam along.

Hamming it up.

Lebkuchen Nikolaus.

This market was a definite improvement over the one in our town that we visited last week.  Frankfurt is on the schedule for next weekend.

Our town in lights

We went to our town's Christmas Market yesterday.   Honestly the shopping was a little disappointing, actually tremendously disappointing.  No stands with cute handmade merchandise to be found anywhere.There was a lot of Gluehwein (mulled wine) to be had though.  At just about every stand, as matter of fact.  I like the stuff too, but geesh. 

The center of town was nicely decorated though. Paper lanterns lined the main downtown street.

Cityhall... (we were married here)

I had more pictures, but we have my husband has a new camera and I we need to practice.  Next weekend we are heading to the Christmas Market in Frankfurt.  The shopping will definitely be better.