This past week we got to take a Christmas trip to Germany with some friends. It was a trip of high highs and low lows... but we had a great time. :) We stayed in the small town of Kandern, Germany with some friends who are also on staff with Campus Crusade. The Hoskins were so good to us - opening their home for us to cook and eat, play games, hang out with one another, let the babies play, put babies to sleep, finding great apartments for us to stay in, and showing us around their city and each town we visited. In total, 8 adults came from Italy and 2 babies. Including the Hoskins there were 10 adults and 3 babies! We were a big group. The purpose of this trip was to spend time together with friends and to hit up some German/French Christmas markets nearby Kandern.
It all started with the drive to Kandern. The drive, according to Google Maps, was supposed to take 6.5 hours - so we planned for 8 hours. We were all geared up to leave at 9:30am but we didn't end up leaving until 1 or 1:30pm. We figured that we would still arrive in Kandern in time to have a late dinner. Little did we know...
About 20 minutes into the drive Colton threw up. This was no little thing - this was an adult sized, adult smelling vomit. This was all over me, himself, and his brand new car seat. This was both his breakfast and his lunch. It was terrible! We pulled off the road at the next rest stop - about 10 minutes after Colton got sick. I took my poor baby into the bathroom to proceeded to clean him off and change his clothes. Ross had to totally take apart the car seat, piece by piece, and take it inside to clean it so that the car wouldn't reek the entire drive (though the smell persisted anyway). An hour or so later, we were finally on the road again. For awhile things seemed to be going smoothly. We left Italy and entered Switzerland, and we were making good time. Then we came to "the tunnel." There are tons of tunnels on the road from Florence to Kandern, cutting through hills and mountains. This tunnel, though, is especially long - 17 km. We entered the tunnel on dry, clear roads....but we exited the tunnel to icy, snowy roads. It was snowing like crazy on the other side! The rest of the drive was slow going as we tried to make our way safely to Kandern. All in all the trip took 12 hours, much longer than we had planned.
Though we were all exhausted, we got up early the next day to take a day trip just over the boarder from Germany into France. We went to Kaysersberg, France to enjoy a day in this picturesque town.
This day was freezing cold. I mean painfully cold. Part of bundling Colton up enough to keep him warm was making him wear tights - which act like long underwear. We took this picture to use as blackmail later in Colton's life. ;o)
This house was one of the first things I saw upon arriving in Kaysersberg. I love it - it looks like it came right out of a fairy tale.
The main street in Kaysersberg.
Mommy and Colton - all bundled up.
The stream that runs through the city.
Daddy and Colton.
French/German buildings.
Many buildings had every window decorated for Christmas. It was so festive!
Such a special family trip!
The next day we were all super tired so we decided to stay in Kandern and relax. We played games, went grocery shopping, watched some TV, kept warm and cozy, and ate some yummy German pastries. My favorite pastry was something called a quark ball. I think quark is a kind of curd cheese and, in this case, was infused in a cinnamon sugar donut hole. So amazing!
On our last day in Germany we headed to Freiburg. It is a bigger city than Kaysersberg, and more modern, but it had a huge Christmas market. Plus there was also a huge weekly market that we visited. This day was much warmer and we all enjoyed being outside much more.
The first stop we made in Freiberg was this brewery where we had an awesome lunch.
Ross was so excited!!!
A really cool building near the weekly market. I love the colorful spires.
The cobblestone was beautiful in Freiburg.
And now begins my attempt at being artistic - taking pictures of the stands at the weekly market.
Winter vegetables - I love how people eat so seasonally here in Europe!
The weekly market surrounded this church.
Butcher
Brats! Yummy!
Flower stands.
A wooden toy stand.
This sign says, "Merry Christmas" in German. It was at the entrance to the Christmas market.
The German markets had tons of handmade wooden ornaments, figurines, and decorations. They were beautiful!
A look at part of the market.
A life-size wooden nativity.
Colton chillin' at the market.
The family in Freiberg.
Love.
Ross took this picture to show the juxtaposition of the old and new in the city.
Sweet boy. :o)
The only things I didn't get pictures of that I wish I would have was the food and drinks! We had amazing hot, spiced wine & hot chocolate at the markets to help keep us warm, brats & schnitzel, fried sauerkraut with ham in it, Starbucks coffee (a real treat since we can't get it in Italy), and so much more! Amazing!
Oh! Also, I wish I had gotten pictures of the memorial stones in Freiburg. Set in the cobblestones, in front of each building that a Jewish person lived in during WWII, were memorial stones. They commemorated the lives of those killed in the war. It was sad and sobering to see stones for entire families who were killed in concentration camps like Auschwitz.
Well, the trip was great. By the time we had to head back to Florence I'd almost forgotten about how crazy the drive to get to Kandern was. I was, however, reminded.
As we started our trip home, everything seemed to be going great. We were only a 1/2 hour late in leaving, traffic was flowing well on the roads, and we were making good time. Then, about 5 hours into the drive, traffic slowed to a standstill. We saw signs over the highway which said that traffic would continue to be extremely heavy until we arrived in Florence. After about an hour during which we barely moved we calculated that if the traffic really didn't let up it would take another 7 hours to get home!
At this point the ride was already getting frustrating. It was about 8pm and Colton was ready for bed. He kept falling asleep but, in his new, front-facing car seat, he couldn't stay comfortable and would wake with a start as his head fell forward. He would fuss and cry for a half hour or 45 minutes out of complete exhaustion, then sleep again for about 20 - 30 minutes. This happened over and over for hours. Not to mention the fact that, while he was sleeping and we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic in a long tunnel, a huge fire truck came from behind us, trying to get through this tunnel filled with traffic. It was an insane experience...and loud!
Finally, after a few hours, we decided to get off the autostrada and take side roads home. Almost immediately these roads started twisting and turning, doubling back up and down huge hills. By this time it was pouring rain, too. We slowly made our way and, after about 45 minutes, found the road we needed to take towards Florence. ....but it was CLOSED!!! Agh! By this time we were all exhausted, worn down by listening to Colton cry, had to go to the bathroom, were hungry...the list goes on. We had to turn around, stop at a busy cafe/bar, ask for directions, and - finally - head home. After 13 hours we finally made it - at about 1:30am!
Haha - though the travel was difficult, the trip was wonderful. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. :o)
