Christmas in Brussels, Belgium

Grand Place-Grote Mark

Disregarding what my parents actually likes (nature/few people), we went on a city break to Brussels between Christmas and New Years.
I know that makes us sound like terrible hosts, and we kinda are.

"But Brussels will be beautiful!", we thought - and we were (mostly) right. It is ridiculously lux and hued in gold. It is also almost uniformly cheap to fly to as it is a hub for European relations.

If we had stayed right in the center instead of the neighborhood of Stalingrad (slightly shady by the train station) and my parents hadn't been getting over the worst cold ever and the AirBnB we planned on staying at hadn't canceled and we last minute booked one that had them listening to our 1-year-olds screams all night - this trip would have gone better. If this trip hadn't been amidst (justified) fears about terrorism in Brussels - this trip would have been easier.

That said, Brussels is beautiful, airfare was cheap and everyone should visit the picturesque Belgian capital.   

Ratings will be done in Frites ( fries). We were such good parents for a year (ha!). We denied delicious fries to our daughter til we got to Belgium. Then, fries were everywhere and she ate them. And loved them. Thus - she loved Belgium.

Berlin Gift Guide

After such a long wait to Thanksgiving and a bit of a stressful last few months I CANNOT believe it is almost Christmas. Less than a week to the big day, I am daydreaming about some of my best Berlin-related gifts as well as new things to covet.

Here are my Top 6 Berlin gift ideas.

 Design Hype's Berlin Metro Cuff

Why You Should Stay in Berlin This Winter

Berliners get extra ungemütlichkeit in winter as the days grow short and ice freezes in your/Ian's beard. Many try to flee the city, but I am making the case for celebrating the darkest season in the capitol. This is partly because we are poorer than ever and condemned to have no escape from the brutal Berlin winter. And since we gotta stay, we are trying to make the most of it and you should too.

Offbeat Washington: Leavenworth - A German Village in America

Growing up in Washington State, trips to Leavenworth are practically mandated. Christmas, summer, or for one of the largest Oktoberfests in America (not quite like the real Oktoberfest). It's cute. It's kitsch. It's a tourist attraction.  

We love it.

The Best Christmas Market in Germany?

Having just been to Dresden this summer, even we were surprised to be back after 4 short months. But as the site of one of Germany's - thus the world's - best Christmas markets it was just that time of year.

Creating a Crazy Ass Photo Advent Calendar- Week 2

In our continuing odyssey of  weird, we share more pictures of our photo advent calendar toward Christmas. Christmas markets, presents, and general madness - that's how we do.

December 8th

Somehow, 4 months after we first visited Dresden - we were back. One of the most beautiful markets in Germany - thus one of the most beautiful markets in the world - this place was pure magic. As much as we enjoyed it in summer, winter is Dresden's time to shine. 

 

Creating a Crazy Ass Photo Advent Calendar- Week 1

Last year, we were missing our family & friends. No longer our first Christmas in Germany, we glumly drank our glühwein , shuffled through the numerous Weihnachtsmarkt and sighed through carols of Stille Nacht. (Ok - maybe Christmas in Germany isn't so bad).

Then I had an idea. An awful idea. The Grinch - ahem! me - got a wonderful, *awful* idea! What if we sent the parents a photo everyday in a photo advent calendar? And not just any photo. An instant classic PorterBalls shot. Like this one:

Crazy Sears Christmas Picture (with adorable bunny)

Hometown Love

Before I wax too poetic about Berlin (because we've had some pretty unbelievably good weekends of late), it's important to look at our recent trip to the States and our favorite corner - Seattle.

Space Needle

It's just not quite Christmas without Family

Doesn't it always seem like warp speed toward Christmas, followed by an utter melt down in January? With our trip to Paris, harrowing apartment hunt, and plans to return home, it's easy to forget about the German Christmas magic that swept us off our feet not so long ago.

Here are the pictures of Christmas I didn't share in our Christmas Advent Calendar Count - Down

glühwein

Love, Photos, & Christmas Cheer

Our photo advent calendar for our p's has become a grotesque thing of beauty. We've enjoyed  showing our culinary accomplishments (sugar cookies), showcased our Berlin life (kita Christmas pageant), and showed our decorating skills (Axis of Evil member adorns our tree).

Since we couldn't be with them this Christmas, we hopefully made them smile and laugh at least once a day.

Day 17:

Snowman were swiftly created, just to get into a food fight. We finished them off.

Advent Calendar with Crazy Cute Kids

 We continue our photo advent pics for the parents with week 3:

Day 10:

15 days till Christmas & time to pick our tree. That means 17 euro tiny trees at a hardware store.

How to Pose for a Christmas Card Photo

...don't do what we do - seriously. Euphemistically you could say we're quirky, but realistically we're a little off. If you do not want to look mildly insane to your friends & family, do not make a photo advent calendar like this:

Day 3:

Ian had pnemonia. So a day in bed, sleeping & watching movies had us a little loopy.

Lebkuchen eyes!

Get in the Mood...for Christmas!

Christmas is a mere 18 days away and we have halfway thrown ourselves into the Christmas spirit. We put up our paper sign "Welkom Sinterklaas" we got in the Netherlands when we visited friends in Venlo on our way here last year. We hung a "Wilkommen" snowman on our doorknocker that we inherited from some Irish friends that repatriated back to Dublin. We put up colorful lights on our bare balcony. We celebrated my birthday at a Weihnachtsmarkt. But without family here (paired with Ian's pneumonia that has kept us almost entirely housebound for 5 days) it's been hard to feel truly jolly.

However, we have a plan.

Movies play a large part in our entertainment schedule.
"What do you want to do?" is usually followed with
"Want to watch a movie?" which is followed by
"YES!"

Diligently, we have compiled a list of Christmas movies, both expected and unusual, to get us in the mood.

Die Hard

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

We've been on the look out for an advent calendar we really like. The supermarkets are chock(late) full of disposable calendars with cute little doors that open to tiny, adorable chocolates... but to be honest- they're not my thing. I'm not a huge chocolate fan (I know, horror of horrors) and I don't really get excited trying to pry open those impossible paper doors to find a chocolate candy cane. We usually do it for 2 days and then remember it on Christmas eve and gorge on chocolate (I said chocolate is not my favorite, not that I wouldn't eat it if it's right there).

Even if we did want one- they're probably all gone. Those crazy Germans & their need for seasonality and function. When we were first in Berlin & feeling broke we came up with the clever idea to wait till Dec 1st to buy our advent calendar. Not such a bad idea when you them marked up to 20 euros! However, we hadn't thought out the German angle. We walked in to our local Lidl to find....nothing. Not a one. Apparently it was past their time and they were all chucked. That must have been some sad trash can - stuffed full of happy families, silver bells, and softly snowing scenes.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Ian just had me open the first gift- a French press! I am so happy. (Seriously, we've been missing coffee something fierce).

Love this video. A little Xmas spirit for the masses:



We are about to head out to get some last min groceries, drink a little g
luhwein, and then come home and cook the goose! The sexy little fowl is sitting in the fridge in some herbs right now. Going to finish him off with potatoes, apple, and a little orange. Yum!

At midnight, we will head to the cathedral. They have it open to the public and we can listen to the choir sing "silent night" auf Deutsch. Magic!

Berlin in Video

Green Chri$tma$

Welcome to December

It's apparently going to be a cold one. The guy we are renting the place from, Jannis, is traveling SouthEast Asia this winter. He must be looking at the weather report and laughing.

Ah well, we do love a good snow. And walking around it today has just felt otherworldly. Dreaming of a white Christmas...

Happy December!

Prague & A Happy New Years

 A beautiful Christmas in Berlin .....

Berliner Dom

Merry Christmas

Well, well, well... only about 20 days after Christmas and we've decided to tell you about it. It's cause we've been really busy... I swear! Well our holiday season got started a few days before our friend Chris Cooledge came to visit us. Knowing that he was visiting, along with my dad and granny, we figured we should maybe tidy up the place a bit. Lucky for us the apartment is quite small, so it got done in no time. We got ourselves a Tannenbaum (Christmas tree) and decorated the windows with cut out snow flakes we made made from German magazines. Now we were ready for some Christmas.