The Decorations Are Up!

As I rode my bike around town I came across this...



I guess this is what happens when you are a country that does not celebrate Halloween or Thanksgiving. Santa comes in October.

This is why I start decorating for Christmas on November 1st (here in Germany). It is just so hard to wait when the whole town is covered in lights and there are talks of snow.

You are never to old to play with Legos

If Legos are of no interest to you, you may want to skip this post.

This weekend we did something that I have wanted to do since we first landed at the Munich airport. I have mentioned in previous posts that I love legos. Growing up with a brother close in age, legos were always around. Two years ago when we landed in Munich I saw a large advertisement for Legoland Deutschland. I was pretty excited to find out that it was less than two hours away. I was even more excited to find out that I could convince a few other grownups to go with me. With the help of Groupon we were able to get a great deal on tickets and planned a trip for last Saturday.

As you can tell in the pictures it was a very chilly day and required us to dress in several layers. Nothing like riding roller coasters in 40 degree weather.

Three of us posing as lego people (notice the hands).


Our first coaster of the day


and then another....


We learned about how legos are made at the Lego Fabrik.


We all shared an order of lego shaped fries.


One of the main exhibits is several European cities made entirely out of legos. This was really impressive and accurate.

Venice, Italy


Berlin, Germany


They even had a pretty impressive aquarium, filled with lego people of course.


What impressed me most about Legoland was the detail and little lego figures everywhere.




Hi!




Lego pigeons around every corner.


Although Legoland is obvious geared towards children, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves learning about legos. It was fun to act like a kid again for the afternoon.

We also heard that they are opening a Legoland in Orlando soon. We will definitely be back with kids in the future.

Tis the season.....almost

I just purchased my advent calendar for the season. 24 days of different teas....what a great idea.



We are getting excited about the arrival of December 1st. The start of all the Christmas markets, the season and the month that we get to travel home and see family.

Lots to look forward to

A little bit of the US in Germany

Last Saturday we got together with some friends (the realtor from our HHI show) and drove to a nearbye army base. One of our friend who works on base offered to bring us on for a taste of the states. Once we signed in we walked into the food court and commissary and our eyes grew wide. I know that this sounds silly but the idea of being able to eat a soft taco from Taco Bell or a Charleys sub was such a novelty. I am sure that I will not feel the same way once we have been back in the states for a few months.

Before we left I was also given a gift, two actually. What a treat!



You see in Germany finding a magazine in English is not easy and if you do find one they usually run about 7 euros each. Needless to say I do not buy magazines over here.

It is funny the things you miss when you are away from home. I find myself craving macaroni and cheese and Chick-fil-A all the time.

It was a good reminder to really enjoy the little treats in life.

Two days is not long enough!

Day 2

We woke up early the next morning to make sure that we had time to see as much as possible. We rode the bus into Venice, about an 8 minute ride, with the plan of heading to St. Mark's Basilica to get in line.



Unfortunately the line was about 3 hours long so we decided to move on and check back later.

We ended up taking a water taxi around Venice which was a great way to see the beautiful architecture and take a break from being on our feet.





We walked to the fruit and vegetable market and then stopped at a restaurant for a bite.


We shared a mushroom hummus that was amazing.


We also found a place that sold macarons. Phil and I were excited to see this after the incredible ones that we had in Paris. They were almost as good. They even sold an olive oil flavored macaron.


The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around and popping into shops in search of souvenirs and Christmas gifts. I was not convinced that any of our family members would want a mask, even though they were everywhere.









To end the night we decided to sit by the water and listen to a band play near bye.It was a great way to relax and enjoy the beauty of everything around us. Venice has been my favorite city in Italy so far.



Once the sun had set it was time to say goodbye to Venice and head back to our hotel and then onto dinner.

It was a great trip now if only we can fit in Tuscany before we leave Europe.

Our First Day in Venice

Day 1. Get ready for a lot of pictures!

The drive to Venice was beautiful as we made our way through the Alps. I always want to nap on long road trips, since I easily become car sick, but it was hard to close my eyes when we kept passing little villages and castles.

We are here!


Lots and lots of paper mache masks.




Gondolas everywhere


Walking around the markets.


Taking a break for a little pistachio and cookie gelato.


More walking around and taking it all in.




St. Mary of the Friars




Our friends Jay and Barb in front of the Palazzo Ducale.


We also took a trip up to the top of St. Mark's Bell Tower.


Views from the top.




We finished our day by heading back to our hotel, just outside of the city, and found a great little restaurant called Pizza Caperone.

This is what you get when you order pizza with potatoes on top.

We all agreed that it was a delicious way to end the day.