Winter Weekends

Long time, no see, loyal readers! I started this post weeks ago (mid-December to be exact) but I'm only getting back to it now because I was finishing up an intensive German course, my parents came for Christmas, and I just didn't feel like it. So here I am again, with what feels like really old news. I hope I can remember enough to tell you about it.

We did another two-weekends-in-a-row travel blitz. Cuz we crazy like that! The first trip was to yet another castle youth hostel but this time in Nürnberg (Nuremberg) because I really wanted to go its famous Christmas market. The building is a renovated Medieval castle and I think the part we stayed in were part of the stables. I knew it would be cool but I had no idea how gorgeous!

This was a really big room for a youth hostel. I like the beams.

These two beds can slide together on a track. Very clever.

One of the large corridors. How cool is this?

We were stuck in traffic and going to miss the dinner we already paid for, so I called ahead and asked if they could save something for us. When we got there they rolled out this cart full of food! I can't believe how nice and accommodating they were. I mean, this isn't a four star hotel. But as far as youth hostels go, I would give it five stars.

In the lobby area. People are playing games, having a beverage, chatting. Its really lovely!

Breakfast the next morning.

The dining hall.

Now let's do what we came for! Just a few minutes walking down the hill we came to the city center and the Christmas market.

Lebkuchen! I've never cared for gingerbread, but the German version knocked my socks off. 

And of course hot mulled wine. You pay a deposit for the cups and get it back if you return them, but we wanted to keep ours for a souvenir. I still use mine almost every day.

I had something stuck in my eye and my only option for relief was to use my phone camera for a mirror. Marc took the opportunity to push the button and take a picture. Thanks.

On the double-decker carousel in the kid zone.

Weee! The kiddy train. 

A little ferriswheel.

Scary moving Hansel and Gretel characters.

My treat whenever I can get it. The Dampfnudel is a ball of steamed dough covered in vanilla sauce and cinnamon. Its my favorite. No sharesies.

Candle dipping

I liked this old wooden balcony thing.

The churches are always amazing.

Another treat while little brother is sleeping. Baumstriezel is dough wrapped around a rolling pin type thing and cooked over a fire. Then they dip in whatever topping and the steam comes out of it like a chimney.

Its always a pleasure when he sleeps!

Despite being dressed like a snowboarder, I was still a frozen block of ice. I definitely must have a circulation issue. The market was so crowded, and with the kids and all, it made it difficult to see everything we wanted to see, which was a little disappointing. So to get away from the crowds and the cold we went to a train museum that ended up being free and really fun for the boys.

Attempting a family photo on the way back to the hostel.

The Imperial Castle of Nuremberg (I think!) It was right next to our hostel so this must be the actual castle part since we were staying in the old stable. Sadly, we didn't have time to see this.

We hoped to see more of Nuremberg on our second full day there, since there is so much to see, but Marc read the weather report and we decided to leave right after breakfast. It was a bummer but turned out to be the smart thing to do.

We're rapidly losing the left lane.

Back home safely in our little village. I love how silent it is with the snow.

I'm glad we got to experience the Christkindlesmarkt even if it was freezing, crowded and too short. Oh well.

The next weekend we got on a plane to Rota, Spain, because when you find tickets for $18 total per person you take the trip to Spain! Marc had already been to this town a few times for work and he really enjoyed it because the weather reminded him of San Diego and that sounds pretty nice in the middle of winter in Germany.

In order to keep this cheap trip even cheaper, we used miles for our hotel. Except it was really random. (What else would it be with us??) It was this huge but almost deserted hotel in a weird beach resort area. It was like a dilapidated ghost town that may have been glorious twenty years ago. There were other people there but it was pretty sparse, BUT right on the beach and the scenery was gorgeous. It was perfectly fine, just a bit odd because so many places were boarded up for the off-season and almost no one around.

In front of the hotel there were some rusty bikes that definitely no one but us was going to rent. So we got on those and completely forgot about the fact that 9 out of 10 times when we go for a walk/ride it starts to rain cats and dogs. Sure enough, ten minutes after we started pedaling around it starts to drizzle. A little harder. Then a little harder. Ok, now its really coming down. We saw some eucalyptus trees (a great place to go in the rain) and a dumpster and decided to hide out there.

LOL. Poor Doren still in the baby seat. "What are we doing here?" he asked me.
That's a great question. Like, did we mean for this to happen? Fortunately we brought this towel to keep him covered. 

 Is this the fun part?

Marc and Jonah giving up between the dumpsters.

 Just what I imagined doing in Spain - soaking wet, holding up a bike between a dumpster and a mattress.
We sure know how to make the memories!

Then it stopped enough for us to keep going and dry off a little just in time for the next dumping.

Hiding under a gazebo for rain cell #2.

Now for some sun. And the beach is aaaaall ours.

Doren digs in the sand like a dog.

Its great to see what they do when they have absolutely nothing to play with. At one point they played catch with a discarded orange peel.

Now this is pretty wild. I knew that an old friend from high school was living in Spain with his family, but I didn't realize how close it was to where we were staying. He lived down the street from me for a few years in high school and we carpooled to school together. He and his wife and their two little girls decided to sell everything and move to Spain for at least one year for a fun adventure between careers. When we booked our tickets I contacted him to see if we could meet up. It was perfect because they live only thirty minutes away! After we parked he told me to follow the sound of the live music. Okayyyyyy.....

Sure enough, he was sitting outside a restaurant right in front of this troupe of singers, doing his best to save a big table for all of us.

These people were incredible. They took turns singing their hearts out with so much love and passion for the music. But equally as fascinating were the people listening because they really wanted to hear the message in the words. They stopped eating and talking and turned around to listen with the same love and passion in their eyes. It was truly amazing. Then the troupe stopped and moved on to another street. And the rest of us continued eating and drinking wine. Ahhh España!

Time warp! He was 17 like five minutes ago and now he's a family man, but still looks exactly the same! 

We spent the whole evening with his family and had a great time chatting about our lives abroad. Then we met them again the next day for more chatting and letting our boys and their girls play together on the beach. It is so fun seeing people you know in a place different from where you know them. Its crazy to think back to when I was 18 and to think the next time I would see this guy is twenty years later in Spain. Oh life, you are cheeky!

Walking through old town Rota.

More of the awesomest tricks you've ever seen in the world. (The boys can't ever just walk. They move around on invisible skateboards imagining they're doing tricks. Constantly. Its super annoying, but also cute because they really think they're amazing.)

There was so much beautiful tile everywhere.

Ice cream stop for morale among the troops.

Goodbye, beach. Now we need to catch our late flight back to winterland. 

Speaking of my German course...

"If no love is, O God, what fele I so? And if love is, what thing and which is he? If love be good, from whennes cometh my woo? If it be wikke, a wonder thynketh me." ~Geoffrey Chaucer

I recognize about 80% of the words and I kind of know what its saying but not really. If I had time to really look at it I might figure it out but you can't do that in normal conversation, so I'm usually confused.  The word order is really different from English. Listening to German is like listening to people recite Chaucer or Shakespeare. So that's where I'm at. Wikke woo?

Happy belated New Year!