Germany is the place to be in December

Well!  Tim and I were scheduled to return home to Seattle on Sunday, but our connecting flight to Philadelphia was canceled because of all the snow, and the airline told us we'd have to wait another 3 nights before they could fly us home. Here I was, so pleased that we had fit all of our activities, visits, shopping, etc into just under a week - I had it timed perfectly.  I was completely unprepared for this, not to mention that we'd both miss more work, need to rebook our hotel, have to extend our already busy catsitter, etc.  To top it off, Tim's suitcase didn't make it back with us on the return trip (yet - hopefully).  Such is life.  But really, if you're going to be stuck someplace in December (and you are the type that celebrates Christmas), let it be someplace in Germany, as they really know how to do Christmas right!  Some trip highlights:

Christmas markets are seemingly around every corner in Munich. Much is for sale:

handmade wooden Christmas smokers, pyramids, and ornaments...

candy and chocolate...

and Gluhwein, a spiced hot red wine, essential for keeping warm on a chilly winter evening. There is an alcohol-free version too (Kinderpunsch), but it just isn't the same...

We also visited the town where my mom grew up - Kirchberg an der Murr (near Stuttgart).  Her brother and a few other relatives live there, it was nice for Tim to meet my the German side of my family and have a peek into that part of my background.

This is my cousin Nina and I at the Christkindlmarkt in Ludwigsburg, a neighboring city.  It was about -10C (14F) that morning.

If you like meat, you will love Germany; there are butchers everywhere.

We saw this guy in a Munich subway station one night - he was wearing a loden green green Bavarian cape and had an owl on his arm.  He was fielding questions from all the fascinated people who gathered round and some people even pet the owl.  You don't see that every day.

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If you emailed me during the past week, please be patient while I catch up :) I will respond to you in the next couple days.