Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas!

For the first time since we started our expat adventure, we decided to stay abroad for the holidays!  Although we missed our dear family and friends, there was lots to keep us entertained!  

It is a requirement in England to have an ugly Christmas sweater.  These actually lit up.

And really, nothing says holiday cheer like the Tech Zone:

We attended Christmas Eve Mass (no, seriously.  We totally did.).  Our friends the Kiils are clearly a good influence.  The highlight for me was when Georgia (dressed all in white, below) was mistaken for one of the angels in the Nativity play, and was almost pushed on stage.  After Mass we joined up with two other wonderful families, the Franks and the Barnes for dinner at our favorite Italian/Argentinian restaurant, for a total party of 8 adults and 12 kids.  There are no pictures, and things caught on fire.  Enough said. 

So, in England one of the biggest days of the year is Boxing Day - December 26th.  It is so named because it is the day that the servants would traditionally receive their Christmas boxes from their employers, and have the day off.  Is that so British or what? So, what better way to celebrate than an annual pub crawl?

Oh, but let's take it to a whole new level.  Our neighboring town, Windlesham, has the "Boxing Day Pram Race" (Pram is what they call a baby stroller).  Yup.  Because no holiday is complete without grown people dressing up and pushing baby strollers and getting completely knackered.  The race covers seven pubs, and about 3 miles.  But we're not talking baby joggers.  The "Prams" have been modified to be more like mini-floats, with costumes to boot!  

We did not participate (sad face), but parked ourselves at one of our favorite pubs to watch the spectacle.  The Bee was all ready - with an outdoor bar and grill set to receive the drunken masses.  You have to appreciate the optimism of this...it was about 1 degree Celsius. 

And I have to say...it exceeded my expectations.  It started slow...one of the first to arrive was the England Cricketers:

Then we got rolling with the Windsor Castle (evidently it had a Queen at one point...she went down for the count around pub 4): 

My personal favorite...the Minions:

Paintball Wars (and yes, the spectators were the targets.  Look alive)

You know things are getting good when people show up in drag. Medical emergency! The guy who got to be the "patient" had a good gig! 

Drag continues to be popular, with the Chinese Dragon/Geisha entry.  Not too much concern with cultural accuracy, but hilarious:

And finally, the party really started with this entry - the Twister Team.  They had modified their pram to be a fully operational DJ booth! 

But there simply could not be a proper Christmas without some very special people.  On New Year's Eve, we had the most wonderful of arrivals - the best Christmas gift ever!  Keeping the streak of spending every holiday together since 2006....Team McSasso reunites!  

And with that, our final Christmas abroad draws to a close.  Happy Holidays and much love!

Ice-tastic!

Ice Adventure!

The things people come up with will never cease to amaze me.  I wonder who was sitting around one day and said "You know what would be cool?  If we made an entire hotel out of ICE!"

One would think this was a crap idea, because who in their right mind would pay (a small fortune) to sleep on a block of ice, in what is basically an ice hut. 

Who indeed.

Like all great ideas that border between genius and madness, this one falls squarely in the genius camp.  Is it miserable?  You bet.  Uncomfortable? Yep. Less than luxurious? Understatement.  But the magnitude of the artistry, and the uniqueness of the experience made it all worth it. 

The IceHotel is in Kiruna, the northernmost town in Sweden.  Note the "We Are Here" visual aid:

We flew into Kiruna and then took a one hour dog sled ride to the IceHotel.  It's so cold they give you those (really flattering) arctic jumpsuits to wear. Georgia made immediate friends: 

These California kids were not accustomed to the cold - they do love each other, but are also huddled together for warmth.

Arriving at the IceHotel, it really doesn't look like much.  Really, my first thought was "Ruh Roh".  As you know, I am not exactly one to rough it. 

But once inside...each room is individually created by a different artist.  The hotel is actually a museum by day, so everyone can come in and see the creations, and then becomes your private room in the evening.  Caroline and I stayed in "Iced Origami":

Augusto and Georgia had "Up On the Roof" 

Our friends the Kiils had "Pole Dancing"

A real favorite - the bed was inside the tube train!

And everyone loved the strobe effects in "It's Alive!"

There's even an IceBar, where you can get drinks in glasses made of ice! They are delicious and taste like they have no alcohol! It must be the extreme cold that causes you to do a full, four person air guitar rendition (with vocals) of "Bohemian Rhapsody" to entertain the other patrons. 

 

I have learned how to drive ALL KINDS of things since being an expat.  In Dubai I learned how to drive a camel and how to not get my wheels stuck in sand whilst parking in the desert.  In England I learned how to drive on the left side of the road, within centimeters of passing cars.  In the Maldives I learned how to drive a jet ski...and to round out my education in Sweden I learned how to drive a snowmobile! Yay me! 

 

We went on a "Moose Safari", in which you drive for HOURS on the snowmobile to really remote frozen plains, and look for moose.  We saw tons!  They are amazing animals

We also stopped on a frozen lake to ice fish - but we didn't end up with dinner.

 Happy New Year everyone!  May 2014 bring you love, laughter and adventures! 

European Vacation!

And the tour continues!  And yes, I never, ever will get tired of saying "Look Kids! Big Ben!"  

Merry Christmas from Munich!

OK, I admit it.  I am obsessed with Christmas Markets.  I love everything about them - the atmosphere, the beauty, the music, the food, the wine...

So really, why stop at visiting one each year?  I convinced my (very tolerant) husband to make a last minute pre-Christmas trip to Munich for one last Christmas Market hurrah.  Why Munich?  Well, after extensive hands on research, we have decided Germany and Austria are neck and neck in the race for holiday dominance.  Having already tried Vienna, Salzburg, and Berlin, we wanted to give Germany a fighting chance, so hence Munich. Munich seems to be kind of overlooked in the European destination of choice category - and WOW! It is absolutely worth a look!  

This is the Marienplatz in the heart of the old town, and the largest Christmas Market.  I'll keep this brief, because by this time this blog feels like Market..blah blah...Gluhwein..blah...historic buildings...blah blah.  Let's focus on the pictures. Because Munich really is spectacular.

Oh look!  Obligatory Kids Eating Meat on a Stick Picture!

See, now here is something new.  It's not every Christmas Market you can buy your very own Schmuck.

The cool thing about Munich is they decided to give their markets themes.  Here is the Medieval Fair (the gluhwein was flaming, I kid you not)

The Pink Christmas market - for your Gay and Lesbian Christmas shopping needs:

Old as Dirt Market (that's not what it was really called, I made it up because I can't remember) under the original gate of the Gothic historic old town, built around 1300.

There was the Kripperlmarkt...which consisted entirely of hand made nativity scenes!!



They were beautiful - and we did make a gluhwein fueled decision to buy one.  But then we couldn't figure out how to get it back to the US without some important King or other getting his head snapped off..



And what trip to Munich would be complete without a trip to the world famous Hofbrauhaus?  Yes, this is THREE FABULOUS STORIES OF PORK AND BEER:

One thing I love about the markets is that you get all your hot drinks in these festive mugs, which are unique to each booth in the market.  So you could have quite a collection!  Or, you could turn them in and get your two euros back.  After noticing that the blue mug on the left said "Christkindlemarkt 2009", we opted for the two euros, forfeiting the potential Ebay collector's market upside.

The trip was short and sweet - home just in time for Christmas!  Which reminds me of my British Turkey Tip of the Year:

Should you get your turkey from the butcher (who has clever signs to entice you like "Well hung, mature and available meats"), they just shot that dude.  As in, there will be buckshot and feather remains.  It is wayyyy to close to its original turkey-ness, as far as I'm concerned.  Just wanted to warn you that it is NO Butterball.

Love to all!

Merry Christmas!

History...With a side of Gluhwein

As you may have noticed, I perhaps do not often focus on things of historical significance as we make our way through Europe.  I feel that I am absorbing things by some osmosis- like process and expanding my horizons just by being present.  Plus, I have a short attention span and get really bored on tours, especially if they involve buses and other people, so there goes that.  But on our recent visit to Berlin the story really had my attention. 

Maybe it's because the history of Berlin wasn't so much history when we were growing up as it was a Current Event (remember those? And you actually had to cut out a newspaper article instead of looking it up on cnn.com?).  Although I was mostly busy trying to get my hair spiral permed and cut the shoulders out of my sweatshirts so I looked like Jennifer Beals in Flashdance, even I remember President Reagan's challenge " Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" 

I won't bore you with retelling the story of the Berlin Wall - partly because most of you were probably paying better attention and know it already.  And those of you who don't really aren't that interested.  But Berlin is an amazing city - the story, while concluded, is still very much present and permeates the city in architecture,  attitude, and emotion.  

This picture is at the East Side Gallery, which is a 1.3 km section of the wall that still stands, and artists have painted murals on large sections to create a continuous work of art.  

I just find it stunning that only 24 years ago on very spot people risked their lives and in many cases died trying to get from one side of this man made wall to another.   And today, our sweet little four year old buddy Brooklynn is having a great time jumping in the puddles, running back and forth from one side of the wall to the other. 

The line where the wall stood between East and West Berlin was directly in front of our hotel.  Here are the chickens in both East and West!  And check out some new faces to the blog!  Behind Miss Caroline is the lovely Miss Abby Rose, then Brooklynn, then Georgia and Jackson.  Their parents are Skip and Marianne, and they are most EXCELLENT travelling companions, and the kids get along like a house on fire! 

Of course, with 5 kids in tow the allotted time for history is short.  Must...find...entertainment......losing...will...to....live.....

TAH DAH! Check it out kids.  Christmas Market with the largest tubing hill in Europe!  They went down that about...oh, 55 times. 

This was our first trip to the German Christmas Markets!

One beautiful German tradition is the Weihnachtspyramide. Which simply translates to Christmas Pyramid.  It's basically a multi-level carousel that rotates and usually depicts the nativity. 

There are definitely some things that are uniquely German.  The food, for one.  The only thing I got from this was the word "mit", which is "with".  Other than that it was dealer's choice.

And then there was this.  I tell you, in the world's contest for who can make the longest word, Germany totally takes it by a landslide.

This one we figured out and queued up immediately.  I have decided that things that are called "ballen" or "ballchen" are universally good (Remember Bitterballen in Austria? AKA Fried Gravy?).  Inevitably it is a fried ball of something, and when is that ever bad?  In this case - it is FANTASTIC because it is a fried ball of  fluffy donut heaven, served hot with powdered sugar.  

And keeping in theme, there is also Schneeball - a ball of shortcrust pasty.  

 And of course, the gluhwein.  There is definitely a learning curve on the drink business.  In Germany the gluhwein is commonly served mit rum, in which they heat a copper cup of rum over an open fire before pouring it into mulled wine.  Mmmmm.....wine with hot rum......

Hot tip for future Christmas Market visitors.  German Gluhwein should NOT be confused with Icelandic Gluhwein. Icelandic Gluhwein tastes like moose wee wee.  I'm sorry to any Icelandic readers, but it totally does. 

And really, what trip to Germany would be complete without giant slabs of meat?  There were nackensteak in the markets (essentially a hot slab of grilled pork on a roll)...

Rahmbrot, which is a warm bread with an herb cream cheese like topping and ham bits.  

And then there was this.  Really, there are no words.

Special note:  Four years ago when we left America Caroline would only eat foods that were white.  Let's take a moment and reflect on the fact that she ate ALL of these foods.  Amen.

The Christmas Markets over Thanksgiving has been one of our favorite new traditions.  But we are looking forward to Thanksgiving that involves turkey instead of pig knuckle next year!  We'll bring the ballen!

We are thankful for all of you!  Have a wonderful holiday!