Froehliche Weihnachten!

And we're back (from Germany). I'm jet lagged (I awoke at 3 AM today) and tired (I went to bed at 10 PM last night) but we had a fantastic time.

The weather was good. We had only one rainy day, the day that we landed, and we had two beautiful, blue, sunny days. We had a couple of days of light flurries--sipping hot punch in the Munich Christmas markets during an evening snowfall was a highlight of the trip. All stalls serve their beverages in mugs and food on ceramic plates. You pay a deposit (usually a couple euros), which you get back when you return the mug or plate. The system is ingenious and it cuts down on litter dramatically. We kept one of the mugs as a souvenir of our visits to the Christmas markets.

The markets are magical--white lights everywhere, and little stalls that (in Munich, anyway) specialize in different goods. Some sell only straw and wood ornaments, others sell wood-carved items, others sell pewter ornaments, and others sell gluhwein (these stalls were the most popular). Germans, while exceedingly polite, especially in conversation, seemed less concerned with personal space at the markets and would wedge their bodies between you and the stand if they wanted to see something in front of you. People didn't push; they simply walked where they wanted to, regardless of whether you were standing there. Eventually I started defending my personal space a little more aggressively and felt less uncomfortable.

But let me again emphasize their politeness, lest you think that I left the country with a negative impression of the German people. I rarely had a conversation with a German who didn't use "danke" and "bitte" with frequency, and they spoke English without attitude or annoyance. We met only two Germans who didn't speak English, and we met a lot of Germans. I felt a little more warmth from the Austrians with whom we interacted in Salzburg, but I felt no negative energy from anyone, even though being an American who doesn't speak the country's language is not necessarily the best recommendation when you're traveling in Europe.

And overall, the public bathrooms were the best that I've seen in Europe. Clean restrooms are important. Even the bathroom at the Linderhof castle, while it had no heat, was still sparkling clean.

And our hotel rooms--it's going to be difficult to give up B's hotel status next year. He hasn't traveled enough this year to keep his Platinum Starwood status, but we got some great perks for this trip. We were upgraded to suites at all of our hotels, including the best room in the hotel in Salzburg--it even had 2 bathrooms, his and hers, just like home (mine was bigger--just like home). The separate sitting rooms were useful when one of us was battling jetlag and a sleepless night and wanted to get up and read. I resisted the urge to steal the Hermes products in the bathrooms, though I was tempted.

We took two tours, one to Linderhof castle, Neuschwanstein castle, and Oberamergau, the town that puts on the Passion play every ten years (next one is in 2010, in case you're interested); we also took the Sound of Music tour. The castles were amazing and decadent and inspired fun conversation about the types of houses that we'd build if we were looking to drop a couple mil' on a dwelling. I decided that mine would be schizophrenic because I'd be unable to decide on one theme and would try to create individual themes for each room, and it would feel like a humpty-dumpty house that wasn't put back together correctly. The Sound of Music tour took us into the lakes region near Salzburg--now that would be a great location for a vacation home. I think if we went back in the summertime, I'd be interested in taking both tours again because the scenery would be so different.

I would like to go back, but I had mixed feelings about the food. I've tried on numerous occasions to like sausage, but I haven't had a lot of luck. But I wanted to try the traditional Bavarian cuisine, so I ate more sausage in one week than I have eaten in the last year, maybe two years (maybe 10 years). The meat options on menus were generally sausage, pork, and boiled beef, with nary a chicken in sight. The potato salad, frequently served warm, was pretty good, and the streudel was also good. But it's going to be a long time before I'm ready to face even a hot dog again.

One more thing (I've given up on paragraph transitions--I was never good at them anyway)--I'm going back and forth about writing this, but if you go to Germany, it's something you should be aware of so that you'll be prepared for it--I was not. Hearing people speak the German language took me by surprise; or rather, my reaction took me by surprise. The only time I have ever heard German spoken is in movies. And unfortunately, usually when you hear German in American movies, the movies are set during WWII, and the Germans are the "bad guys," who are usually pursuing the "good guys." It was difficult to hear German and not associate it with the "bad guys" from the movies. I'm thankful that I've had the opportunity to hear German outside of movies and create new associations with the language.

And finally, on to the Lessons Learned section of the post, where I share the wisdom (ha, ha) that I have acquired over the last week. First, if you're going to pack only 2 outfits for a week of travel, be sure that you love them because you will get sick of them quickly. Second, it is possible to fit 45 pounds of stuff into a small rollaboard. Cram that sucker full and check him in the hold. Finally, spending time outdoors in the cold, while unpleasant, is not fatal, and is actually sort of energizing. However, hand warmers and long underwear are critical.

The cuckoo clock will arrive within 2 months, and we leave for Spain in 3 months. Giddyup.