Now that Brenda and I have moved on to year two of Chenda in Germany, I am forced to look back on previous posts to see what I wrote about last year. One of our outings this week was a welcome rerun; we went to Frankfurt's Christmas market. Let me give you a quick reminder of what the Christmas market (Weihnachtsmarkt) entails. There are tons of shops set up over a couple of pedestrian blocks in downtown Frankfurt. Some shops sell food, others sell various holiday-friendly items and many, many shops sell Glühwein.
I like to think of our trip to the Christmas Market last week as merely a scouting mission, which is to say, we will be going back in the coming weeks. We did, however, get the answers to many pressing questions, such as:
Are all the same shops still there this year?
Answer: Yes.
Should we eat the cheese fondue before we eat the cheese crepes?
Answer: Let's dip the cheese crepes INTO the cheese fondue!
Does the Glühwein still taste good?
Answer: Yesh it doesh...hic!
The Christmas Market is really quite enjoyable and it arrives in Frankfurt at a much needed time. As I've mentioned too many times to count, Frankfurt is grey from November until April. The Christmas Market provides people with a place to go that is decorated beautifully and is extremely festive. And everyone is happy! I've never seen so many smiling Germans in one place. Unfortunately the market will close around the 22nd of December. In my opinion, they should keep it going until the sun comes back out in April. If you care to read more about the market and/or see some pictures click here.
In other news, I have been cooking a lot lately. In the last week or two I have made lasagna, rice and bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, and something vaguely titled Tuscan Casserole. All of these these dishes have demanded several trips to the grocery store and that is why, on Saturday, Brenda and I went to the big grocery store. In order for you to get an idea of how big the big grocery store is, I want you to imagine the biggest grocery store you've ever seen. Now imagine the cat food aisle in that grocery store and that is approximately the size of the big grocery store that we went to on Saturday. Ok, I may be exaggerating a bit but the next time you go to a grocery store in the US, think of us and how much we wish we could buy ranch packets and shredded cheddar cheese.
A very special thing about the big grocery store is that they have an international food aisle and, oh yes, US cuisine is represented. Foods imported from the US include, and are pretty much limited to, marshmallows, Oreos, Pepperidge Farm Cookies, ranch dressing in a bottle, Arm and Hammer baking soda, Pam, and Mac n' Cheese. We happily bought the last three items for about 300 times what we'd pay in the US.
Not only did the big grocery store have products from the US but they also had people from the US! We must have spotted at least a half dozen Americans wandering around the store. One guy was wearing a sweatshirt that said "Hoboken" and a New York Yankees baseball cap. People don't really wear baseball caps here. Another guy was wearing sweatpants and tennis shoes. People here definitely don't wear sweatpants. It was fun to see other Americans and it reminded me that we aren't the only foreigners in this foreign land.
Well, that's about all I've got. Brenda has some singing coming up this week which I will tell you about next Monday. We will also be making an effort to take more pictures to post on the blog. It will be as if you are here drinking Glühwein with us. Until next time, have a great week!
2 comments:
awww thanks for the laura's day wishes! :-)
you guys are hilarious. I had to laugh as I sit here in my sweats and look at my grocery list with "shredded cheese" written on it. Guess that proves I'm American! Ha!
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