Landstuhl Christmas Market

There's no way I'll ever be able to post every thing or every picture that I want to post from the last three-ish months that have passed.  Trust me, there was chaos, craziness, shenanigans, and weight gain involved!  You don't need to see all that, now do you?  I think in order to make sure that I get to post things that are happening NOW now instead of after all the catch up posts, I will post new stuff as much as possible and old stuff as I get time.

NEWS FLASH- we are living in Germany now!   Marshall is stationed at Ramstein AB, we live off base, and so far we love it here!

Today we went to the Christmas Market in Landstuhl, which is a town just south of Ramstein AB.  Landstuhl Army Medical Center is where most of the wounded soldiers from Iraq or Afghanistan are transported for medical care, en route to the United States.  I'll post more about this later.  We had gone to the (surprisingly small and overall not impressive) Christmas Market in our town, but you can't go to just one!  They start in November and run almost constantly until Christmas, just in different cities and towns.  There is a guide to all the Christmas Markets around here:  Christmas Market Guide 2011

Maddox was all bundled up and ready for some fun!  

Maverick was in the baby carrier, because we were told that strollers didn't really fit at the Market.  That probably would have been true, but we went right as they opened and they weren't very busy.  It worked out well, because Mav was warmer against me than he would have been in the stroller.

Landstuhl's Christmas tree in front of the Stadthalle.

There were many choices of places to get Brats and other things to eat.  We stopped at this one that caught Marshall's eye.

No such thing as a bun length here?  Ha!  It was delicious!

This was a spice tent where they sold tons of different spices.  It would have taken me forever to translate and figure out what they were, but I did understand the "Gluten Free" on the sign.

Look Carla, we found a miniature booth! I mean, a booth that sold miniatures.  The guy said he doesn't have a shop, he just makes things as a hobby.

Advent wreaths are everywhere.

There was a carousel for kids to ride.  Mdx rode this one but didn't think it was much fun.

And another ride that had cars that went around called "Micky's Drive".  Mdx loved this one and cackled the whole time.

We had to try the waffles with melted Nutella to make sure they were as awesome as they looked.  They were.

Before we left we stopped by the "Highlander" booth to get a glass of Glühwein (pronounced glue-vine).  You can't go to the Christmas Market and not get glühwein!  It is mulled with lots of spices and served warm.  It was delicious!  You don't get to keep the mug, but they do sell them if you want to buy one.  

I asked the guys working the booth if they were Irish or Scottish, and they said that they are just Germans who like everything Scottish.  They were wearing kilts in 30 degree weather.  I think if you drink enough glühwein you don't feel cold anymore.  They gave me a pamphlet for their Irish festival in April, so we'll have to go and check that out.  It was a fun trip, and we are glad that we ventured out early so that we missed the crowds!  We are talking about going to Mannheim or another larger city next weekend to go to another Market, but we'll have to wait and see how the weather looks.