2nd Advent weekend

The 4 weeks before Christmas are the best (almost better than Christmas itself).

Another wonderful German tradition for kids & everyone else including pets: the Advent calendar, counting down the days until Christmas Eve. 24 little surprises to shorten the waiting time until Christmas with the major function to keep kids from asking everyday how far Christmas Day is away… it works! Even for adults! And it has a wonderful side effect: you can support the ones in need.

Supporting the ones in need: Germanys Ahrtal which is still recovering from the floods last year…

Arrived at the Christmas wonderland. Where? North of Stuttgart. No, not the North Pole. A little more south, Bremen. (And I’m back in my routine when it comes to packing for traveling).

That’s another tradition: spending a Christmas weekend with my sister & family, and my mum. And what a wonderful Christmas weekend it was. Hours filled with baking cookies, building a gingerbread house, watching Christmas movies with the nieces, a little bit of Christmas shopping, Christmas concerts, Christmas dinner, Christmas market, reading to the nieces… and more Christmas movies.