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Well, no need to go into detail about the first night. It was your basic, jet lag-interrupted sleep. You know the kind where you wake up at 4am to eat breakfast and deep clean the kitchen before anyone else stirs. But I refused to get out of bed until 6:30 when both Alison and I couldn’t take it anymore…we cleaned the kitchen together.

 In that respect it was nice to both be struggling with the same things during the break. Our bodies were on the same time zone and we arrived in Germany at the same time so we were equally screwed up. Additionally, we’ve both been living in East Asian countries for a while so the reverse culture shock was frequently a topic of conversation.

While walking through the town, or even going to church, we looked at each other and whispered, “We’re not the biggest people here!” When I say big I mean fat. When she says big she means tall.  We blended in with our white skin and brown hair, but both of us were more comfortable interacting with locals in our Asian languages than German or French. I could be seen bowing to people for the next 8 days all over Europe.

On the evening of the 23rd the family trekked to nearby Basel, Switzerland after enjoying a home-baked lasagna, courtesy of the mad Italian cooking skills of Aunt Susan. (Not me.) We walked over the Rhine River and up the cobblestone streets to “The Muenster” church. This was the evening, mind you, so forgive the picture quality. Shout out to my new camera that did awesome once I figured out the optimum settings.

Frolicking around the tall stone walls and steeples we heard a choir singing on the inside. Mass, perhaps? We peeked in and found it packed with people enjoying a concert by Mendelssohn! We sat by pillars supporting the high vaulted ceiling and listened reverently to the last 15 minutes, the chilling acoustics filling the air with warm Christmas Spirit.

I love Europe. 


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View of the Rhine and part of Basel from the Munster.
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At the conclusion we hit the streets and wound down the hill to the vendors selling brats and beer. 

We bought a huge skewer of roasted delicious meat, a 2 ft. long bratwurst, and glühwein (“glue-vine”), a hot spiced red wine in a commemorative Basel mug. 

I love Europe. 

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The Christmas Market was just what you would expect: markets of Christmas items spanning homemade jellies, cookies, glass and wooden ornaments, nativity scenes carved from trees, fur gloves and hats, woolen scarves, toys, food, wine and spirits, and a hundred other things. Each wooden stall was painted or decorated with fresh evergreen or cedar boughs, rich red bows, and expressions of Merry Christmas in different languages. The atmosphere was enchanting as couples and families strolled up and down the winding streets sipping their spiced wine and smiling with joy in the company of loved ones. I was one of them. 


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