Christmas in the Alps!

frohe Weihnachten = Merry Christmas

It was a truly wonderful Christmas because we got to spend it with some friends from home!  Our friend Alicia, from Charleston, and her friend Nikki have been traveling all over the world for the past 9 weeks (Hawaii, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Bali, Dubai, Amsterdam...)  Peter, from Sullivan's Island, SC, is working on an oil rig off the coast of Holland so he joined us too!

They met us in Innsbruck, Austria and we had a blast!

We found a Christmas market near the famous golden roof.  The horns were playing Christmas songs.  I was impressed by the tuba player's skills (he must have been ALL COUNTY too)!

Alicia and Nikki were excited to try authentic Austrian cuisine so we went to many local restaurants.

Background info: In Charleston, I mostly ate what I labeled a "Meegan" (pronounced like Vegan with an M) diet. This consists of fruits, grains, veggies, seafood, nuts, coffee/tea, wine and chocolate.  I chose these foods for many reasons, mainly because I enjoy them and they are ideal for my digestion and overall health according to Dr. Peter D'Adamo's book "Eat right for your blood type"  Anyway, my point is that I have not been strictly "Meegan" since moving to Europe since I plan to try everything at least once.

I usually don't crave meat so when my friends tried the wienerschnitzel (breaded and fried pork), I opted for the rahmschnitzel (noodles with rosemary cream sauce).  At one point, I attempted to order a healthy option but the "green salad" was covered with bacon wrapped cheeses and fried potatoes.  So I decided "when in Rome (or Innsbruk) ..." and proceeded to consume mass quantities of cheese - cheese dumplings, cheese noodles, cheese potatoes, mushroom cheese toast, pretzels with assorted cheese dips, cheese strudel...
By day 3, my stomach was killing me and I didn't think I would survive to open my presents from Santa.  It probably did not help that I chugged 2 liters of accidentally purchased "Classic" (aka carbonated) water which really put my stomach in a tailspin.  While Skyping with my mother and groaning about my excruciating abdominal pain, she quickly retorted "did you forget that you are lactose intolerant?"  Well, good thing for Cindy's medical expertise and ability to diagnose the cause of my anguish.  Looking back, I realize this was another reason for adopting the "Meegan" lifestyle I had come to love.  Lesson learned: limit dairy intake

However, this will not deter my plan to eat fondue when we go to Switzerland for New Years Eve

On a brighter note, we had an amazing time skiing & snowboarding on a nearby mountain.  The conditions were perfect and sunny!  The ski resort (Aximer Linzum) was not very crowded so we did not have to wait in any lines.

The slopes were steep and I was rusty.  The Alps have amazing lodges on the mountains that serve delicious warm beverages and goulash.  Xmas techno music was bumping too!  The Europeans dominated huge beers and Jagermeister at the top of the chairlifts and trams(huge train/cable car) and still made it down alive.  It seemed risky to drink given my novice ski skills and general tolerance so I refrained until after we finished.  

After a long exhausting day on the slopes, we enjoyed "Apre-ski" (post ski cocktails and celebrations)

We stayed in a condo in Vols, Austria that we found on www.airbnb.com

Travel tip: highly recommend this site when you need a room, condo, or house instead of a hotel, it will save money and you can have a kitchen and more space than a typical hotel room

The view from our condo was spectacular (see below)

Vols is a super small town so we didn't have much to explore but we did find a bar with darts, foosball and an entertaining Austrian game called "nailing"                        

Nailing

Alicia was great at "nailing"

Notice Scoot's in deep concentration- tongue out like MJ

We were determined to find a Christmas tree for our condo and lucky for us we met a generous Austrian bartender named Bart who was willing to donate a lonely and perfect tree!

we carried it home

On Christmas Eve, we decorated the tree and cooked a delicious dinner!

Festivals for All

The Stuttgart Christmas Market in the city center has been lots of fun:

 (Ride for kiddies)

(candy tent)

 (Gluhwein in hand)

We also went to a Christmas Market in the Medieval town of Esslingen for Scott's company holiday party
The pig below reminded me of Charleston except the men roasting it were dressed in old school attire

Scott's new buddy Jason has an amazing apartment with a balcony overlooking the main square (below pics from balcony)  All the lights circle tents that have different treats, warm beverages, and live music

A few minutes after this pic was taken, I managed to toss my 3 day old iPhone off the balcony (multiple gluhweins = loss of coordination)

Jason's apartment has a cellar (pic below) which was used as a hospital during the middle ages. He now plans to make it his personal brewery

This past weekend we interviewed with a landlord and he agreed to lease us this apartment!!!
We get to move in on Jan 12th (we will be on the 4th floor)

There is even an Italian ice cream/cafe on the first floor below us- super convenient :)

Random thoughts:

Germans are very clean, orderly and efficient

They have devised a brilliant system to improve sharing a bed with your mate

Here is a pic of the bed and linens after the hotel room was cleaned this morning:

Notice it has 2 comforters on 1 bed thus no more hearing complaints of stolen covers!

Scott's customer from Charleston also lives here and invited us over for dinner where we met 2 other couples from SC.  Julia, my new friend who won the National Ultimate Frisbee Championship, has 2 adorable little girls - Amelia & Natalie.  I am proud to announce that Julia asked me to be their emergency contact for school.  

Hmmm what on earth does this mean???

a) I obviously made an incredible impression as a responsible adult

b) Julia and her husband happen to know less people than I do in Stuttgart

c) Amelia remembered my name after observing my juggling skills
d) None of the above

This is my first time "blogging" so it should improve as I learn all the tricks.  I will write informal journal entries to remember random details and pictures from our life now that we have moved to Stuttgart, Germany. 

Blog #1

I arrived on December 7th and Scott picked me up at the airport (Flying direct from Atlanta to Stuttgart was super easy- even Customs was a breeze)

The snow was coming down hard and has not stopped since I arrived
Thank god for the hats from Dotty and Midge!

Also, thanks to Sis and Skip for my glorious snow boots and Granny Flo for my stylish scarf!

We have been busy exploring the city on foot.  Here is a pic overlooking the city center (it's in a valley)

Stuttgart has a huge Christmas market everyday during the month of December and the streets are filled with Germans consuming massive amounts of sausage and beer.  My favorite treat is a delicious winter specialty called Gluwein, a sweet tasty warm red wine in a mug! (I will post pics of the markets soon when we go to Mid-evil Esslingen for the greatest of all xmas markets)


The nightlife is fun with a variety of bars and restaurants (we already had sushi and Mexican). Unfortunately, smoking seems common in many bars since they dont force patrons to smoke outside beacuse of noise ordinances. One place we happily discovered without smokers was Biddy Earlys, an Irish bar with a young German band singing Van Morrisson and Tom Petty cover songs - good times and felt like we were back in the USA

Here are a few fun facts:

Germans are very strict about following rules   For example:

When you ride the bus or train, purchasing tickets is regulated by an honor system and they only randomly check to see if you have bought a ticket

Pedestrians ALWAYS use crosswalks and wait for the light to be green

However, Scott claims there is no law prohibiting urinating in public

Beer is cheaper than water and good luck getting water without bubbles (good thing I love soda water)
It also appears to be legal to drink on the streets, train stations, parks...
Germans love spas, especially naked spas

We have been focused on finding a place to live for the next 2 years and our apartment search is looking promising
We found one place with a sauna but it's a penthouse with low angled ceilings so too small

The apartment we like best has a steam room, heated towel rack and a great view of the city!
I will post pics of it as soon as I get a chance

That's all for now!
Next week, we are traveling to the Alps for Christmas yay!