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After Justin and I left Strasbourg, we took the train to Stuttgart where we met up with our friends and promptly went
only stopping temporarily for gluhwein and then, eventually…
After a bit of shopping, we took the train to our friends' hometown so that we would be able to celebrate New Year's Eve with their friends and family.
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| view from the car on the drive to their home Aren't you jealous? I know I am! |
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| a tree with real candles! Or a fire waiting to happen. ;) |
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| New Year's Eve Dinner – It looks similar to Thanksgiving in the states! ;) |
I didn't want to share any of the New Year's eve celebration pictures online, because of privacy issues and such. Anyway, it was mostly (them) dancing, (them) drinking, and
Oh and did I mention fireworks?
There were a few. :)
For New Year's Day, we went on a long walk to a nearby town where our friends' family had reservations for lunch. It was nothing at all like an American New Year's Day lunch where all of the restaurants are crowded! Clearly this is a day of rest and relaxation (and hiking) for our European neighbors.
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| (I'm obsessed with trees!) |
This was some sort of traditional dessert we ate? Apfelstrudel I'm guessing?
And by traditional, I don't mean traditional to the day … just traditional as in … German. :) And not sausage!
After that, I think we just laid low for the rest of the afternoon.
Later, in the evening, we went to explore Schwäbisch Hall, get a hot drink, and hear a classical concert at St. Michael's Church. Isn't the town so pretty lit up in the evening?
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| the church. And look! A tree! :) |
In the days following, before we moved on to Prague, we also spent some time exploring the Kloster Schöntal, Wertheim Castle, and Hohenzollern Castle. There will be a *special* Saturday post for that. :)
What did you do to celebrate the New Year this year? Did you do something exciting like go out of town? Or did you keep it low key and maybe go out to dinner or spend time at home with family and friends?
We took our camper down to the Mediterranean coast of Spain for Christmas. Unfortunately, a family crisis meant we had to return home before the New Year celebrations. Next year, though…
ReplyDeleteKeith Channing A-Zing from http://keithkreates.com
That sounds interesting. I'd love to know what Christmas is like in the Mediterranean. It's got to be different than the traditional ideas of snow and cold? Know what I mean?
DeleteHopefully it works out that you can go this year! I know it would be awesome! :)
OK, if you didn't drink and didn't dance, what did the partying consist of..?
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
The friends we usually celebrate NYE with had to attend a different party, so we went out for dinner and a movie, opened a bottle of sparkling wine at 11pm (pointing out that we were only one time zone away from midnight) and went to sleep.
For me? Umm… watching them embarrass themselves? :-P I'm not really a party person, so… :-/
DeleteYour NYE plans sound a bit more like what I would have done if I had been home for NYE instead of in Germany. It sounds nice and relaxing. :)
Ahhhhh, Germany is so near and dear to my heart! We are often in Stuttgart visiting friends (by often, I mean once a year or so... often enough for us!), and my husband's family lives about 1.5 hours from Stuttgart in Bavaria (that side of the family is legit German). Loved reading this post. My husband has spent New Years in Germany as a kid, but I've yet to spend a major holiday there!
ReplyDeleteOnce a year is pretty often! Do you ever visit any areas outside of Stuttgart (aside from visiting family)?
DeleteYou should definitely consider spending a major holiday in Germany! With family there, I imagine you'd get a very traditional experience. It's a lot of fun seeing what people in other parts of the world do to celebrate. :)