When you think Germany what comes to mind? Beer, bratwurst, weird German outfits that you forget how to spell but you think they involve Oktoberfest?, and Christmas markets. I can now officially say I have experienced all of those things. And many more of course. Germany does have more to offer than that if you can believe it. If you don't believe me then obviously you haven't read this blog thoroughly enough. #educateyoself

Since Germany doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving (this was devastating for me, still accepting turkey and cranberry sauce in the mail) Christmas starts mid November. Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets auf Deutsch) began right around that time too. So far I've gone to three. One in Krefeld, Münster, and the best in Aachen.

I went to Aachen with my hparents and oldest hsister on Monday nach Schule. Wow Kaeleigh we're really doing some Denglish here that's awesome. Looks like you guys are going to be learning a bit of Deutsch as a special bonus for reading my blog. Double win.

Anyways, we went to Aachen because my younger host sister, Elena wohnt da. It was her birthday last week so we did a little birthday celebration. We got Lebanese food (bless this), went to FREAKING LINDT WAREHOUSE, and then to the Weihnachtsmarkt.

As you can tell by my previous use of unnecessary capitalization I was very excited about the Lindt chocolate. Walking up to the building there was the cursive blue shining Lindt sign welcoming me inside it's gloriousness. When I entered my heart stopped. An entire building filled with rows upon rows of chocolate Santas, chocolate bars, Advent calendars, and those round Lindor chocolates with the shiny red packaging that make you feel classy af. I'm sorry to say I was too busy frantically filling ten shopping carts with chocolate to take any photos inside but I did get one outside.

After our trip to Lindt we went to get dinner at the Lebanese restaurant and all was good in the world. Weird thing about Germany is they eat fries with everything. Greek food? Add some fries! Bento? How about some fries with that? Shawarma? Fries mix perfectly. I don't blame them for this who doesn't like fries but it's still something I find rather funny.

Once we were warm and full we made our way out of the restaurant and into the cold night air. Before coming I thought the weather was going to be almost identical to mine in Portland. I've come to the conclusion that Portland has more rain but that Nordrhein-Westfalen (my state) gets a bit colder. It gets to be about 25 degrees Fahrenheit in the evenings and mornings and lakes are starting to freeze which I'm not used to.

The Weihnachtsmarkt was a short walk from the restaurant and so beautiful. Tons of lights and each cart that was set up was made out of wood. Almost like a detailed moving log cabin. Typical things to see at a Weihnachtsmarkt are Printen (a type of cookie specific to Aachen, it tastes similar to gingerbread), Christmas decorations, Glühwein (hot mulled red wine), Eierpunsch (I didn't try this but I believe it is similar to eggnog), lighted nativity scenes, bratwurst (natürlich), roasted sugar coated nuts, and other typical German foods that I don't know the names of. We walked through the market which was in the center of Aachen for about an hour and stopped at the end for Glühwein. You absolutely cannot go to a Weihnachtsmarkt without trying Glühwein. It was my second time trying it and I still wasn't very impressed. It just tasted like red wine that had been heated up. Nothing too spectacular but that was just my opinion. I think I was more excited about the cute boot mug the wine came in than the actual wine but don't tell anyone I told you that.

Now for the photos that accompanied the market...

And here concludes my evening in Aachen, more Christmas coming your way soon.