Germany: A Christmas PARADISE

Is today really only MONDAY?
That means that YESTERDAY I was in Germany. !
Germany. Land of meat and potatoes, efficient trains, hot wine, and Christmas paradise.
I want to go to there. Again.
While Alece and I were still strolling the sidewalk next to the Main, we were plotting ways to come back to Deustcheland the next weekend. Unfortunately, we couldn't find tickets as cheaply as we did for last weekend (yes, eight euros there, eight euros back! ryanair.com should be every study abroad student's homepage).
I knew it was going to be a trip to remember about five minutes before we landed in Hahn. I was sitting by the window, sleeping soundly. A gentle nudge at my sleeve. "Cat, wake up. Look outside the window!" she considerately whispered. I peeled my eyes open and looked down. Are those tents? Is that a carnival? I closed my eyes to refresh my dried contacts and looked again. It was SNOW covering the most adorable German villages! The picture taking commenced.
Once we were outside the airport and waiting for our bus to Frankfurt, we knew it was picture time. How often does German snowflake land on the tongue of a young girl from Macon, Georgia? I'm sure it was clean water; Germans are sticklers about cleanliness. I'd say that to Germany, cleanliness is above godliness (Not that the people are pagans!).
Our bus ride was two hours, and so we plotted what to do in Frankfurt and enjoyed viewing the sweet German cottages from the comfort of our seats. One day, I will rent a cabin with a working fireplace in a small village in Germany and stay for a week in the wintertime. Or maybe I'll honeymoon there. All I wanted to do was jump out of the bus, find a little log hut, snuggle in a blanket, and later in the day dine in a small haus overridden with locals.
That didn't happen. One day it will. Instead, Alece and I arrived in Frankfurt, FINALLY found our hostel after staring idiotically at it for who knows how long. Oh so THAT building that is visible from five blocks away that says the hotel name in red is our hostel. Ohhhhhh. But, that didn't get us down! We always just laugh at ourselves. Honestly, nothing really gets us down when we're together.
You see, Alece and I are perfect travel companions. We're two strong women who are not afraid to speak up, but also know how go out of the way for something special the other wants to do. We know what it took to get us across the "pond," and we're going to take advantage of every moment we have here. We make the most of whatever city we're in, and Alece has tons of energy to keep things upbeat! We get up no later than 8 and normally go to bed after midnight. "No naps today, just hot chocolate!" she always says when we have a busy day. "And coffee for me!" I always add. Alece is super considerate. She's as quiet as a mouse in the morning, and I'm convinced she'll never wake up a hostelmate as long as we travel.
My highlight of the trip was the German Christmas Market in the Romer district of Frankfurt. Oh it was magical! It was a forest of Christmas goodness, and if you know how much I love Christmas, you'll understand how close this comes to my heart. My parents have always made Christmas a big deal. Rightfully so! We celebrate the birth of our Savior, and we always spend a lot of family time together. It's special to me because just, what? three years ago? my dad had brain tumor removal surgery the day after Christmas. Christmas morning we opened presents, ate our traditional breakFEAST and headed to the neurosurgery unit in Birmingham, Alabama. That night we prayed for each other and said our goodbyes, making sure to tell each other how much we meant to each other. Since then I'm reminded of how I should never take a loved one for granted (although, I'm not perfect...and have definitely done that since then). I've always loved Christmas; it's a symbol of God's faithfulness in my mind. He reached down and healed my father, but more than that, he came down from heaven and took on the lowly form of a baby...and then lived on this earth for 33 years.
Anyway, back to Germany. All of the food is hearty. Too hearty for my taste, although I surely enjoyed the meals we had! The last night we had to go for thai food because we couldn't eat any more bratwurst.
Well, my computer is about to die so I guess that means I should head to bed.
Goodnight my dears!