[Lia]

@ Gerda: well, in theory, we celebrate the same event, but..........

In Holland this is a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE event, in which the entire country participates, far bigger then christmas when talking of presents.
All presents are wrapped in special paper and everone makes jokes, poems etc and in every primary school, a Sinterklaas comes to visit.

@Tojo: I`m more shy then you, even too shy to ask.
I simply put that display in my trolley

Lia

[SmurfingH]

That's quick thinking Lia! It's a nice display item.

[Tojo]

@Tojo: I`m more shy then you, even too shy to ask.
I simply put that display in my trolley

Lia

That's what I did with the 6-pack tray (& my colleague got me another one too) & also the 3-pack Aldi one

That big display is a bit harder to get away with though - at least I thought so but you've proved me wrong

[Ritter_Schlumpfenherz]

@ Gerda: well, in theory, we celebrate the same event, but..........

In Holland this is a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE event, in which the entire country participates, far bigger then christmas when talking of presents.
All presents are wrapped in special paper and everone makes jokes, poems etc and in every primary school, a Sinterklaas comes to visit.

@Tojo: I`m more shy then you, even too shy to ask.
I simply put that display in my trolley

Lia

Yep,

in order to get our fishes for our special Xmas and New Year's Eve dinner (sorry Staci) I will be in Enschede on December 6th with my parents and Manni. And as every year there will be a Sinterklaas parade incl. Sinterklaas and his compagnon zwarte Piet.

[Lia]

Right! Very nice Dom, so while I go to Germany , you`ll come to Utrecht, Enschede and Venlo

Lia

[Gerda]

I miss a good German christmas, In my opinion Europe does Christmas so much nicer than the states do, of course i'm going by childhood memories and who knows how much things changed since then, but my memory has it as the decorations where so much nicer and the stores had all kinds of goodies and the store windows of even the little mom and pop shops where decorated with christmas themes and not just a wreath on the window or a few clingy things but the display was Christmas themed. Here we need to be politicly correct and we can't call the time off "Christmas" vacation but rather winter break.. it just doesn't feel the same.. you know?


gerda

ps. sorry to get all nostalgic on you guys

[Tojo]

The big department stores on the main shopping street in Frankfurt always have wonderful xmas displays. They have animated Lego displays & other similar things. It makes me wish I was a kid again, but a kid with as much money as I have now

Next week the Frankfurt xmas market is going to open. A main railway line runs right behind our garden & the entire tracks had to be replaced recently. As an apology for all of the noise & house-shaking, the company who carried out the work has given us free tickets for a special steam train run to the xmas market. It picks us up from the next station, goes via Friedberg & Hanau & then along the water front in Frankfurt where it stops. In the evening it takes us back again I'm really looking forward to it.

[Gerda]

That was nice of them to do that for you, i've never heard of a company giving you specials for having to put up with construction noise. I'd forgotten about the christmas marts and the fresh scent of gingerbread and the glue wine (I know I spelt that wrong )

[Lia]

Glühwein Gerda, Glühwein

well, I was in the USA and Canada only in summer, but the christmasshops were quite impressive! Really!
But in Europe, the atmosphere is super nice. Do you know the christmasfloor of Harrods? And Germany has some wonderful christmas markets, I can imagine so well, that you love to go to Frankfurt Tojo!!

Lia

[agent smurf]

I was at the xmas market already even before it had opened its doors, trees and everything. It's always the same isn't it. Today it was snowing. and raining .

[eggie smurf]

I miss a good German christmas, In my opinion Europe does Christmas so much nicer than the states do, of course i'm going by childhood memories and who knows how much things changed since then,

It's changed a lot here because like you say, political correctness. When I was a kid, everything was decorated and celebrated SO much better than it is nowadays and you could sing the proper carols and it wasn't called "Holiday Break" in school - it was "Christmas Vacation" so I think it's just the modern age of not allowing Christians to celebrate the holiday properly. That's always ticked me off since PC came along. I am highly non-PC and never will be (I'm sure that's no surprise either! lol)

[eggie smurf]

Today it was snowing. and raining .

Here too! Third day of flurries this week but today's stuck and made everything look pretty and fresh

[Gerda]

Glühwein Gerda, Glühwein

Lia

I can never remember the right spelling.. my german really is starting to suck

Send some of that snow my way, I love haveing everything be nice and white, sure beats dead grass and frozen dirt

[Lia]

Actually, my garden is completely white at this moment....covered with hail!

Lia

[Tojo]

That was nice of them to do that for you, i've never heard of a company giving you specials for having to put up with construction noise. I'd forgotten about the christmas marts and the fresh scent of gingerbread and the glue wine (I know I spelt that wrong )

We were very surprised too Gerda, but one should never look a gifthorse in the mouth as they say

I don't think I'll try your glue wine if you don't mind as I'm afraid of getting my insides all stuck together

[Gerda]

That was nice of them to do that for you, i've never heard of a company giving you specials for having to put up with construction noise. I'd forgotten about the christmas marts and the fresh scent of gingerbread and the glue wine (I know I spelt that wrong )

We were very surprised too Gerda, but one should never look a gifthorse in the mouth as they say

I don't think I'll try your glue wine if you don't mind as I'm afraid of getting my insides all stuck together

oh but Tojo, it is SOO good and after a few drinks you wont care if your insides are stuck together!!

[SmurfingH]

I'd love to visit the Christmas markets. Maybe one year. When I was 18 I lived in Denmark over the winter and had a Danish Christmas. The Christmas shopping was ace but I missed home.

[Smurfysmurf]

It's only during the Christmas Season that I miss Germany, I can see why you got a bit nostalic, Gerda

I promise to make you a bit more nostalic in about three weeks

We have a place here, called "Rock city" which is nice in the summer time but beautiful in the wintertime when they have the Christmas lights out, I also love how Americans decorate their houses and yards so Christmassy, it's just a beautiful season no matter where you are

Having said this...nothing beats a good old fashioned German Christmas Market, even when it is so full that you don't see the booths

[eggie smurf]

I also love how Americans decorate their houses and yards so Christmassy, it's just a beautiful season no matter where you are

Below is one of the most decorated private houses in Delaware...you can see it from the highway which is miles away from it - it's like a big bright glow in the distance

[Smurfysmurf]

I think it's one of the most decorated houses in the US, Stace