So now we've come to the end. We want to start by thanking everyone (all 5 of you) who read this travel blog and followed us on our Christmas journey. We like sharing the trip with the people back home and you guys seem to enjoy reading it as well. This is a tradition we started in 2008 with our Europe trip and continued for this trip, and maybe with some luck, we can continue to do it in the future.
Time to reflect on the trip. Wow, what a trip. We saw several places and also saw lots of snow. This trip was particularly interesting because it seemed like alot of the American summer tourists were gone home, and we were spending Christmas with the local Belgians, Germans, and Austrians. In a way, it felt more real than the cathedral sightseeing tours that alot of summer Europe trips become. Summer trips have their obvious advantages too, so I wouldn't say this one was better, just different. And that brings us to the weather. It was definitely colder than we expected. And the chill intensified the longer you stayed out in the cold too. We did our best to adjust and I think we did okay. Sometimes the cold did inhibit the exploratory gene, so there wasn't as much random exploring as on a summer Europe trip.
So I think I'll sum up the trip with a couple of lists.
The Top 5 Funniest Moments from the Trip:
1. Some crazy Austrian was singing Christmas songs in German to everyone as he walked by them. As he walked by us he basically yelled, "Und, und, und" really loudly and it sounded pretty hilarious.
2. At the Hofbrauhaus, a large family of American tourists walks in late at night into a very crowded Hofbrauhaus. The only table with enough space for all of them has one crazy bum looking guy with a dirty gray beard sitting at it. To make it funnier, he was very excitedly waving them over to sit down with him in a really excited and friendly way. The apprehension on the family's face was hilarious and they were fighting about who had to sit next to him.
3. In Bruges, they had an ice skating rink in the middle of the town square. There was one teenager or maybe early 20-something guy that either was a) very drunk, b) couldn't ice skate at all, or c) both. He was completely wiping out and could not get up. At one point he fell and his leg went through an open area in the wooden rail fence around the rink. His leg got stuck and he couldn't get it out for several minutes. His friends with him were laughing at him too.
4. In Vienna, it was funny to watch the interaction between our ruthlessly efficient waitress and this solicitor who walked in the restaurant to try and sell magazines to the people that were eating dinner. She turned him away and told him to leave several times, but he would act like he was leaving and then just come back and keep asking people to buy his magazine. At one point they got a little bit heated and it was entertaining for sure.
5. The last one isn't a particular moment, but a series of events. It includes pretty much the whole night or afternoon after visiting the Hofbrauhaus. Everything seemed alot funnier after the 1 liter beers, even if it was just me and Chelsy hanging out.
The Best/Most Special Moments of the Trip:
1. Getting off the bus in Bruges, which was essentially the final event of our travel sequence to get us to our first hotel in Europe. Our bus dropped us off at the Markt Square, and it was competely lit up with Christmas lights, an ice skating rink, a small Christmas market, and tons of people enjoying themselves. It was quite a special sight to see as the very first thing you see when getting off the bus. The only downside was we still had our luggage with us at that point.
2. Climbing the hill up to the castle in Salzburg, Austria. It was a completely unexpected and unplanned activity, which is part of what made it so special. It was also challenging but with a big reward at the end. The view was amazing and we had lots of fun laughing as we climbed our way to the top.
3. The first big Christmas market in Nuremberg. We had seen a smaller market in Bruges, but the one in Nuremberg was bustling with people and was decorated very well. It felt like we were achieving the major purpose of our trip (which was the Christmas markets). It took us a while to walk through the stalls, but we got some gluhwein, gingerbread, and some crepes in the meantime. It was a fun afternoon.
4. Climbing to the top of the Zugspitze on our last full day in Europe. It felt like a culmination of the entire trip, and it was very nice to spend the last day at the top of the Alps, checking out the out-of-this-world view. Even if traveling doesn't seem that grand or momentous while you're doing it, those are the moments you look back on and remember and are glad you did them.
5. Coming home to spend Christmas with our families. As much as we enjoyed our trip to Europe, we were ready to come home and see our families and take part in the Christmas festivities. The coming home part of our trip was always the most important, and the first part in Europe was just for me and Chelsy, while the second part in KY was for the family.
6. (Bonus) Getting home to Baton Rouge and finally sleeping in our own beds. This hasn't happened yet, but when it does, it will be very nice. We're going to spend that whole week unwinding, playing with the dog, and just relaxing in general. That will be our final Christmas gift we receive and it may be the best of all.
So thanks for following us on our trip! All of the posts (except this one and a few at the beginning) were typed on a phone, so we apologize for any spelling errors or lack of creativity. We probably would have been funnier and more imaginative in our posts if not for the lack of time/energy and the difficulties of posting from an iPhone. We really enjoyed all of the feedback from the comments and read them while we were on our trip. We also heard from a few people that tried to comment but they never showed up on the page. Sorry about that, we don't know what happened, but we appreciate the effort you took to respond.
Three times now, we've taken overseas trips on the even years (2006, 2008, 2010), so maybe our next big trip will be in 2012. If so, you may see another installment of our travel blogs. Until then, thanks for following and be sure to let us know if you ever write a travel blog of your own that we can follow.
Auf wiedersehen!
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