Strasbourg December 10-11

Starting a tradition, we spent one weekend in December going to a Christmas Market with our friends Luke and Emily.  Last year we went to Cologne with them, and this year we decided to go to the oldest Christmas Market in Europe in Strasbourg, France.  It is said the market originated in 1570 and has grown into one of the largest Christmas markets.  With Christmas markets come very expensive accommodations so we opted to drive down on Saturday morning and stay one night to return on Sunday night.  We booked our hotel at the end of September and were only able to get something outside the city center.  The hotel was simple but perfect with a tram to take us directly to the Christmas Market right outside the door.  We received a map of the city with all of the Christmas Market locations market so we could make a plan of attack.  Strasbourg is in the Alsace region of France, very close to the German border.  We were excited to see the French/German cuisine that would be offered at the markets so naturally, our first stop was the food stalls at the artisanal market.  We all tried sauerkraut with meat and potatoes in a delicious white wine sauce.  It was tasty and just what we needed to fuel up to explore the markets.  We walked through the artisanal market and headed to see the big Christmas tree that was set up on the square. 

It's not a Christmas market without Gluhwein

After exploring multiple markets and the Notre Dame Cathedral of Strasbourg, we headed to Petite France.  This area of the city is where the medieval trade took place.  It is the quaint old town of Strasbourg.  There were two more markets located in this area and we stopped and ate a typical Alsatian snack of Tarte flambée (a thin pizza like dough with creme fresh, red onions and bacon).  The ones we ordered were cooked out on the wood stove.  It was our favorite new treat of the weekend.  

Petite France

As it was getting cold, we decided to find a place to rest our feet and get a drink.  We enjoyed local Strasbourg brews at a microbrewery.  They had a nice seasonal beer called Rudolph that everyone enjoyed.  Not to forget the reason for the trip, we headed back into the cold to view the Christmas tree at night.  We continued our Christmas market exploration and headed to a restaurant for a warm meal inside.  The Christmas markets closed pretty early so after a stop for an after dinner drink, we headed back to the hotel.  On Sunday, we visited the remaining Christmas Markets and started the long drive home.  We really enjoyed visiting Strasbourg and the Christmas Markets and of course the food!  We are already pondering what Christmas Markets to visit next year.  

Emily and Molly

November Adventures

In mid November, Thomas Rhett, a country music artist from the US came to Antwerp to give a concert.  We have been missing country music, so this was a great opportunity to get our fix.  It was a great concert in a small venue!  

Rhett Akins

Concert!

Thomas Rhett

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we were invited by friends to spend the weekend in a farm house in the Ardennes mountains in the south of Belgium.  Since we did not get a real Thanksgiving celebration, we took this as a good chance to spend time with friends.  A group of ten of us traveled down on Friday night to start the fun.  We spent time talking, playing ping pong and sampling the local farms cheese on our first night.  The next day, we set out to explore the farm.  We were staying on a working dairy farm, so we went and saw all of the cattle, including the babies, walked through the barns and of course played on the playground!  In the afternoon, we set out on a walk to a nearby village to visit a local brewery called Fantome.  The brewery is famous the world over for their saison beer so we had to stop in and check it out.  Our verdict: GOOD!  We drank a few and bought some souvenir bottles before beginning our journey back to the farm.  For dinner we cooked up a giant pot of spaghetti bolognese and enjoyed a round of board games.  We all woke up Sunday and prepped for our returns to the real world.  Tyler took some of the travelers home via Brussels and Molly traveled through Durbuy, the smallest town in Belgium.  Durbuy had already started their Christmas market so we walked through and also stopped at their town brewery to taste their offering.  Overall, it was a great weekend with friends.  It was our first adventure to the Ardennes and we really enjoyed it.  Hopefully we will plan another trip soon!

Our home for the weekend

On the hunt for the brewery

One of our many neighbors

Durbuy beer

Durbuy