Sister Visit

 Visits from our US family are understandably rare; it is so much more reasonable for us to go there and see lots of people rather than a few folks to come here on a lot of individual (and not cheap!) trips! So, it is really special to have US visitors here.  This time, Julia! Yay!!

There were, I think, two reasons for her visit, or maybe three. One, a trip. Two, wanting to see where we live now. Three, hey, German Christmas Markets!!! I don't care why, I am happy to have her here. But it's only a week and we aren't up for going full on 12 hours a day, so we have to plan.

Julia arrived on a Tuesday, by train, but assorted issues got her on a train without WITHOUT her checked baggage. Took a bit of work to get that bag here, but it ended OK; thank you Lufthansa and Frankfurt Airport Customer Service. 

We met Julia at the train station in Bremen, rode back to our little part of town, got oriented in Vegesack, then found that her bag would be delivered pretty much right away at the airport. Soooo, back to town to visit the Christmas Market the first time before picking up her bag.

Actually, that worked out quite well - what a welcome!! Lights, food, music, goodies! We had a nice hour plus walking around and then got her bag and came back to get ready for Day 2.

The BIG EVENT Wednesday was a Carol Sing with my womens' club. We got up whenever and got ready for the day and wandered into town when it was necessary. I brought some things to add to the table of goodies and Julia was introduced to some of the guests and did an amazing job of taking care of herself while I helped get the table ready.  Here|s Julia talking with Edna, one of our oldest member and one of the most interesting. She swam the English Channel! She was a driver for Mosche Dyan! She has dogs as big as minor horses!

Such a nice afternoon! Corinna, our hostess, is a professional musician, and led us in several ways in several tunes and it was Christmassy and nice.

Thursday, first stop was the green market!  The weather has been so-so. A bit gray, a bit rainy, sometimes cold, but no so very. but we visited the Pasta Guy for an easy dinner. He has all sorts of ravioli and sauces, so we picked some interesting sorts for dinner along with some fruits and veggies. 

That afternoon my weekly English group came to visit and, well, it was just nice!  An hour of conversation and tea and a bit of cake. Sigh.

Friday was not a pretty day. We got up when we wanted to and after a breakfast, I brought out the cardstock and the brushes and the paints. I had to finish a few cards for Julia to take back with her to mail there and she wanted to try her hand at some cards. It was nice - a quiet morning/early afternoon .

Later we went to Renate and Gerd for some Kaffee und Kuchen, but most important, the TRACTOR PARADE!  The farmers have been doing this since the pandemic, and they just make it better every year! Love it!

Saturday we were off to Oldenburg. Werner and I thought we'd go to the market first, but we didn't make that....

And going to Oldenburg was a bit more complicated than we'd thought. Something or another along the way was not good for the train, so they had set up busses to take us to our destination. Actually, that was not so bad, but it took a bit more time.

It was pretty there. The market is set up in the pedestrian zone around the St. Laurnetius church (more interesting on the outside than the inside, I'm afraid). Lots of lights, LOTS of people, be we thought there were way too many food stands and not enough craft stands. Bremen is better!!

We picked up ONE PORTION of Grünkohl (kale) to eat at home, and it was a generous portion for us three. And yummy!

Sunday we had a good breakfast at home (French toast?  I forget...) we headed to town for a tour of the Town Hall (Rathaus). Our guide was not the same as the earlier two times this year, but verrrrrry much more dramatic! She did highlight a couple of things we'd not seen before, so that was fun.

Afterwards, we wandered through the Bötterstraße and headed to the Schlacte along the Weser where they set up the Medieval Market. 

First stop: the rope man! Julia picked out what she thought would be a good toy for Max but we had to wonder what the seller was actually doing! Really, he had a  poor pair of poor scissors to cut through the rather small rope. We did wonder what in the world he'd have done for a larger rope!  

We were not enthralled. And frankly, that has never been of so much interest to me, so we headed back, took a few more pictures and looked at a few more stands at the traditional market.

Monday we took it a little easy - a walk in the neighborhood was a highlight. We spent a little time, too trying to track the suitcase we ordered, but that was unsuccessful.  No matter. Everything fit into the case she brought and it got packed and we ate and we went to bed kinda early because 3.30AM was going to come so soon!

Tuesday we rolled ourselves of bed and stumbled to the car-share and made our way to the airport (too early for the local train!). Check in wasn't quite as smooth as it might have been -- good grief, they changed the desks!! But we got it done, and Julia was on her way. 

Man that was fast! Too fast, but fun. You are welcome again anytime, dear Julia!!! (Shoulda taken more pictures!)