Foods of Aachen and Monschau Christmas Markets

We admit to being Christmas Market addicts. We love the food, especially at the German Christmas Markets. The schweinehaxen (roast pork with crackle) was so delicious we went back the following day to the same stall for a second round! These photos are from the Aachen and Monschau Christmas markets. And since we are foreigners, we felt it was our duty to try all the different foods in between the rounds of gluhwein. We also enjoyed spending some time with friends.

Belgian Hospitality

Being treated to some fabulous Belgian hospitality!!

Valkenburg Christmas Market

We're fans of the Kerstmarkt (Christmas markets). Last weekend, we kicked off Christmas market season with a visit to Valkenburg in the south of Holland. It was unique because the market takes place in the caves in the town. It was really special because it was snowing at the time. Having never experienced a white Christmas, this may be as close as I ever get to it, so it's something I relished. Next week, we'll be checking out the Aachen Christmas market. Can't wait. Heard really positive things about it!! And we love all the food stalls at these markets. Bratwurst, ginger bread, gluhwein, toffee apples, marzipan, hmmm....yum!

Tongeren Antique Market

Tongeren is home to the largest antique market in Benelux. Paul was fascinated by the hunting remnants. This is a photo of the wild boar head that we bought. We quite fancy hanging it up in the dining room in our home in Australia. Hopefully it will make it through customs.

Snowing Cats and Dogs?

I've been told you can't say snowing cats and dogs. But I don't know what the snow equivalent of this expression is. Haven't really had to describe such a situation in Melbourne. Anyway, let's just pretend it's a valid expression. So, it was snowing cats and dogs last weekend. We opened the blinds on Saturday morning to be greeted by snow and went to bed on Sunday night whilst the snow continued falling outside. It's the heaviest snowfall we've seen in Holland since we moved here. It's very pretty and quite special when it snows. Even the Dutch get excited by it because it doesn't happen very often anymore due to global warming. It can be quite stressful as well. Traffic comes to a crawl, cars slide and lose grip, and it's quite slippery walking around as well. We were caught in the snow whilst driving back from Belgium last weekend and a journey that was meant to take 1.5 hours took double the time. Here are some snaps of the streetscape outside our apartment.

Zwarte Pieten and Sinterklaas in Heusden

It is that time of the year again when the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas comes back in full force. Sinterklaas' helpers are called Zwarte Pieten (literally Black Peters). Last year, Zwarte Pieten were gliding by flying fox from the rooftop of our local town hall to the main square. This year, we watched them arrive by boat and jetski (and scuba diving) into Heusden harbour. Sinterklaas' then arrived by boat followed by a parade around the village on his white horse. It's interesting and fun to watch. Last year, we thought the whole thing was a bit strange, especially the Zwarte Pieten. Of course, like many foreigners we think that the Zwarte Pieten tradition is very un-pc but the Dutch don't mean any harm by the whole thing. It's just part of their Sinterklaas story and tradition.

Herfst

Autumn (herfst) is here. The orange and red colours made the chilly walk around Heusden very pleasant as we walked on the dykes that surround this pretty little Dutch village. Sometimes I take the green countryside for granted, but when I reflect on the parched and drought stricken homeland that I've left behind, I remind myself that this greeness and abundance of water is not shared by all.

Sushi Workshop

We volunteered our pad for a sushi workshop organised by a friend of ours. Was a great night with 16 people learning how to make ngiri, hand rolls (conical), inside out rolls and california rolls. I can't wait to go back to Oz and show my mum some of these new tricks so she can try them out herself when she entertains. We have not had so many people before in our apartment and the windows fogged up with all that body heat. Was great fun and there was lots of green tea and white wine guzzled down as well.

Black and White Croatia

After a week in Ireland, we spent a week in Croatia with Paul's parents.

Highlights were:

* Delicious food at Restaurant Fosa in Zadar

* Sea Organ (wind pipes creating music from the waves)

* Catching a small little boat to the Old Town in Zadar

* Lunch at the Kornati Islands

* Moreska Sword Dance in Korcula

* Walking around the fishing village of Lumbarda

* Walking on the City Walls of Dubrovnik

Embarrassing moment:

* Turning up at the wrong apartment and explaining to the perplexed owner that we were the guests that he was waiting for....only to find out we were at the wrong place

Lowlights:

* Paul's dad got food poisoning in Korcula from the seafood

* Downpour in Dubrovnik

* Mega Cruise Ships unloading thousands of day trippers at Dubrovnik

* Wearing summer gear for boat trip to Kornati (we were freezing!!)

Barley, Hops, Yeast and Water = Guinness

Enjoy a glass after the Guinness Tour in Dublin

Irish Holiday with Mum and Dad

And not a drop of rain.....Amazing, especially for Ireland!

The Secret to a Sweet Night

After a delicious chocolate mousse for dessert, our Saturday night just got sweeter and sweeter as the evening progressed. We headed to the Phillips Stadium in Eindhoven to watch a friendly, Socceroos v Holland. After a not so sweet moment with the Dutchies scoring a goal in the first 10 minutes, things picked up again and one red card, a penalty goal by Kewell and a header by Josh Kennedy later, life was sweet again. And lol! It got even sweeter...we met some of the Socceroo players after the match. We took some photos as evidence and congratulated them on a job well done! The moral of the story is, next time you need something sweet to happen in your life, or the Socceroos to win their match, down a chocolate mousse and the rest will follow.