Cologne, Germany

Soon we were headed to Cologne, Germany- the birthplace of cologne and perfume (you would think the name would give it away, but somehow, it still came as a shock haha). Anyways, Cologne was a stark contrast from Monschau; it was a much bigger city with modern buildings. 

We started off by crossing the Hohenzollern Bridge to go to the Koln Triangle, which offers a 360 view of the city. It was awesome and only costs 3 euro to go up to the top. From then on we pretty much spent our time going from one Christmas market to the next. There were seven markets within a couple mile radius and each one was unique and adorable and had delicious food. We also stopped by the Cologne Haus where we got to try on the scent of the first cologne ever made- it was very citrus-y. 

Apparently Cologne is also home to the busiest shopping street in Europe, another pleasant surprise. Now if only we could get things cheaper here than in the U.S., but we were pretty excited to find out they even have a T.J. Maxx, but call it T.K. Maxx. Towards the end of the night, while we were in a Christmas market, one of Rusty's CNN notifications popped up saying there had been an attack in Berlin- someone had driven through a Christmas market! Although we were four and a half hours from Berlin, it still freaked us out a little.

In preparation for my solo drive to the airport to pick up Rusty's parents this weekend, which I am totally dreading (only because the car is MANUAL), Rusty made me drive home. I had not driven stick shift since Greece three years ago, and even then, the furthest I drove was five minutes to Rusty's gym. I was not very happy about driving home...I almost called it quits after getting to the gate at the parking garage only to find out we had to pay back at a machine near where we were parked, before we could exit, which meant I had to back up down a curving hill with a center divide. I had Rusty take over after hitting the center divide a few times haha. Luckily, after that little hiccup, it was smooth sailing!

Cologne Cathedral 

Christmas Markets

Those chandeliers!

This Santa was set up at one of the markets...I love that he sang!

Cologne Haus

Shopping

More buildings need ice cream statues on them

Monschau, Germany

Rusty got two days off and we were ecstatic. This was the first time since the season started that he had two days off in a row. We just kept waiting for the day to see a break on his weekly training schedule so that we could visit nearby cities. As soon as we saw it, we started researching rental cars, and found a great deal on one with unlimited kilometers! Almost all rental cars here limit the distance you can drive and it's expensive to add more- it's super annoying. 

We knew we wanted to spend one day at Disneyland Paris because I had been dying to go during Christmas time, which meant we needed to find a city close enough to drive to and from in one day. We decided three hours was doable and chose a couple cities in Germany. 

We woke up super early and headed to our first stop, Monschau. Even the drive was pretty. We passed through one of Belgium's National Parks, which was filled with evergreens and cyprus trees. We arrived to Monschau- a little village in the mountains and it was perfect. You know how when you picture Germany, you picture a quaint town filled with timber framed houses? Well this is the city I had always pictured. A stream ran through it and the smell of gingerbread wafted through the air. It was magical. We strolled through the cobblestone streets and stopped in a couple bakeries- the gingerbread smell was way too good to pass up. 

The town was quiet and it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Sadly, the Christmas market was being taken down, but, there were seven at our next stop- Cologne, Germany! 

Sorry for the picture overload but every building and street was just too cute...

Rusty thought this was snow...I'm not quite sure...but we will just assume it was

These ended up being apple flavored gingerbread and they were delicious!

Our Spur of the Moment Trip to Brussels

November 5th. It was just our average Sunday. We woke up at 7:30 am to get ready for our 8 o'clock ride to church (so grateful for the family that gives us rides each week- they keep us active haha). It's been hard for me to stay motivated to go to church here...the early morning wake up and Rusty's 8pm Saturday night games are not a good combination, and I miss being able to understand what people are saying, especially since we arrive 15 minutes early and everyone is chatting. And then there's the bisous. Every single person in the ward has to give everyone else kisses on the cheek. I used to think if I snuck into Relief Society (which we have the first hour), I could avoid some of the kisses, but they will find anyone and everyone they haven't kissed, even if it's the last hour of church. It's actually kind of funny. 

I don't mind the kisses...well they're not even actual kisses, [usually] it's just touching cheeks and making kissing sounds. They do it to say hello and goodbye, so we adjusted pretty quickly...When I first met Rusty's teammates they would go in for the cheek kisses as I would stick my hand out for a handshake lol. It made me feel so formal. They did the kisses in Greece too, I had just forgotten about it. But even with the early Sunday mornings, the language barriers, and all the kisses, I am so grateful for our ward out here, and every member is so kind! We definitely owe our translator, Irene, who translates all three hours for us!

So anyways, we made it through the first hour of church. During the second hour, I saw that Charles- our friend from BYU who is playing basketball in a nearby city, had his girlfriend, Ester, in town from Utah. I was so happy to have a girlfriend to speak English with. They invited us to go up to Brussels after church. Woohoo! Going to church paid off ;) We went home, changed, they picked us up, and off we went. 

We got our waffles, frites, and chocolate (as you can see in the pics, we were usually eating haha), strolled the streets, and ate dinner at a Thai place. It was such a fun, last minute trip to Brussels! Thanks for letting us crash your trip Ester and Charles!