Our 2 year London-versary!

December 9th marks the second year that Josh and I have lived in London.  The last year has once again been full of exciting adventures and many "firsts".  We have been so blessed to be able to enjoy the many travel opportunities and experiences that living in Europe offers.  It has been a fun and memorable ride! Here are a few of the highlights from last year:

1) New Years in London

 2) First football match, Norwich vs. Newcastle.

3) Visited Windsor Castle

4) Chinese New Year in London

5) Visited Rome

6) Easter Mass at the Vatican

7) Toured the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum

8) Toured the Colosseum in Rome

9) Crazy drive along the Amalfi coast

10) Hiked the Path of the Gods along the Amalfi Coast

11) Toured Pompeii and Herculaneum ruins

12) Saw someone poop on the sidewalk in Naples

****Thankfully, no picture of this!****

13) Visited the Lake District

14) Volunteered and attended the Chelsea Flower Show

15) Became a Master Gardener in North London

16) Visited Great Yarmouth

17) Josh's brother Chris visited

18) Visited Nice, France

19) Celebrated Bastille Day in France

20) Visited Monaco

21) Visited Ireland

22) Attended the shortest Catholic mass ever

23) Climbed to the top of Skellig Micheal

24) Kissed the Blarney Stone

25) Toured Highclere Castle, AKA Downton Abbey

26) Had a proper afternoon tea with my mum

27) Bought some hunting land in Missouri

28) Visited the Scottish Highlands

29) Hiked Ben Nevis

30) Kayaked on the Isle of Skye

31) Visited Zurich Switzerland

32) Visited Munich Germany

33) Attended Oktoberfest in Munich

34) Traveled on the Polar Express

35) Rode in a car, on a train, under the English Channel

36) Visited German Christmas Markets

37) Drank one of the best and rarest beers in the world

38) Christmas concert at the historic Royal Albert Hall

39) Mumford & Sons concert at the O2 centre

40) Saw the musicals Lion King and Book of Mormon

41) Visit from our Texas friends, Ben and Jamie

42) Josh lost a hotdog eating contest :)

We've had a good year!  Looking forward to what next year brings!
Rachel x

German Christmas Markets

Before I went to visit family and friends in the States (I will blog about that, I promise!), I went to visit Amanda while Sam was deployed.  While there, we cooked up the brilliant idea to travel to Germany for the Christmas markets over Thanksgiving weekend.  We plotted and schemed and all we had to say to our significant others were the words "sausage" and "beer" and they were on board!

On Thanksgiving day, Josh and I traveled up to Samanda's to have dinner with them and a whole bunch of people from the base.  We had a great time eating, watching football (Josh) and playing games (me).  We also had the opportunity to taste a couple of the best beers in the world...including the #1!!!  The week before Thanksgiving, Sam and some of his buddies had driven to Belgium for a beer run, including a stop at Monastery that brews it's own beer that is sold only from the steps of the Monastery.  I got to try Westvleteren's Extra 8, which is the #12 Best Beer in the World and Westvleteren's 12, which is #1 in the World.  Both had very good flavors, the 12 was different to anything else I had ever had.  Apparently bottles of these go for hundreds of dollars on ebay in the States...Sam could make a fortune!  

Westvleteren's Extra 8

Westvleteren's 12

 The following day we left bright and early for our drive to Germany.  After about two hours we arrived at the border of England where we drove onto a train to cross under the English Channel.  I thought this was pretty cool!

Sitting inside a car inside of a train that goes under the English Channel...mind blown!

Amanda driving onto the train.

After getting off the train we drove for a million years...at least that is what it felt like.  We tried to stop and have lunch in a cute little town along the way but we kept failing at finding a place to eat...one place didn't have any reservations left, one place smelled funny, two places were pubs and didn't serve food, and one place closed as soon as we pulled up...we finally gave up and drove a few more miles down the road to a McDonald's.  Yes, I know, it is quite sad, but at that point we had already wasted an hour driving around looking for food so we gave up!  We still had a couple more hours of driving to go before we made it to our little apartment in Vaals (Netherlands).  

Mary (Amanda) and Carrie (Me), together again in the backseat!  Bonus, there was no one to slam doors in our faces on this trip!  (I'm talking about YOU, DAD!)

After settling into our apartment we headed off to our first market of the weekend, in Aachen Germany, the westernmost city in Germany. Aachen was about 30 minutes from our place in the Netherlands.  The first order of business for everyone seemed to be food and drinks!  The guys went straight for the sausage stands while I enjoyed a delicious mulled wine.  

Josh, Sam and Amanda with their really really long sausages.  

Aachen Christmas Market

Josh and I at the Christmas market in Aachen Germany

Good pic except for the lady in the puffy maroon coat!  

Josh and Sam enjoying delicious German beers in Aachen

 We ended our night in Aachen by getting some drinks at a local pub and then buying groceries for our stay.  I didn't buy anything other than my mulled wine and food at this market, but it was really pretty and festive!

 The next day we drove to Dusseldorf, Germany a city on the Rhine river.  Dusseldorf had about five Christmas markets for us to look around, so I am glad we had all day here!

Dusseldorf Christmas Market

Awesome food stand in Dusseldorf

Amanda and I at our lunchtime stop at the oldest restaurant in Dusseldorf

Amanda, Sam and Josh enjoying delicious alcohol flavored chocolate covered marshmellowy things!  

Josh being creepy and weird...as usual....

Dusseldorf

All of us at the market in Dusseldorf!

Ferris wheel and Christmas market in Dusseldorf

Josh taking a break from all of the shopping!

Before church we stopped into a cafe for some alcoholic beverages, Josh is having cocoa with Bailey's

The church we attended on Saturday night, St. Lambertus. Of course, the mass was in German so we tried to follow along as best we could!

After church we enjoyed a ride on the ferris wheel!

Josh and I in our pod

A view of Dusseldorf and one of the Christmas markets from the Ferris wheel.

The Dusseldorf markets were great, I really liked that they were spread out among the city centre areas and that there was a lot to see.  I bought a few things at this market, a little card to mail my niece Hazel and a candle holder with a winter city scene on it for me.  Plus I also got a cute little mug that came with my hot chocolate that has Dusseldorf 2013 on it.  We drove back to Vaals with Amanda and I singing some pretty awful renditions of Christmas songs much to the dismay of Josh and Sams ears.  At least Amanda and I thought we were pretty awesome...

The next morning was our last market of the weekend, and by far my favorite.  We chose to visit Monschau, a little village tucked away in a valley.  Walking down into the town was like walking back in time...the houses and buildings were mainly half-timbered and the streets were cobbled.  It was a beautiful city and made the Christmas market feel magical.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been snow!

Monschau, Germany...loved this place!

The pretty streets and building in Monschau made it very magical.

Josh and I in Monschau

Monschau from the castle

I just love these half timbered buildings, they have so much character!

Monschau is known for their mustard and we found a little shop that sold about 20 different varieties along with honey, jams, cured meats and liquors.  It was Josh's heaven!  We bought a couple of different mustard, a bottle of plum liquor, black current jam and wild boar sausage.  Plus the mustard came in cute little crocks, so instant souvenir!  We sadly left Monschau to head back to England.  Our drive seemed to go much faster this time!  It took 4 hours to get to Calais, France to pick up the train to England.  Our trip was over, but what a fun time we had!

Rachel x