I shared one fact about Christmas in Germany on my Facebook page for each of the 12 Days of Christmas. Here you can see the compiled list. Day 1/12 In Germany, especially in the Bavarian region, St. Nicholas Day (the 6th of December) is celebrated with a visit from St Nick. Children will put their clean shoes out the night before so that old St. Nick can fill them with goodies like gingerbread (lebkuchen) and chocolate. According to the story, […]
My Depression Won’t Take a Vacation.
We recently went on a week-long vacation to the Austrian Alps to celebrate our anniversary and Christmas. We were surrounded by the beauty of the mountains and the serene peacefulness of seclusion. Mr. Meena was on an extended break from his job, which gave him more time to help out with the mundane, everyday chores of life that tend to bring me down. I was expecting a blissful week full of making s’mores, drinking our favorite beverage (white Russians), and […]
Most Popular Posts of 2015.
I published my first post on July 8th of this year and went on to write 47 more blog posts over the past six months. So far I’ve had over 2660 post views by 899 readers from 30 different countries! That’s pretty cool. I learned how to change my blog theme, deal with my site going down, and how to improve my mobile site. It’s been a great journey and has helped keep me sane as I transitioned back into housewife life. I’ve enjoyed […]
Christmas in Tannheim, Austria.
We celebrated Christmas (and our third annual honeymoon) in a private house in the small town of Tannheim, Austria. While Mr. Meena and I love to travel to new cities and have new experiences, our idea of a real vacation is to go somewhere that no one can bother us and focus on staying in and relaxing. Aw yeah. It’s verboten to bother me. (You can check out the listing for this house on Homeway.) We try to take at […]
The Christmas Market in Bamberg, Germany.
The Christmas Market in Bamberg, Germany was nothing short of enchanting. We first visited in the evening with one of Mr. Meena’s bosses and loved it so much we took the train back to enjoy it again the next week. We were quickly drawn to the smell of German bratwurst at the Christmas Market. The Bamberger Bratwurst is two long sausages on a slightly shorter bun; they are currently my second favorite bratwurst variety (after the Nuremberger bratwurst). Food in […]
The Würzburg Christmas Markets.
Last Sunday we had our fourth German Christmas Market experience in the nearby city of Würzburg. We’ve visited the small market where we live in Schweinfurt as well as the markets in Munich and Nuremberg. I attempted to research what to do and see at the Würzburg Christmas Markets but I could find little other than the dates and the mention of a special artisans market. So we just had to go experience it for ourselves. It wasn’t surprising that […]
An American Goes to the Doctor in Germany.
I’ve had excruciating back pain for over a year now that manifests whenever I sit or stand for more than 30 minutes. It’s a pinpoint type of pain that radiates from my eighth vertebrae. I do okay if I’m walking quickly or lying down but that’s about it. As you can imagine, it puts quite a damper on our travels around Germany. We saw several doctors and I had so many tests done in America it would make your head […]
7 Tips for Visiting the Nuremberg Christmas Markets.
I especially loved the Nuremberg Christmas Markets because they had so many surprises to offer throughout the day. We arrived early (a big accomplishment!) and were startled when we heard several people speaking English. After a long time of not hearing anyone other than your spouse speaking English in public it feels like culture shock when you hear it. I even heard a lady talking with a southern accent and I wanted to go hug her. Of course, we had […]
8 Ways to Prepare for a Visit to Germany.
Last weekend we visited Munich and I couldn’t help but notice all the ways that a big German city is different from an American one. We’ve been living in Germany for three months now and these are my tips for adapting to the cultural differences during your visit here. 1) Expect to be pushed around – especially if you are in a bigger city. The average German will attempt to cut in front of you, push past you, or otherwise […]
The Deep Roots of Depression.
I’ve had a hard time writing (and functioning) of late. My depression over the past month has been the worst to date. Usually I have a bad day, a couple of bad days, or a bad weekend. I’ve never had consecutive bad days that turn into weeks like this before. In the past, Mr. Meena being home and with me was usually enough to get me up and functioning, but not this time. I don’t know why today is better […]