Eppstein Xmas market & fireworks

We met up with an ex-colleague of Mr Fluff's last week Friday for a few drinks and dinner. We had more than a few drinks, in the form of red wine, and much merriness ensued. Loud laughter was the norm at our table, and it lasted many hours. A great time was had; we made promises to meet up again and Mr Fluff and I just managed to catch the last train home.

The next night we went to our village xmas market. That was officially our last ever German Xmas Market, and it rocked! It's tiny, but full of personality, and has a cool vibe.

This year we were fully prepared, and steered well clear of gaggles of girls, just in case of a repeat of last year's vicious attach. HAHAHA

 We bought some xmas gifts for ourselves and the pets, and had glühwein with rum. Then we walked around a bit looking at stuff and had some more glühwein with rum.

A glühwein stall

 Cheese!

 Vinegar & Oil

another stall selling stuff

 We then found the maronen man - he roasts chestnuts. Yum.

 After eating our hot chestnuts we had another glühwein with rum.

We passed the little old-timer carousel and thought it was too wonderful for words and the kiddies were all so cute, and so we decided to take pics of them and we even took some video of them too. We were loving the happy children and the festive lights, and the vibey music, and the carousel going round and round. We were very excited by it all. Red wine and rum certainly makes for cheeriness!

 

 

  

I'm not sure if it was just my wine/rum-infused imagination but I'm sure a few people were looking at us funny...

After all that excitement we needed to pee and went looking for the loos. Unfortunately someone must have decided to move them because they were not where the signs suggested they would be. This was a problem because we were both ready to burst. What to do? Aha! Mr Fluff remembered that there was a pub somewhere, and a pub will have a loo, so we went in search of the pub.

Lucky for us, it was where we expected it to be and we went in, ordered a whiskey each and ran for the loo. What a relief an empty bladder is. Priceless.

After the whiskey we were a bit unsure of what to do next, but before we could give it much thought we realised that we were a bit hungry, and off to the food stalls we went. We decided on a crepe each, and then we had one last glühwein, without rum. 

The crepe stall

On our way out we happened upon a stall with chocolate truffles, and were very kindly (or was it sneakily?) offered a truffle with, and without almonds to taste. I think you know what happened next. Yip, we bought a small box of almond truffles and then we felt bad that the dogs didn't have anything nice and so we bought them a packet of yummy home-baked doggy biscuits. Lucky hounds!

Now if you know anything about german xmas markets, you'll know that 'healthy eating' and 'xmas market' are on opposite sides of the coin. There is nothing that can be done about it. May as well go Big or go home.

Sadly, we couldn't stay at the market forever and finally made our way to the station to catch the train home. Jolly, happy xmas markets. I love it!

Sunday morning... hangover of note.

On Sunday night the temperature plummeted, but it was also the last night of the market and there would be fireworks at 8pm. No hangover was going to keep me from a fireworks display, and so we dressed very warmly and off we went, armed with our cameras and a tripod.

The previous day we decided that the best place to capture the fireworks and the castle ruins would be from the train station - elevated and an unobstructed view. And so we set up the camera and waited patiently while trying not to freeze to death. Finally it happened!

It was freezing cold to say the least, and the fireworks only lasted about two minutes! Call that fireworks??

Before going home we quickly took a shot of the street that you have to walk up to get to the matket, and also of the Eppstein train station.

All-in-all a very happy ending.

frankfurt xmas market

HO HO HO and a bottle of Rum!
Yes, a bottle of honey rum was what we bought at the market to take home with us. It was only a small bottle and it didn't last very long ;0) but damn it was yummy!!

We visited the famous Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt (xmas market) for the very last time, and it will be sadly missed. I love the place - it has such a buzz, even on a rainy day as we unexpectedly found on Saturday.
Hundreds? Thousands?? (hahaha) of festive stalls adorned with lights, hand crafts, glühwein, hot chocolate,  roasted chestnuts, waffles... (I could go on and on) are packed onto the old town square and surounds. I just can't get enough of it!

 We got there at 4pm just as the light was turning into night. We had glühwein with a shot of rum to warm up and then quickly went over to the stall where last year we saw the most beautiful puppets made of wood, and we are now the very proud owners of a gorgeous baby dragon!

He will be wrapped up for xmas but is also our 9 year (Jan '10) anniversary prezzie to ourselves. The owner of the stall makes all the puppets himself and told us that he only makes one of each, so our little dragon is a very special little lad. I'll add a pic of him after xmas :0)

The rest of the night was spent drinking more glühwein, sharing a small bag of the yummiest roasted 'heisse maronen' (hot chestnuts) and trying not to get soaking wet. We managed to accomplish this by cleverly going from one 'heisse getränke' (hot drinks) stall to the next, and at the end of it all I scored a much needed leather belt for only 5 EUR.

our favourite watering hole

What was said seconds before I snapped this shot:

"That was not what I meant when I said give her some sausage!"

(click on the pic to see their expressions)

cooking sausage the german way

very popular lebkuchenherzen (gingerbread hearts)

my chair

mr fluff showing some leg. so sexy.

roasting chestnuts YUMYUM

When we finally got the train home we saw a ticket inspector walk past us to the back of the train, and I spotted another at the other end. This was when Mr Fluff realised that we forgot to get a ticket for me. Luckily we had just stopped at a station and we quickly jumped off the train to get a ticket, because I'm not paying a 40 EUR fine!

Anyway, the next train was only due in half an hour, so we amused ourselves by dancing on the deserted platform. Mr Fluff did an excellent running in slo-mo dance and had me in stitches. He also showed me how to jiggy on the spot and had me in stitches. I in turn tried to teach him how to do the moon walk and again he had me in stitches - I nearly fell off the platform. Then we both did a synchronised 70's disco-type dance that had us both in stitches.

I wonder if there are any CCTV cameras on the platforms...

We made it home in one peace, and the flanimals were very, very happy to have us back, especially after enjoying a sugar coated nut or two. What a treat!

those crazy kids

A few flanimal pics for you. Never a dull day in the lives of SpankySparkle and Mr Fluff.
Our pets ROCK!

Jetje-cat. FREAK!

The happiest whippets

Yin and Yang

wish you were here

My absolute favourite time of the year is xmas. I'm a xmas junky - it's all about the lights, the decorations, the fun and games on xmas eve, talking to family & friends on xmas day, wearing a santa hat and feeling festive. Spending xmas with family would  make it perfect, but we can't always have what we want. At least there is Skype :0)

Anyway, imagine my joy when I opened a regional newspaper that they force through the door once a week, to find a half-page article about our local xmas market! The article states that our's is a lover's market (how sweet), and that it is one of the prettiest in the region! woo-hoo!!! Go Eppstein!!!

See? Here it is:

The caption under the pic says that it is a beautiful ensemble in front of the Eppstein castle ruins.

We will be going there again this year, and I'll take some pics of the market and post it for all of you to see.

Hopefully this year will be without incident. In 2007 Mr Fluff had the unfortunate experience of being 'attacked' by a mob of teenage girls and ended up on his backside! hahahaha

Let me explain... We were standing drinking glüwein on a steepish walkway up to the castle, trying to warm up a bit and enjoying the view of the market lights. Along came a gaggle of girls down the walkway on their way to the market, happily chatting amongst themselves and not givng us a second thought. One girl accidently bumped into Mr Fluff as she walked past, causing him to stumble backwards. His unlucky foot got caught in a stray electrical wire from one of the stalls, and the steepness of the walkway was no help in balancing, and so he ended up flat on his arse with the most astounded look on his face. The girls had already passed us by this time, but turned round when they heard the loud thud as Mr Fluff hit the ground and then they all burst out laughing! I hate to admit that I was laughing too. I couldn't help it, it was just so funny! Needless to say, Mr Fluff sustained no serious injuries. Only his pride was perhaps a bit bruised. *grin*

We often remember the 'angry mob' of teenage girls that without provocation so 'viciously attacked' poor Mr Fluff. This year, we will be sure to steer clear of such onslaughts.

Here are some pics of the lovely carousel at the Eppstein Market as a taste of what is to follow soon.

 

 

 

 

the in-laws: happy 40th anniversary!

My lovely in-laws will be celebrating 40 years of married bliss on 27 November, so I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them on this achievement. Here is a poem that I would like to dedicate to you both (I didn't write it, but mean every word):

In forty years together
You've shared so many things
That's why this very special
Anniversary brings
To you, a wish that love,
Laughter, joy, contentment too
Will be yours to share throughout
The years ahead of you!

Happy Ruby Anniversary

porridge and ice

Last week, I forget when exactly, I made polenta porridge (better known as Miele Pap in South Africa) for myself and the whippets. While I was waiting for it to cook on a slow heat with the lid on the pot, the porridge would plop loudly against the lid - like boiling mud or lava. Alula thought it was a very strange sound and she clearly didn't approve. She stood near the kitchen door and every time the porridge plopped she would bark at the pot and then look at me worriedly. It was very funny.

Alula, the original Wacky Whippet

Last weekend, on Sunday, we decided it was time to get our ice skates wet again (what with the winter sport season here and all), and so we drove to Mainz where our nearest ice rink is. It was great! The rink has been sold to the local council and they are slowly revamping the place (it is 30 or 40 years old), which meant that there were hardly any people around. It's a bit of a dump at the moment and the bistro is closed so no refreshments are to be had for a while. So what? We go there to skate.

Our skates

There were three or four 'clubbers' - women belonging to the figure skating club - taking up way too much space with their silly twirlies and crap, a dad with his little son, another dad with his wailing daughter (kids like that annoy me when they give up before they have even given themselves half a chance), and a middle aged man who is a brilliant skater (ex hockey player no doubt, and we see him whenever we go there), two other good skaters, another couple and us! How brilliant is that!!?? Space to muck about and practice old and almost forgotten skills.

We had such a laugh. Mr Fluff fell on his arse once and he went for a slide or two. Don't worry he didn't hurt himself (not like last year when I slid forwards and fell like a sack of cement onto my knees) - it was just very funny and we giggled most of the morning. I screeched loud enough for the whole place to hear me a few times (as always) when my skates didn't do as they were told, because they need sharpening and didn't grip the ice very well. Mr Fluff said a bad workman always blames his tools, but the skates do need sharpening. Honest! Nothing to do with my rusty skating abilities.

By the time we left more parents and kids were arriving.
I miss the days when I used to go to the ice rink every weekend and spend all day there, but it is so great that we were able to take it up again in Germany, where it is a popular activity that all ages participate in, and wherever we may end up for the rest of our happy lives, we intend to keep on ice skating right up to the day they forcefully remove us from the ice because walking aids are not permitted. (and that applies double to snowboarding!!)