Thank goodness for our Navigon GPS system and the Lonely Planet Germany travel guidebook! As we left Kiel, I read about sights to see on the way home. We definitely wanted to stop in Hamburg; we were quite impressed passing through the train station on our way to Kiel days ago. We had a terrible time finding a parking spot in downtown Hamburg. What should you expect in Germany's second largest city? Yes, sometimes we wish it was just the two of us in a Smart car! You can park anywhere in a Smart car. For example, see the grey one we passed by? As we were searching for a parking spot we saw a church that was black and nearly destroyed during WWII; we made sure to walk back to it after eating. We ate the most unique brunch at Cafe Paris, and walked to the Hamburg Christmas market.
St. Nikolai church is now an anti-war memorial. It was mostly destroyed during the fire-bombing of Hamburg in 1943 by British and American forces. The bombing is sometimes referred to as the 'Hiroshima of Germany'. Someone told us 80% of Hamburg was destroyed during the fire-bombing.
"War may be only temporary, but its toll remains permanently." -Agatha Christie
We also stopped at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where an estimated 100,000 lost their lives. Anne and Margot Frank died there, only two weeks before the British troops liberated the camp. All the original buildings were burned down by the British because of health concerns. Standing at the mass graves, watching the historical films, and seeing the faces and documentation there was depressing and haunting. Words cannot describe the feeling there.
William joined Jason and I for a trip to Gothenburg, Sweden for the St. Lucia celebration and to pick up our new Volvo XC90. This was like a dream come true for me, as I've always wanted to travel to Sweden because that's where my grandfather's mother's family is originally from. Ethan and Ava had their first sleepover with friends, and we sure missed them! We rode the ICE train (traveling about 155 mph) to Kiel, Germany; the port for the Stena Cruise Line.
After walking from the train station to the port, we were pretty tired once we boarded the ship. We enjoyed a smörgåsbord of Swedish cuisine including herring, köttbullar (Swedish meatballs), smoked salmon, shark, caviar, many delicious side dishes, and a sampling of all the desserts. Even William enjoyed some new tastes with us. As we were eating, St. Lucia, dressed in white with a red sash and candles on her head, entered the dining area with her entourage and sang beautiful carols.
It took all night to get to Gothenburg. I'm so glad we were able to sleep pretty well; the back and forth motion on the boat was actually kind of calming. After getting on land, I still felt like I was on a ship, it was weird! Jason at the port in front of the Stena Line ship the following morning. We then boarded a bus and traveled to a small fishing town on an island.
We went to a cozy little cottage for coffee or hot cocoa, lussekatts (rolls shaped like an 'S', with raisins and saffron), and ginger bread cookies. The little girl who was crowned St. Lucia from that town came, and they sang several carols and presented a history of the celebration in Swedish that was then translated for us.
William loved eating the lussekatts, and I think our group loved watching him feed himself and jabber as well.
We had a nice lunch and a short rest at our hotel, the SASRadisson, and then headed off to the Avenyn, or Main Street of Gothenburg for some shopping and sight seeing.
Liseberg, Gothenburg's amusement park is transformed into a Christmas market, with almost five million twinkling Christmas lights. We bought fresh roasted almonds, yummy fudge, and whiskey sausage. It's so magical, we felt like kids at Christmas again.
The following morning we left for the Volvo factory to pick up our new XC90. We were the first ones from our group to get our vehicle, then we had lunch and went on a tour of the factory.
...I'm still wondering what is in Jason's coat pocket. Ha ha
I have a great husband! Not only did he take me on an amazing trip and bought me the vehicle of my dreams, but he also drove me all over downtown Gothenburg so I could find a Dala horse. Surprisingly, we even made it to the port a little early. We ate another smorgasbord, slept on the ship again, and then we were off for our next adventure: the 500 mile drive home. To be continued...
Making Christmas Cookies is one of my favorite things to do in December. I usually make about 4-5 different types and share them with others. Ethan and Ava had so much fun helping me make sugar cookies, we actually made it a two day event. Ethan went crazy with the chocolate sprinkles and Ava ate most of the green frosting off a whole forest of sugar cookie trees (see the pictures below). We also bought some Lebkuchen, the traditional German cookie that has been around since the 13th century. They come in fancy tins and chests, and are similar to fancy gingerbread with different types of spices, nuts, and sometimes fruit. They are SO yummy! I'll have to try some recipes for it next year. Santa sure was happy to find a good assortment of cookies at our house this year!
Jason at the port in front of the 
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