Germans celebrate Christmas on December 24. They go to church services and then go home and open gifts on "Christmas Eve." In Frankfurt, many people wander downtown to enjoy the "Pealing of the Bells". While tons of people participate in this tradition, in which they gather in historical Frankfurt, imbibe in drink, and listen to 50 bells from 10 downtown churches, a lot of our friends had never heard of this tradition. And I am referring to our friends in Frankfurt! Anyway, my husband, the boys, and my sister-in-law ventured out. It was not only a unique way to celebrate Christmas when we were so far from our family and regular Christmas traditions, it was a really nice way to say good-bye to Frankfurt.
The next morning, we opened presents with the boys. I wish I could say it was a leisurely, relaxing morning, but it was not. We had to get the house picked and cleaned for inspection by the landlady. The small apartment was in worse shape than usual because our cleaning lady did not show up when scheduled. Sigh...
After a Christmas Eve dinner at a Chinese restaurant in the Frankfurt train station, we tried to have a nicer dinner at Cafe Caramel, our restaurant just down the street from our apartment. Unfortunately, they sent us home without dinner because they were about to close for the night (they had told me they would be open on Christmas, and had not mentioned closing early). They did send us home with a bottle of wine though! We then enjoyed a pizza with our dear babysitter, Julia. She was fabulous and we were sad to say good-bye to her. But, all things must come to an end, and we had a new home and new chapter in our life waiting for us in Chicago. Chicago, here we come!
No comments:
Post a Comment