Things are starting to look like Christmas around Germany! Germans don’t really celebrate Halloween and of course, don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. They sort of just jump into it when it starts getting cold. Many markets and attractions have started early this year in an attempt to space things out with Covid on the rise so there are lots of Christmas-y things to do around here, even in mid-November.
On Thursday this week, we decided to check out the Stuttgart Christmas Garden at Wilhelma Zoo. We have actually been to a zoo lights before back in D.C. and the kids were not that impressed (understatement). We figured this would be our chance to improve their outlook on light installations.
Ryan was definitely not excited about going. It meant he had to get yet another covid test in order to enter but I promised him he would be able to get his favorite drink, hot chocolate.
First thing once we got there was to head for the glühwein and food stand. We had curry wursts, fries, pretzels, and gingerbread. Of course, there was no hot chocolate there. They offered “Kinderpunsch,” which is the non-alcoholic glühwein, which he tried and hated. To be honest, it tasted like warmed up Hawaiian Punch. Ryan was not very happy with us at this point but I said we would keep looking for the hot chocolate.
We walked through the trail but found that there weren’t actually a lot of lights. There were some- but the zoo is big and we walked through a lot of areas of just darkness in between the installations, which were small. However, there was a glühwein stand every couple of meters. This pretty much sums up Germans; they like to get outside, have a drink and walk around with their friends. The lights are just an excuse to go.
Finally, at the fourth glühwein stand, we found a hot chocolate- thank God! Ryan gulped it down in about five seconds. We finished up the trail and headed home.
Friday there was no school, so we dropped the dogs at the dog kennel and hit the road for Breganze, Italy. We made our first trip down to visit my uncle, aunt, and cousins, who were hosting us for our first European Thanksgiving. It’s so exciting to have them just a couple-hour drive away instead of a long flight! The drive started our foggy, but once we got out of Germany, the views were AMAZING! It is so pretty driving through the alps and it made the trip feel much shorter than it actually was.
We were greeted with my favorite, Aperol Spritzes! And then a pizza dinner where we were joined by Piero and Anna.
Saturday morning, Matt, Aunt Carla, and I headed into town to pick up breakfast.
We ate our brioches in the cafe and grabbed some to go. On the way back home, we made several stops in shops and the supermarket. Before we knew it, it had been almost three hours since we left and it was almost time for Thanksgiving lunch. The brioches we brought back were a little late.
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Uncle Gary and John had been working hard to prepare the perfect Thanksgiving meal. In addition to the turkey, they prepared ham, pork, stuffing, corn, potatoes, and broccoli. Uncle Gary even made Waldorf salad and two types of bread pudding from his own grandmothers recipes.
Piero, Anna, and Nonna joined us for lunch. The food was excellent, the company even better. It was such a special way to spend our first European Thanksgiving!
After lunch, we cleaned up, took a short nap, and a walk around town to burn off some of the food. As if preparing that amazing spread was not enough, Uncle Gary and Aunt Carla took us to one of their favorite restaurants up in the mountains where we had an amazing steak dinner.
To cap off the night, cousin Louis took Matt and I out for some drinks in Marostica where they were having a Sicilian food festival.
Sunday morning, it was time to pack up and head home. Aunt Carla and Uncle Gary of course loaded up our car with several bottles of wine, cheese, Nutella, Limoncello, Advent calendars, and bags and bags of more Italian treats.
We also had a chance to take all of the pictures we forgot to take over the weekend. I really don’t know how we can ever make up for the hospitality we received; Uncle Gary and Aunt Carla raise the bar every time.
We made it back to Stuttgart in time to pick up the dogs from the kennel and hop in bed!
Gilcrests Abroad 