It’s been a super cold week here in Stuttgart! It has hovered in the 40s since early October, but this week it finally dipped below freezing and hasn’t climbed back up since. We’ve been stuck in the upper 20s to low 30s every day, and even got a mini snowstorm that delayed the start of work and school — which none of us complained about. With no end to the cold in sight, we’ve officially pulled our winter jackets, gloves, and hats back out.
This week, Ryan had the first JROTC promotion ceremony of the school year, where he was promoted to Sergeant. He doesn’t love school, but he genuinely enjoys this program, and we love seeing how seriously he takes it. We’re so proud of all his hard work. This time it was my turn to pin on his new rank — and I gave him the traditional chest punch, managing to knock him slightly off his toes which I was pretty proud of. 😊
Friday was my day off, and Matt took the day off too, so we headed to our favorite place — France, just across the border from Germany. We started at a French supermarket in Hagenau to do some Christmas shopping. We’d never been to this location before, and honestly, the wine selection was a bit disappointing. While it would easily beat anything in the U.S., it was tiny by French supermarket standards and nowhere near as extensive as I’d hoped. We were specifically looking for Champagne or Liquore holiday gift sets, but there were none. We still picked up some great chocolate boxes, advent calendars, and a few bottles of wine for ourselves, but we’ll have to make another trip for the wine gifts.
After the supermarket, we headed to the Haguenau Christmas market. I’d read online that it was opening that day and was excited to finally check it out. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we realized it wasn’t actually open yet—the stalls were still being set up, and the market wouldn’t officially open until late afternoon, long after we needed to be on our way. Thankfully, a few food and drink stalls were open, so we grabbed our first mugs of glühwein of the season and found some tartines for lunch. A tartine is a French open-faced sandwich; we’d seen them before but had never tried one. The ingredients are similar to a Tarte Flambée—kind of like a flatbread pizza, but assembled differently. We were pleasantly surprised at how good they were, especially considering they were pre-made and reheated. Afterwards, we drove back to Stuttgart and even had time for a quick nap before the kids got home from wrestling practice.
We picked up the kids and some of their friends and headed straight to the Stuttgart WinterTraum. The main Stuttgart Christmas market isn’t open yet, but WinterTraum—or “Winter Dream”—opens early and features a small food market and a roller-skating rink. It used to be an ice-skating rink, but high gas prices made the energy costs too expensive. Roller skating isn’t quite as festive or as popular, but it was still a fun way to spend a night in the city.
It was so cold that night we thought we’d freeze, but somehow it felt much warmer once we were in the market. The kids and their friends spent a while roller-skating, and we all grabbed dinner. Matt and I enjoyed a glühwein too, making it a perfect little local night out.
We had no specific plans for Saturday, but some of the early Christmas markets were opening for the season. I convinced Matt to drive to Aschaffenburg for their market, which is supposedly one of the “great” ones. I told him it was only an hour away, but it ended up taking almost two by the time we arrived. 🤭
Aschaffenburg is a city in the very northern part of Bavaria. It’s actually northeast of where we are and close to Frankfurt, which isn’t what you typically picture when you think of Bavaria. It’s known for its beautiful old town, striking architecture, and welcoming atmosphere. Its standout landmark, Schloss Johannisburg, overlooks the Main River and provides an impressive historical backdrop to the city. The Christmas market is set up just in front of the castle, giving it a magical atmosphere.
We arrived just in time for lunch and ordered our usuals — a steak sandwich for Matt and a lángos for me. Interestingly, neither of us loved what we got; it seemed like the recipes had been tweaked a bit, and not necessarily in the best way. It was still good, though, and we enjoyed a few Glühweins and collected the mugs.
Sadly, the beautiful Schloss Johannisburg was covered in scaffolding, which took away from the ambiance a bit. The market itself was fairly small, and we walked through the whole thing in less than an hour. Overall, it was just an “okay” market for us and didn’t quite live up to the hype, but it was still a beautiful day out — one we wouldn’t have enjoyed if we’d stayed home.
We rushed back to Stuttgart for the wrestling team’s dinner. Ryan made the team again this year and will be the starter for the 120-pound weight class, and Brooklyn is the head manager. The coach hosted a team dinner and game night at the school. After dinner was served, we went out with some of the other wrestling parents in town while we waited for the kids to finish at 11 p.m.
We actually slept in on Sunday, finished putting up our Christmas decorations, and then had some friends over for Thai takeout — the perfect end to the week!
Gilcrests Abroad 