It has been a great week here in wintery Germany. I have been baking, swimming, bike riding, cross-country skiing and Christmas market visiting. I have been back to the Erfurt Christmas market and then yesterday we were in Dresden, visiting good friends Angela and Stefan Henig. I really like the feel of Dresden, it has a good feeling about....but I think many people have the same idea and the markets were absolutely packed. Trying to move through the crowds with Gluhwein in hand required both an exceptional amount of agility and dexterity. I, for one, do not have that to begin with...let alone for a few Gluhwein's. Dresden calls their Christmas market the 'Strietzelmarkt'....none of the German's could tell me what Strietzelmarkt means. Thank god for Google :) Apparently, Strietzel is the name of a cake that lent its name to the whole market, the markets originated in 1434, making this one the 574th....quite impressive....I don't think there was much in the way of Christmas markets going on in Australia at this time!
After Dresden we popped in to Freiberg's Christmas market, to see Gunnar's younger brother Bertie who is studying there. It is a nice town, quite small and the Christmas markets have everything that one could need....including enough space to move :)
Today we headed out on the bikes early, it was a little icy in patches so I was feeling quite brave being out and about. It was quite magic to be riding with snow around everywhere and this morning the sky was a pinky, orange colour....really beautiful. After a hearty German lunch we headed up into the mountains. The sun had come out which always makes the colours brighter and everything seem a bit shinier. True to form I spent nearly as much time on my bum as upright...I still haven't mastered the art of being able to stop and remain upright and have to rely on the use of my 'Arschbremsen' - ass brake :) After several hours out in forest the sun began to set which was a sign for us to call it a day. Many people were heading out with lights on to make the most of the snow....but we just headed into a Huette for some Jagertee to warm us before the drive home.
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