The Nightmare Before Christmas

Christmas break started with excitement as we anxiously awaited only our second guests from home to arrive.  Mom, Luke, Courtney, Lauren, and Lillian were scheduled to land at around 11am on the Sunday before Christmas.  We'd checked the weather on Saturday and the forecast was finally absent of snow and bad weather.  Sunday morning we checked the flight status and discovered that they had arrived in Amsterdam safely but their connecting flight to Nuremberg had been cancelled.  Apparently there were weather issues in Amsterdam although Luke thought the weather was fine.  As a result, they got to experience the same 8 hour delay that I did flying over.  When they finally got in that night, they were worn out but glad to have avoided spending the night in Amsterdam.  The only other issue was that their baggage had been left behind in Amsterdam, and the airline wasn't sure when it would arrive in Nuremberg.  That night we went out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant, Santa Lucia's for some pizza.

Waiting for family to arrive

Monday morning our guests slept in.  Lilly had a rough night, throwing up multiple times and Luke and Courtney didn't get much sleep taking care of her.  Everyone hung around the house while Luke and I took care of some things on post.  That night Mom watched Lilly while we drove in a blizzard to Amberg for their Christmas Market.  It was another small one, but Luke, Courtney and Lauren had their first Gluehwein and bratwurst, and got to listen to two German women perform some really cheesy German songs.  After the Christmas Market we walked down the main shopping avenue to check it out despite all the stores being closed.  It looks like a great little town to wander around when the weather warms up.

Gluehwien and Bratwurst  Dinner in Amberg

Happy Cousins

Tuesday the plan was to take the train into Nuremberg for it's Christmas Market.  When we got to the train station in Freihung I tried to purchase the tickets, but the machine indicated it could only take coins for payment.  Since I didn't have 30 euro in change I was at a loss for what to do, so I knocked on the office of the train station and the man inside told me we could pay on the train once we got on since the machine was broken.  We never were asked for our tickets on the way in so I guess we got a free ride.  The weather was pretty mild and the crowds weren't bad so we had a good time wandering through the market.  We ate some crepes at a restaurant on the Hauptmarkt, browsed a little more, and then made our way over to the Children's Christmas market a few blocks away. When we had previously gotten off the train in Nuremberg a German man handed us a sheet of coupons for the Children's market that included some free rides, a cup of gluehwein, and a free bratwurst.  The kids had a good time riding the carousel and ended up getting a few free rides when the Christkindl (Christmas Angel) showed up.  The Christkindl is the most important symbol of the Christmas market and is portrayed by a girl wearing a white and golden dress, long blond curls, and a golden crown.  She was trailed by a mob of children and adults and when she got on the carousel, so did about 100 kids.  The carnies were scrambling around trying to collect all the tickets but since there were so many kids they couldn't collect them all and our kids got 3 extra rides.

Nuremberg Market

At this point I had to take our kids hom in order to leave in time to pick up Carissa from work, but the rest of the family decided to stay until the next train so they could visit the castle.  We hustled our way back to the train station, bought tickets, and got to the platform.  A couple minutes after we got there we found out that the train was going to be 15 minutes late and the platform cleared.  I had no idea where everyone was going, but then I noticed that the train on the platform across from us had our destination on it's digital screen on the side of the car.  We rushed over there and asked the conductor if he was really going to Weiden because the screen on the platform listed another town.  He indicated that he wasn't going there so we hurried back to our original platform where now sat a train.  I then asked that conductor if he was going to Weiden, and he said "No, I just saw the train to Weiden leave."  I explained to him that the conductor on that train told me he wasn't going to Weiden, which left him at a loss.  At this point the screen on our original platform had changed to reflect where this new train was going, so I dragged the kids back to the terminal to check out the big screen.  That screen listed our train leaving from the same track and said that it was now 25 minutes delayed. Unbelievable.  So we hike back to the original Platform, which now is listing Weiden again as the destination, but 30 minutes delayed.  Then 35 minutes, then 40 and the train shows up.  Keep in mind the train runs to Weiden every hour.  We get on the train and finally got going.  The kids are now worried that the train is going to split in half and start asking me how we are going to tell. For once their loud voices paid off, because there was a German man sitting across from us who told us that the train wasn't going to split, but the conductor just indicated that we were going to have to get off in Neukirchen to switch trains.  When we got off in Neukirchen, we ended up standing in the cold for about 20 minutes until the connecting train arrived.  Finally we arrived at our station and get off the train, only to discover that my Mom and L,C,L&L were on the same train (the one that was supposed to leave an hour after ours).  Luke had a stressed look on his face, which turned out to be because when they got to the train station, they were too late to purchase tickets and were in danger of missing the train.  They jumped on the train without tickets and sat in what turned out to be in 1st class (which on the commuter trains is the same as 2nd class, just a different color).  Par for the course, they got busted and had to pay a fine plus the price of the tickets on the spot.

That night we ate in at home.  Lauren went to bed early because she wasn't feeling well and ended up throwing up once she laid down.  I went to the laundromat to wash the dirty sheets and when I came home there was a note from Carissa saying that my brother was also sick and that she wasn't feeling great either.

Wednesday the plan was to leave for Garmisch.  Carissa had taken a half day so we could get there earlier, but ended up being so sick she had to take the whole day off.  She was pretty much unable to get out of bed, which is a first since we've been married.  Luke and Lauren weren't doing much better, so Courtney, Mom and I tried to get everything packed up and keep my kids from destroying the house.  Sometime around mid morning, Mom was doing dishes and stepped away when Haaken asked for something.  A few minutes later I hear her say "Oh my god" and I look into the kitchen and it looks like the cabinets below the sink were steaming.  I walk over and see she had left the water running, which was now covering the length of the counter top, spilling over and pooling on the floor.  The cabinets are raised above the floor on legs so the water had covered the floor underneath as well.  Now on top of 4 sick people we had a flooded kitchen.  This probably took a good hour to clean up.  We finally got everything together and hit the road I think about 3:30pm.

Courtney and I drove the 3.5 hours to Garmisch, while Luke and Carissa sat in the passenger seats, both with garbage bags packed in case they had to vomit.  We finally got there and got checked in.  I can't remember what we did for supper.

That night it was Courtney and my turn to get sick.  Thursday morning I took our kids swimming (I had promised Haaken) while Carissa tried to sleep off her illness in the room.  Mom, L,C,L&L decided they were going to walk the streets of Garmisch.  I believe Courtney's words were "We didn't come this far to sit in our hotel room".  Lol.  When we got back from swimming I wasn't feeling great, so I traded places with Carissa and slept while she got them some lunch.  Early evening Elise threw up and spent the rest of the night in bed.  That night everyone except Elise and I went out for dinner at a German restaurant in Garmisch.

At this point everyone had gotten sick except my Mom and Haaken.  No one was feeling up to skiing, which is the main reason we stayed in Garmisch, so we decided to take the train in to Munich and see it's Christmas market.  We got a bit of a late start and it was snowing heavily so we ended up missing the train we had intended on taking.  We were under a little bit of a time crunch because it was Christmas Eve and we had dinner reservations at 5:30.  Since we missed the first train we were now going to be spending more time getting to Munich than we would actually be in Munich, but we soldiered on since we had no other option.  The train ride was uneventful for once, but when we got to Munich the snow was still really coming down.  It was probably a 10 minute walk through the snowstorm to the Old Town.  We walked through the gate and then consulted our guidebook just to make sure we were headed in the right direction.  Carissa and Lydia walked ahead while we rounded up the other kids and then poor Lilly threw up her whole breakfast all over herself in the stroller.  She was covered in a blanket to keep her warm but somehow it got underneath and in every nook and cranny in her snowsuit and stroller as well.  It took Luke and Courtney quite a while to clean it all up and Carissa and Lydia came back wondering where in the world we were.  I explained and then we all trudged ahead through the snow once again.  We got past the first set of stalls and then noticed a big church a little ways down a side street.  We decided to check it out and let the kids warm up a bit.  Luke and Courtney got Lilly out of the stroller and tried to regroup while the rest of us checked out the church.  After about 5-10 minutes Lydia starts complaining that her stomach is hurting her.  We're at the front of the church when she starts burping and dry heaving.  Carissa tries to lead her out a set of doors near the front, which of course are locked.  We end up basically running to the back of the church to find a way out before Lydia loses her breakfast.  Luke notices from the middle of the church what's happening and frantically slides a tray they use for Lilly's spitup across the church pew to me as I run by.  We make it out in time and Carissa gets Lydia over to a somewhat inconspicuous corner of the building.  A few minutes later we round everyone up and head back to the market.  The train back isn't leaving for another 45 minutes and we convince Lydia to go a little further and we'll take a taxi back to the train station to catch the train.  Carissa and I are walking with Lydia who isn't moving too fast at this point and we get to the main square trying to find everyone else.  We realize everyone has blown right by the Christmas market and is headed toward the Hofbrauhaus.  I then run ahead and gather up Elise and Haaken and let Luke know that we're headed home.  The 5 of us browse the market (while the others go off to drown their sorrows) and then take the subway back to the station.

Haaken and Lilly on the train to Munich

Munich Market

Once we got back to the hotel I made a run to the grocery store to get some stuff Lydia wanted and Carissa has the kids shower/bathe.  It's getting close to dinner time now and we start to get dressed up.  No sign of Mom, L,C,L&L.  We finish up and head downstairs for dinner.  No sign of them in the lobby.  We go to the restaurant and get seated.  The hostess tells us that she only seats full parties, but since we have two reservations for 5 people she'll seat us.  Also, she can only hold the other table for 15 minutes.  I'm watching the lobby for them and still nothing.  We order drinks and an appetizer.  I go to the lobby and call their rooms and no one is home.  We explain our situation to our server and debate what to do - do we just order and have Christmas dinner by ourselves or do we hold out as long as we can and then bail if they give the other table away.  Probably 25 minutes after our reservation Luke runs in from a side door and says they got hung up at security (the hotel is an Army facility) for 25 minutes.  On top of that, Lilly threw up again in the car seat and desperately needs a bath.  We rush over to the hostess and tell her everyone is here.  She grudgingly lets us keep the table even though she had given it away just a minute before.  Luke sticks around long enough to order a couple bottles of wine and then runs upstairs to help everyone get ready before they decided to give away our table again.  Finally everyone arrives and we end up having a nice meal.  After dinner we opened presents - Lydia went to bed as soon as she opened her last one.

Sick Kiddos

Santa in the Lobby

 

Lederhosen and Dirndls

Opening Presents

Justice Girls

 

Saturday was our last opportunity to ski.  That morning I run into Luke in the hallway and he's got a now all too familiar stressed out look on his face.  I ask him what's up and he informs me that last night was Mom's turn, she was up sick all night.  This is bad news as she had volunteered to watch Lilly while we ski.  Somehow though, Mom sucked it up and managed to watch her all day.  We headed off to the ski area in basically a whiteout.  The whole mountain was enveloped in thick gray clouds and it again was snowing like crazy.  Determined to not waste another day we got our rental equipment and boarded the gondola.  We took our first run and could see maybe 75 yards in front of us.  At the end of the second run Carissa was skiing with Haaken and their skis got tangled up and she fell on top of him.  He twisted his knee but managed to spend the rest of the day on the bunny hill, having fun for the most part.  We took a break for lunch and Lydia's excitement had worn off and she was ready to go home as she was still not feeling well.  We gave her the option of staying or going home and napping so she decided to stay, but in hindsight it probably was a bad decision.  She took a few runs with Haaken and I on the bunny hill and then was done.  Carissa was off skiing with Elise, which meant we had to wait for them in order to leave.  Poor Lydia ended up sitting down in the snow and crying while we waited.  Haaken wanted to keep skiing and being there was nothing I could do at this point, we took some more runs on the bunny hill, checking on Lydia each time at the bottom.  Finally we went inside and then rushed back out when Lydia got sick again.  The tent we ate lunch in closed up so we sat in the entryway of a restaurant near the bunny hill while we waited for Carissa and Elise.  By the time they got back it was about and hour from closing time, so Carissa took Lydia and Haaken to the restaurant and Elise, Courtney and I took 2 more runs.  The visibility was really bad now - I've never skied in such bad conditions.  Probably 30 yards of visibility.  At the end of the day I took Lydia and Haaken down the mountain on the gondola, while everyone else skied down.  The run down the mountain was an intermediate, and apparently was icy, so it was a little hairy getting down.  Luke ended up having to carry Lauren down three quarters of a very long run.  Exhausted, we got back to the hotel and ordered in pizza.

Christmas Morning

Heading up in the Gondola

 First Run

End of a Long Day

Sunday my family drove back home to Grafenwoehr as Carissa had to work on Monday.  Mom, L,C,L&L took off on a side trip to Salzburg, Austria and Passau, Germany.  First, however, they drove an hour the opposite direction to visit Neuschwanstein Castle.  Unfortunately, when they got there the road up to the castle was open only to horse and carriage (which was all booked up) due to the snow and it was too cold to walk.  So they got back in the car and drove to Salzburg, my Mom in the backseat between the kids pointing out sights, telling stories, questioning the GPS directions, and generally driving Luke and Courtney crazy.  Sunday night our kids had a second Christmas, opening the gifts from the other side of the family that we had left behind.

Monday Carissa worked and our kids played with their Christmas loot while I tried to get the house back together.  Mom, L,C,L&L toured Salzburg and then drove to Passau.

Tuesday Carissa worked and I took the kids to the laundromat to wash all the diseased bedding (9 washing machines worth) from the week before.  Mom, L,C,L&L  toured Passau and got back to our house around 7pm.

Wednesday Carissa worked while the rest of us walked through the neighboring town of Weiden.  We had dinner again at Santa Lucia but instead of pizza we all had pasta, which was a first for us.  Little did we know that each dish was enough for two people, but it was good because with all the sickness behind us everyone had their appetites back.

Thursday we had all (except our generous benefactor Carissa) planned on going to Rothenburg, but due to all the sickness screwing up the previous week, we decided the kids would probably be much happier just playing at home, so we sent Luke and Courtney on their own.  They had a great time and so did the cousins.  That night we tried out a new Mexican restaurant for our last dinner together.

Friday we had to say goodbye to everyone and I drove them to the airport.  We thought at this point we were in the clear, but it was not to be.  Somehow KLM lost Lillian's information in the system so they couldn't print a boarding pass.  They got through to Amsterdam where the guy in Nuremberg said they could get it resolved, but they couldn't find any information either.  After speaking with a number of people they finally made an exception and let them go.  They got through security just in time to board the plane.  Thankfully the rest of the trip went smoothly.

It was great to have family visit despite all the horrible luck we had.  It made me, for one, miss home, family and our friends.  Luckily, in only a couple months we have more people coming to visit, and our good friends the Koch's just moved to Switzerland so we're hoping to see them next month.  Just the other day we looked at the calendar and realized we're already running out of time - there's just too much to see and do.  Hard to believe we've already been here 8 months.