Christmas Time in Europe

 Two weekends ago I was bitten by the Christmas bug.  Mags, Caro and I made the long day trek to Basel (the part of Switzerland that shares a border with both France and Germany) for the opening weekend of their Christmas market!  Our day was filled with food, festivities and fun.  Once we arrived in Basel we had no clue how to best navigate the city and ended up deciding caffeine would assist in our decision making process.  After a delicious cup of coffee, we hopped on what we thought was the correct bus however, we ended up taking a long-winded half hour bus tour of the city.  It was a great chance to see parts of the city we otherwise would not have and the only thing we could do was laugh.  The city was covered in lights and every window was decorated with Christmas displays.  Over the course of the day we wondered in and out of every stall:  from candles to ornaments, to soaps and sweaters these stalls were full to the brim with festive christmas gifts and decorations.  We sampled fresh nougat, indulged in "Sweet Magic" pastries and feasted on sausages and "karteiffien puffer," or deep  fried shredded potatoes dipped in the most delectable garlic sauce.   We wandered around town and attempted to take the official Christmas tour, unfortunately right before we handed our money over the man at the tourist info desk said, "you know this is in German right?"  Game changer right there.  Thank goodness we found out before the tour had started but we were still bummed.  We wandered between the two market squares and wandered around the shops just outside the squares.  We made our way back to the center of town as the sun was setting and found ourselves just inside the Munsterplatz, or town hall.  There was a huge lit Christmas tree and the town's Christmas Wish Book that we all signed with our christmas wishes for the world.  After signing our Christmas wishes, we came back outside and were greeted by little kids running down the street in a "fun run."  As the evening progressed, different heats of different aged kids ran through town in the kick-off weekend run.  We cheered everyone on and enjoyed free tea provided by the local Migros!  Basel is known as one of the biggest and best Christmas markets in Switzerland and the greater parts of Europe and we got to be a part of the 2011 tradition.  After an incredibly festive and all around marvelous day in Basel, Sunday seemed like quite the drag.  I had to dig down deep to find some kind of motivation to work on the two papers I had due last week.  Overall, a productive Sunday leading into week 7 of internships.

Christmas Markets

Basel Festivities 

Hot Chocolate and Christmas Mugs!

During the week, Mags and I hosted another visitor--Andrew aka Chingy...Maggie's friend who graduated from Dartmouth a year ago!  I had heard a lot about him so it was fun finally putting a face to the name.  On Thursday was the big Christmas tree lighting in the town square.  There were several (long winded) speeches given by the mayor and other people involved in designing this years' Christmas lights and main tree decorations.  The tree was illuminated and the festivities really commenced with free Raclette and mulled wine.  I made my way home rather quickly for what ended up turning into a late night of finishing up papers before my Friday departure for Wales!

Friday couldn't have passed more slowly.  I was beyond excited to be on the plane and more importantly in WALES!!  Lauren and I had planned on meeting at the airport a little around 3pm for our 4:30 flight.  We made it in plenty of time and grabbed a coffee and perused the shops before making our way to the gate.  Uncle David picked us up from Bristol, an airport I had yet to fly into before this trip.  It took us another hour or so to get home, but the travel was worth the wait.  Kate, Sarah, Aunt Cath, Nan and Uncle Viv were waiting for us when we arrived and I don't think I will ever forget Nan's shrieking reaction and embrace when I saw her.  We were quickly exchanging stories and munching on appetizers before sitting down to our meal.  Aunt Cath treated us to homemade turkey and mushroom pie and vegetables galore.  I forgot how much I love (and was in desperate need of) homecooked meals.  We feasted until we felt stuffed and ended up spending a quiet night in catching up and sharing stories from the past semester and of recent Blaenavon stories.  


The next morning, after an incredible night's sleep in a plush, double bed Lauren and I woke to an incredible breakfast spread made up of tea and crumpets, cereals, yogurts and fresh fruits!  I indulged again (kind of a theme of the weekend...and the semester) and consumed mass amounts of blueberries and strawberries and of course a bit of everything else.  Uncle Viv met us at the house and shuttled us out to Big Pit--the working mine and UNESCO heritage site in Blaenavon.  I hadn't been down the Pit for probably10 years and it was great to go back.  I definitely could appreciate the content a lot more and actually enjoyed the museum aspect of the visit.  Going down the Pit itself was also incredible especially after hearing more in depth from Uncle Viv about how my great-grandfather and great-uncle had started working down there at the age of 13!  When we came home, Kate was back from work and we decide to head "downtown" to check out the Winter Wonderland going on.  There really wasn't that much to show for but the craft tent had lots of fun trinkets to look at and we showed Lauren the Welsh gift shop Kate works at.  After that quick visit, we headed down to the market town of Abergavenny, which was a lot more lively.  We wandered through the market itself and showed Lauren Abergavenny Castle.  After exploring we decided to go to the Angel Hotel, where my cousin Sarah was married this summer.  Coincidentally enough, another wedding was going on and we were lucky to snag a seat in the bar where we order some of the best tea and scones I have had.  We were serenaded by carolers out in main lobby and that only added to the incredible Christmasy vibes I had been getting for the past week!  We went home to reorganize ourselves before our night out in Cardiff.  It was a rugby match day and Shane Willams' last day so by the time we got into Cardiff, the entire city was smashed.  I don't think I have ever seen Wales in the state I saw it in that night.  We had an amazing Thai meal at "Thai Edge."  I seriously had been craving Thai for the past several months and between our prawn pad thai, beef masama and green curry I was completely satisfied.  We pub hopped for a while after dinner before catching the last train home.  The train was jam packed with rugby fans who continued singing and chanting despite the loss earlier in the day.  I may or may not have par taken in a good old "Oggy Oggy Oggy" chant as well :)  We recounted hilarious bar stories in addition to our delicious meal to Aunt Cath on the drive home from the train station and we were all ready for bed by the time we got back.  

Going down the Pit!

Could we be anymore British?

Kate at Thai Edge about to enjoy our delicious starters

The next morning Aunt Cath prepared the most delicious Welsh Breakfast before we made our way to the airport.  I definitely got emotional saying goodbye to everyone but I am so happy I was able to make it over to Wales for a weekend.  I have come to appreciate and love my Welsh family so much over the years and now that I am older I can definitely appreciate the time we spend together a lot more than I think I ever was able to when I was young.  I don't think we could have had a more special and memorable last travel weekend of abroad and I am so happy I got to share some of my family with Lauren!  

I love my Nan!

Family Loving

Seasons Greetings from Blaenavon