Winter Wonderland

Here's the scene from our terrace yesterday:



That's right: SNOW! In the nearly two years that we have lived in Belgium, this is the first time that we have seen it snow and accumulate. We've had dustings before, but this is the first snow of substance that we've personally witnessed. It has frosted the city, making it quite lovely, and the lack of street clearance has even caused the maniacal drivers to slow down...somewhat. A few days ago we got a laugh out of the BBC referring to 5 cm as "heavy snow", so you can imagine a few inches is enough to cause quite a stir!

The wintry white landscape has added that missing piece to make it really feel like Christmas here. The city has strung up beautiful twinkly lights all over town, Christmas songs are our constant background music chez nous these days, and we have a large, beautiful Rose de Noël (poinsettia) gracing the coffee table. I have also been trying my hand at baking some old favorites that somehow have escaped my repertoire up 'til now. My first ever banana bread turned out delectably:



With the season comes the inevitable mad crush of activities, and in recent weeks our social calendar has been atwirl with festivities. There have been neighborhood coffees, trips to the Neuhaus chocolate outlet, and lunches with the girls. Our lovely Norwegian neighbor Trude hosted a fun gathering where we got to try such traditional Scandinavian favorites as Gløgg (mulled wine served with almonds and raisins), köttbullar (meatballs), and pepparkakor (ginger cookies). We spent the next evening at the home of my Czech friend and fellow-chorister Marta, who brought out her uncle's fiery schnapps-esque homemade hooch to cap off the evening's fun. To all this add a series of feverish rehearsals for my choir's upcoming performance of Bach's Mass in B Minor to the mix and you've got the makings for a frenetic few weeks indeed.

Even so, beyond all this merrymaking, we've still found time to do one of our other favorite winter activities: we've been eating our way through various Christmas markets, here in Brussels and further afield. Two weeks ago, we grabbed our friends Maisie and Josh and their little guy Isaac and all bundled into the car to visit one of the most famous Christmas Markets in Europe: Köln (Cologne), Germany and it's seven Weihnachtsmärkts!



This was before the cold spell set in, so the weather was warm enough for the water in the sky to stay in its liquid form and not turn to snow. I must say that there is something odd about a Christmas Market in the rain, but we didn't let it dampen our spirits.



Köln is about a 2 hour drive from Brussels. Isaac was a little bundle of cuteness and very well behaved on his first roadtrip to another country.



And the eating commences. First course: latkes (potato pancakes) with applesauce. Hot fried deliciousness!



After a second course of brätwurst with mustard, we moved from the food market into one of the markets that featured crafts and gifts.



All that shopping and walking made us hungry (wink wink), so we moved onto our third plates: potato dumplings and smoked sausage with sauerkraut, sour cream, and herbs. Heavenly. For people who knew me growing up, they might be surprised to see me singing the praises of these particular foods. I have discovered that it's the American interpretations of all these Old World specialties (along with "Swiss cheese" and beer to name a couple more) that are singularly unappetizing to me. But tasting these foods freshly prepared in their original setting is a different experience altogether.



Some people find the idea of warm wine or beer to be odd, but Troy and I are very fond of these wintry drinks. (See "Gløgg" above). Another once-a-year-favorite is Glühwein (mulled wine), popular both in Germany and in Belgium. Here's Troy enjoying his second cup in a festive keepsake mug.



Night falls quite early this days (around 4:30 pm), but the crowd just kept growing.





The sight of the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) as backdrop to this giant Christmas tree was spectacular.



The cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site and seems to be in the early stages of restoration and cleaning. Already dramatic, it will be absolutely stunning when clean. Hopefully we can return one day to see it, and hopefully that visit will be as much fun as this one was.



'Tis the Season...for baking and shopping, for parties and friends, for snow and hot festive drinks, for God and family and reflection. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season wherever you are in the world.