Final Weeked in Germany

This past weekend was bittersweet.  Yes, I am excited about coming home for Christmas and seeing my parents!  But I'm also really sad to leave Germany.  I think it's because I'm not exactly sure when I'm coming back yet.  I'm sad to leave my family here, and I'm sad to leave to snow.  But more than that, I think I'm sad that this season of my life is over.  Since June I have basically been a wandering nomad, traveling from place to place, living out of a suitcase.  Not having a place of my own or a steady source of income has been difficult, but at the same time, it's been an incredible adventure!  Knowing that I'll have to return to "the real world" is kind of a bummer...

That being said, I enjoyed my final two Weihnachtsmärkte over the weekend.  The first one being in Hof, of course!  Hof is a small city, but they have the "Hofer Weihnachtswelt" open daily in the Altstadt.  Although I didn't make any purchases at this one, I still found it to be beautiful.  I have really started to feel like Hof is "home" for me, and living with my cousin has been such a blessing.  I like Hof mostly because it is large enough to have everything you need, but not so large that you get lost on the streets.

Hofer Weihnachtswelt

in the Hofer Altstadt

On Saturday, Jeanette and Helmut took me to Plauen, which is about a 30 min. drive away from Hof in the state of Sachsen (Hof is in Bayern).  Although the Weihnachtsmarkt in Plauen is open everyday in December, they have a special weekend once a year with a more traditional market.  Throughout a series of old buildings in Plauen, people set up booths to sell homemade items.  The rooms go on and on with everything from paintings to liqueur, hand-carved woodwork to hand-stitched beanies.  Some rooms are connected to each other and some are not.  Some are downstairs and some are upstairs.  It is kind of hard to explain without seeing it in person, and to be honest, I didn't understand it myself until we were actually there.  But because these are private sellers, not businesses, it is a special weekend to go. 

Lots of people were packed into all the rooms!

City Hall and plaza in Plauen

The only problem we had on Saturday was that it was SO cold!  I had on my leggings underneath my jeans, thick socks, snow boots, long-sleeve shirt, jacket, then a thick jacket, scarf, beanie, then my hood, and thick gloves....but by the end of the day all three of us couldn't feel our toes.  Once again, I ate too many sweets, but it was my last weekend in Germany, so I had to enjoy it!

Drinking an Eierpunsch with Jeanette...I thought it would be like spiked eggnog, but I was wrong