Maxine's Germany Adventure: The First Week of Winter and Weihnachten!

Well what a week! I don't think I could have packed any more into it if I tried.

We started the week baking another round of Plaetzchen - these ones are called Vanilliekirfel and are also delicious. Nadin (my flatmate - pictured below in her NZ apron) also made her workmates Schneeballen (snowballs) for that coming Friday - you'll find out why in a bit.

On Wednesday I accompanied a class on a trip to 'Mobil Martin' which is a department/furniture store similar to Ikea, but I bit nicer. We were given a tour by the boss himself of the store and also the logistics out back and how they manage their stock/orders etc. It was really interesting to see and the systems they have in place for example, the computer will automatically tell the workers when an item needs to be refilled on a shelf if the inventory has dropped below 5 due to sales.

On Friday it was the 6th of December which in Germany is St Nikolaus day. It is based on a story that a long time ago a rich man felt sorry for all the poor children in his village so he went out one night and filled all the children's shoes with gifts Now every year on the 6th December children wake up to small gifts - usually sweets traditionally in their shoes, but a teacher also told me it can be a plate left out on the table.

I was lucky enough to be visited on my bedroom door!

That evening I met up with Lauren (who lives in Wiesbaden) and 2 other American Assistants Whitney and Kersey and we took the train to the quaint village of Ruedesheim to visit the Christmas Market. The market in Ruedesheim is well known and attracts a lot of tourists because the village setting is so beautiful and also the Christmas market is an international one with stalls from all over the world.

On Saturday afternoon I caught the train to Saarbruecken to visit Jessica (from NZ) who I haven't seen for about a month!

That evening we went out for dinner to Vapiano, which is a Italian restaurant. You order at the counter and they make it in front of you while you wait. We also meet up with some of the other assistants living in Mainz including two Americans. We then headed to the Christmas Market in Saarbruecken for a Gluehwein and some other delicious Christmas Market Treats including crepes and Dumpnudlen which are like dough balls filled with jam and covered in custard and cherries!

On Sunday we took the train to Trier which is about an hour away from Saarbruecken to visit the Christmas Market. Its a really pretty town/city with a lot of old heritage buildings!