Dominos

One morning we build things with the set of domino pieces Mia got for Christmas. The tower became pretty tall and Mia did a little celebration dance when it reached eight stories

When she tries the ninth level it fell apart though

Visit in Spellen

A bit more than five years after our last visit at Andrea's and her family's place we drove to Spellen again. For Mia it was a great place to visit: She could see horses and sheep just a few steps from the house and Andrea's daughters are 12 and 10 and she had some great playmates.

 
Linda, the younger one was very good at Foosball

Since the weather was very nice we drove to Wesel for a walk on the Rhine

There was also a small playground

Later we all went to the river to enjoy the sunset and to try some stone skipping

 

Old Town Cologne

Stefan was busy with the family of Chai who had come for a visit. So before we could see him we spent some time around the Dom in Cologne.

For lunch we stopped at Früh across the street from the cathedral. Mia took this shot:

Then we headed to the river. Good we had brought Mia's scooter

It was warm enough for ice cream - 15 C - but too warm for the ice skating rink on Heumarkt where the ice had great water puddles

Christmas Eve

After some last minute grocery shopping it was time to decorate the Christmas tree - even though it did not really feel like Christmas as far as the weather was concerned: It was 13° C - and even felt milder in the sun - and there was even a bee that scared Mia when it was sitting on the handel bar of her bike.

 Later that afternoon Mia went off to c church in the neighborhood where a neighbor had suggested that Mia could join the Christmas play.

  s

She is the sheppard with the hat on the fat right

We really enjoyed the play and the service and then it was time to unpack some presents at home

Nürnberg

The last weekend before Christmas we did a short trip to Nuremberg to see some relatives and the Christmas market there. It was only a 2 hours and 20 minutes from Heidelberg.
Like 2.5 year ago when we came to Nuremberg in the summer we first stopped at a small restaurant my the castle for lunch and a fresh beer

Then we walked into the old town past the castle

Of course Mia had to do some climbing at the rocks there

 The Christmas marked was really crowded but there was an old coach  - we took a ride on Monday when it was not so busy

 Monday we also checked out the market in Fürth which was a bit smaller

We had a really nice sunset on th edrive back

Seven Years Old

Unfortunately Mia caught some virus just before her birthday and spent a few days at home with fever and stomach problems that week. On her birthday she was well enough to go to school and to celebrate there with her class mates and also for some spaghetti   - her wish for her birthday dinner / in the evening.

Christmas Market by the Castle

On a cool and damp day we walked up all the 360 steps to the castle to see the Christmas market there. It was really beautiful

We also walked to away from the hustle and bustle of the market to enjoy the view of the castle and city at night and some quiteness

 Mia picked some Flammkuchen which was really good

Klosterhof Neuburg

An old monastery on a hill above the Neckar just outside Heidelberg organizes a very nice Christmad market.
The view back to the city alone is already worth the trip  - in our case a 15 minute bus ride on the 34 bus

Mia remembered the farm an the animals from her summer camp which was not too far away further up the mountain

 

On the market they had real sheep for the nativity scene

They also had stands with hand made presents and foof

Ice Skating on Kornmarkt

Part of the Heidelberg Christmas Market is a ice skating ring on Kornmarkt - a beautiful square jut below the Schloss.

Good thing Mia had brought he ice skates from the US

After the skating there was also time to walk over the Christmas market