Christmas!

Alright, it’s been a while since my last blog post, but that’s because I’ve been busy with Christmas! I was also fortunate to not have to spend Christmas in Germany completely cutoff from my family, as my Mom and two brothers came to visit for the week! Our Christmas holiday began with me meeting my Mom and younger brother at the Stuttgart HBF for a quick trip to Strasbourg.

Strasbourg Main Station

Once there we took in the city by visiting the various Christmas markets and trying out all of the various food on offer. We also walked through the cathedral in the center of town, which was amazing.

Strasbourg Christmas Market

Cathedral in Strasbourg

Inside the cathedral

The next day we went to the Musee Historique de La Ville de Strasbourg, or the local history museum. It was pretty interesting since it’s an important city in both French and German history, so you get to see how it goes back and forth between the two countries after it stops being a city-state. The museum also had the most metal instrument I’ve ever seen, a pyrophone that used Bunsen burners under glass pipes for its sound. 

Strasbourg history museum

I unfortunately still had to work two more days at Bosch before my holiday officially began, so I left my Mom and younger brother. Tuesday night though, I began staying with my family in the apartment my Mom had rented for the week.

Fish on a stick at the Christmas Market

Wednesday my older brother arrived in Stuttgart. We decided to spend the day in the Stuttgart Christmas market, picking up lunch bit by bit from the different stands.

Christmas Eve in Germany is actually a much bigger deal than Christmas day, and a lot of the shops and even museums were closed. So we all made our way to the top of the Birkenkopf, which I was glad to visit again, especially since the weather was much nicer for this ascent.

Walking up to the Birkenkopf

My younger brother Jack waiting for the bus

At my older brother’s request we then went to a beer hall in Stuttgart, and then a second one since the first was closing early. This is also where my mom learned that when the menu says “Lard dip”, it literally means pure lard.

My older brother Andrew enjoying the local brew

For Christmas Day we began the day by exchanging gifts and heading out to the palace in Ludwigsburg. Along the walk we also stopped by the largest Piggy Bank in the world. After getting back from that, we went to go see the new Star Wars movie. Somehow I was the only one who hadn’t seen it yet, but I thought it was amazing and I can't wait to see the next in the series.

Largest Piggy bank, here at a Sparda Bank in Ludwigsburg

Ludwigsburg Palace

On Saturday our first stop was the Schlossplatz because my younger brother, Jack, wanted to go ice skating. Then it was off to the Schweinmusuem, or pig museum. Turns out it’s most likely the largest collection of pig related memorabilia in the world. This place has entire rooms devoted to pig stuff devoted to various subjects, such as a room focusing solely on pig related board games. They also had a diorama showing what Jurassic Park would have been like if all the dinosaurs were spliced with pigs.

My Mom and older brother cheering Jack on

Jurassic Pig

Ya think you've seen pig memorabilia, ya ain't seen nothin till you come to the pig museum 

After that interesting experience, we headed across the Neckar River to the Mercedes Benz museum.

Saturday my family finished up their visit with a visit to the Staatsgalerie. We then all swung by my apartment, both so my Mom could see it and so that they could take home with them some of the items I’ve gathered while here. We then finished the evening with dinner at one of the local beer halls in Böblingen. 

Mercedes Museum

The next day my family had to make their way home. So we all got up early to make sure they'd make it to the airport on time, though they'd end up arriving with plenty of time to spare.