The Midnight Bonfire...

Just before midnight, we walked over to where a bonfire was set up.

 Like a moth to a flame, Jimmy is drawn to fire.

We kept the kids at a safer distance.

New Year’s Eve...

New Year’s Eve got off to a rough start. We’d planned on going to Pamela’s party and spending the night. We arrived at the tram stop just in time to watch the tram leave without us. We waited almost an hour and neither tram nor bus ever came. We considered renting a Green Wheels car, but first called Sally and John to see if they had plans after just returning from England. They didn’t, so we invited ourselves over. We packed up some bubbly and a bunch of fireworks, which the kids and dads had a blast lighting off.

More Geocaching in Dusseldorf...

Several of the caches lead us off Dusseldorf’s beaten path and into the brush.

This was another clever hiding place within a sculpture.

We got a laugh out of this sign next to the scuplture, which means: Money doesn’t grow on trees.

Geocaching in Dusseldorf...

We did a little bit more shopping on our last day in Dusseldorf, but spent most of the day geocaching. This was a clever cache, hidden in a small box behind a modern sculpture in the front yard of this house.

More Christmas Markets in Cologne..

It took just a little over an hour  the next day to get to Cologne to check out their many Christmas Markets.

I preferred the markets in Cologne to those in Dusseldorf. They were especially lovely at night. I was happy to find a sterling silver ring made out of an antique spoon.

On a cold winter’s day, it was nice that there were many options of warm drinks. Each market had its own mug; we paid a deposit that was refunded when we returned the mug. At one, we had warm egg nog, which was very strange. This burning drink was wine, rum and sugar, which was pretty, but not as tasty as mulled wine itself. The strangest thing we saw was definitely this manger scene.

Glassblowing in Dusseldorf...

Jimmy was especially fascinated by the market that had craftsman at work including this glassblower who uses a cell phone while molding hot glass.

A professional photographer spotted Ashlynn and Jimmy watching the glassblower and asked for permission to photograph them.

Here’s the final photo. I’m not crazy about their expressions, but it would still be cool if it were included in next year’s promotional materials for the market.

Dusseldorf Christmas Market...

Since we weren’t going on a big trip over Christmas break, we decided to go to some Christmas Markets in Germany. I found a really good deal at a hotel in Dusseldorf, so we hopped some trains and stayed two nights. We spent the first afternoon wandering through the multiple markets.