London is beautiful at Christmastime.
Walking down Regent St. and Oxford St. at night is magical! The amazing Christmas lights decorating all of the department stores, the cold weather and people walking around bundled up in peacoats, scarves, hats, gloves, mittens, and boots is so fun, and much different than California.
There are ice skating rinks are sprinkled all over London—Hyde Park, Somerset House, the Tower of London—to name just a few.
It's surely beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
As I write this, I am eating Kleun Backt Guteh Aachener Printen—or at least that's what the label says. I call it gingerbread—some of the best and most authentic gingerbread I have ever had!
It definitely tastes like Christmas.
I went to the Christmas markets with Chelsea, Jessica, and Sarah this weekend. We drove to Dover, England, took the ferry to Calais, France, and then drove to Brussels! The next day, we went to Aachen, Germany and it was hands down, my favorite city I have traveled to this semester
{besides London, obviously!}
Aachen is the epitome of Christmas. The little German town has famous Christmas markets that attract visitors from all over Europe. Aachen has a beautiful cathedral {the biggest in Northern Europe, I believe...don't quote me on that!} and the markets are situated all around the cathedral. Every stall sells something different—sausages, hot drinks, sweet treats, nutcrackers, toys, jewelry, clothes, candles...the list goes on.
It truly is a Christmas wonderland.
Naturally, I bought lots of food. We decided to try mulled wine, and I also had a bratwurst for lunch, the gingerbread, and kettle corn {random, but if you would have smelled it, you would've bought some too!}
In Brussels the next day, we woke up to snow! It was so fun, and slightly changed my attitude towards to unbearable cold! {I was not equipped for the weather forecast...#californiagirlproblems} Of course, all four of us were anxious to try Belgian waffles, so we found a shop {which isn't hard at all in Brussels} and I had a waffle with Belgian dark chocolate and bananas. Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds!
Walking through Brussels the first night
Away in a manger...
Brussels market
Driving to Aachen
Aachen Christmas market!
Mulled wine
Bratwursts
Gingerbread!!
A snowy morning in Brussels!
Real people instead of mannequins?
Chocolate "Manneken Pis" eating waffles
It started snowing again!
The Christmas market weekend was a blast, and I am so happy we went! However, nothing can beat Christmas at home. Once I am home and start baking cookies, drinking hot chocolate, enjoying a fire in the fireplace, driving around at night to see lights on houses, watching "Elf" and decorating a Christmas tree, it will finally feel like Christmas.
