Anyways, when the Ficks booked their plane tickets to Berlin for the week of Thanksgiving, my only requirement of their visit was that we have a proper American Thanksgiving. Since we were going to be in Prague/Dresden up until the day before, I did a lot of the prep work the week before, which meant that we had a decent amount of time to do some sight seeing on Thursday morning and afternoon. It also helped that we ate at 7:00pm and there were only four of us.
Mike Hogan and I had researched where to get a turkey in Berlin and one of our expat groups had mentioned that the market by our house sold them leading up to Thanksgiving. Hallelujah! The last thing I wanted to do was wander all over Berlin for a turkey. So, the week leading up to Thanksgiving before the Ficks arrived, I went to the market and asked about a turkey, thinking I would get it then and would just freeze it. Between my non-existant German and her very basic English*, somehow the message was communicated that I wanted a turkey. When she went to the oven to pull one out, I quickly motioned to the raw chicken on display and she then told me that they only sold them cooked. Or at least that's what I thought.
*most people in Berlin speak almost perfect English, so I never have trouble communicating.
So, fast forward to Thanksgiving Day. Mike Hogan had class that morning, so Mike Fick, Anna and I were set with the task of getting the turkey. We walk down to the market to the same stand, only to find out that they are only selling raw turkeys. Surprise!! Luckily, we only needed a small turkey that didn't need to cook for too long, so we were able to quickly prepare it and let it sit for a few hours while we were out sight seeing. Living abroad...never a dull moment.
Once we figured out the whole turkey situation, we set out for a walking tour that ended with lunch at a Christmas market...on Thanksgiving. #myolmstedexperience for sure. Mike and I have the walking tour down and it's a great way to hit all of the major sights of Berlin in a couple of hours. Maybe one day, I'll blog about it. That is, when I'm all caught up on EVERYTHING ELSE! ha! One day....
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| Merry Christmasgiving! |
While we were at the Christmas market, Anna and I stumbled upon this shop that sold nativities. Growing up, I remember having this wood nativity that was simple and beautiful. It was exactly how I imagined the whole Christmas story. This shop had nativities that were almost exactly like the one we had growing up and I fell in love! Despite the sticker shock, I knew that it would be a worthwhile investment and it didn't help that Anna was already picking out pieces to make her own. By the time the boys finished their beers and arrived in the store, both of us already had our entire nativity assembled and ready. Happy birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Groundhogs Day to me!! One day I'll post a picture....
We wandered around a bit more before heading home to cook the turkey and finish prepping for our feast. Since we were eating so late, we FaceTimed with everyone back in the States as they prepped their meal at the same time we were prepping ours. We ended up eating around 7:30 and by 8:30 were suffering from the post-Thanksgiving slump. We put a large dent in the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad and carrots that were on the menu, but that didn't stop us from eating copious amounts of cheesecake for dessert (half of our people don't eat pie, so cheesecake it was! I can't complain!).
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| Guess which one is mine ;) |
I'd say it was a very successful Thanksgiving, despite a little surprise at the beginning! I'm so thankful that we had some of our best friends to celebrate with. Being away from home and the United States over the holidays is hands down the most difficult part of living abroad for me, so having friends to celebrate Thanksgiving with is the perfect dose of medicine!
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