Dec 29, 2013 - Jan 1, 2014 -- As we stepped off the plane it felt like we had landed on another planet. A layer of snow covered the tarmac, a strong wind howled through the sky bridge and darkness filled the sky. It was 7:00 local time, and we still had another 4+ hours before the sun would rise. Sarah and I were still running on Portland time with an eight hour deficit, and our bodies reminded us that we should be asleep. But with a new country in front of us and sunrise only a few hours away, we decided to push through the jet-lag and stay awake as long as possible. We were hopeful our sleeping patterns would self-adjust by the next morning.
Dec 16 - 28, 2013 -- Sorry, life has been a bit busy and travel has taken a back seat to busy season. Here's a little recap of our visit back home.
Having only left the US 5 months ago, Jon and I felt like we were cheating on Europe by coming home so soon. While we missed our family and friends back home, we hadn't been gone long enough to be really homesick. Our non-stop flight from Amsterdam to Portland (really, non-stop is the way to go) was quite nice; free in-flight drinks, tons of free movies to choose from and an adorable baby in front of us seemed to make the time pass quickly.  Once we landed and passed through customs, we were whisked us off to Jon’s parent’s house.

Jon and I had a lengthy discussion, prior to our trip, about how we would avoid jet lag. In fact, we had a plan in motion. First things first we stayed up late the days leading up to our flight and slept in later, too (this didn't actually happen, as we fell asleep earlier than normal) and slept most of the way on the plane (again, didn't actually work out that way). So, once we arrived in Portland, all we'd need would be a quick shower and we'd be ready to see and do everything Portland. Well, by the time we got home we were exhausted, almost immediately we were napping for the better part of the day. The following day or two were a bit of a blur, as we were awake at 3 am and on and off the rest of the days.

Dec 5 - 8, 2013 -- Well, this might be the most memorable blog post we've written! Jon and I both fell in love with Paris when we visited in September; so much so, that as we mentioned in our previous Paris post, we booked this return trip the day after returning from our first visit! Fast forward to the last few weeks...

Dec 14, 2013 -- Sarah and I found ourselves with an open Saturday and a rental car, two days before flying home to the States for the holidays. We decided to take advantage of the opportunity to explore a new city in our home country. Delft is only a 45 minute drive from Amsterdam, situated in the South of Holland near Rotterdam. The city is fairly small (around 100,000 residents) so we were both intrigued by the relevance of the city. I've been reading a book about Amsterdam's history and Delft has played a very important role in Holland's rise over the past few centuries. The city's unique history quickly captured our interests and made for a great opportunity to spend the afternoon exploring.
Nov 29 - Dec 1, 2013 -- Jon and I were in need of some Christmas cheer after our last month. We both wanted to escape the dreary weather, leave behind the broken bones and find a cheerful and festive experience to brighten our moods. Cologne, Germany came highly recommended to us and turned into a great opportunity to find that missing Christmas cheer.

Jon warned me ahead of time that we would need to find other things to do besides Christmas stuff, because he would likely get burned out from all-things-Christmas… that’s a harder task than you would think. We had planned on only visiting a few of the seven markets, but quickly learned that Christmas IS Cologne’s major attraction (well, shopping in general). And the city definitely lived up to its holiday season legacy.

We were greeted at the train station with twinkling lights, bows of holly and decorated wreaths. Christmas had arrived! I spent the first hour squealing with excitement! The first night we decided to walk around the city and actually stumbled upon three of the markets. They were all quite similar in concept; freshly cooked food (potato pancakes, kielbasa, chestnuts and glühwein), hand-made gifts and Christmas decorations aplenty. The glühwein was Jon's favorite part of the experience. Similar to the mulled wine we enjoy in the States, but served from decorated ceramic mugs from nearly every corner in the city! Each market carried a different theme in an effort to distinguish from the others. For those that ever find themselves in Cologne around the holidays, our favorite market was one of the big ones situated on the Heumarkt. It had an ice skating rink, several fun little stores, some sort of bowling/curling ice game and a chalet that served glühwein and Austrian beer. We returned several times over the weekend trying to soak up as much holiday spirit as possible! Another market was just off the steps of the Cathedral, complete with a giant Christmas tree and beautiful “roof” of lights above. Here's a fun panoramic picture we took from inside a ski chalet (where we enjoyed more than a few Christmas drinks!).

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