Guten Tag!

Hello from Germany! We arrived yesterday (12/19) around noon and we were greeted by our friends Brad and Sarah. One of the best feelings in the world (in my opinion) is being out of the country and seeing a familiar face. Another time I experienced this was when I went to Europe in 2011, and Ariel and I met up with my Aunt Margaret and family for a wedding in Italy. We had been traveling all over and were tired and weary at that point. It was so comforting to see my Aunt's face! Anywho, of course we knew we would be seeing Brad and Sarah, because that is why we came to Germany..but it was still nice. So they picked us up from the airport, and we were greeted with pretzels, doughnuts (German style, of course), kinder eggs and more. After leaving the airport and Frankfurt, we headed to Cologne to begin the sight-seeing. 

So the main point of interest in Cologne was this beauty..the Cologne Cathedral, better known as the Dom! Building on the Dom began in 1248. You can read more about it here. What a humbling, breath-taking sight to see. Brad told us before we saw it that it was built to make you feel small, in turn making your recognize how incredible God is. It definitely had that effect. I'm glad we were able to see this sight and several other things while in Cologne. 

This was my favorite stained-glass window in the cathedral. It's just made of tiny squares of glass, but it was beautiful. 

The entrance of the Christmas market. So fun!

Crepe with Nutella and banana. Yes.

The gang. Minus 2!

Today we drove around Illsheim and saw the town. We saw a couple of other small towns near Illesheim, too. 

We passed this cute neighborhood on our way to town.

PICKLES!! All the pickles. Germany and I get along just fine. We went grocery shopping and saw so many yummy and interesting things. By the way, for my pickle lovin' people (Maranda:), we got some saure gurkin dills and they were amazing! 

That would be reindeer meat.

I love the roads in these small towns.

Most of the buildings have this same picturesque style. I really liked getting to see the homes and businesses. 

Tomorrow we will see what other sights we can see!