If you are reading this, that means that I am officially on Christmas Break (!!!) and we are headed out on our Christmas tour of Europe (well, parts of Europe)!
First stop: Charleroi, Belgium for one night (we got a steal of a flight here from Prague) and then an early train over to Cologne! I simply cannot wait for my first German Christmas Market.
To fully appreciate this vacation–as much of a vacation it really is when you’re running around Europe–I’ll be taking some time off from this blog. I’ll pop in a few times, but for the most part, I’ll see you in January!
However, I will be updating regularly on Instagram. Make sure to follow me: @amygreatworld, and for more of our trip, check out the hashtag #eandaeuroxmas.
But first, here are a few things from this week:
So much Christmas love.
Another package in the mail from my family (!!!!!!) which made my week. I’ve always loved getting mail, but getting mail abroad is a whole other high. I’ve also received so many well wishes and little gifts and tokens from my students. One of my favorites was the giant, musical Christmas tree full of shortbread. Another one? A tiny toy dog with a cape…this one may have just been because I gave her a candy cane and in that moment, she loved me so much she had to give me something in return. I’m keeping it in my purse for now in case said student has giver’s remorse! I also loved a tiny gingerbread angel with a broken ring one little girl was too shy to give me, so her mom had to. I’m so ready for break but I may already miss my students!
A highly anticipated afternoon of chocolate.
I met Andrea (who will be moving on to Germany before we return from our trip–and will be sorely missed!) at the Choco Café earlier this week. I’ve been meaning to go for ages and I’m so glad we did! The hot chocolate, pictured above, was certainly rich–and I ordered the one that included milk, some of them were only “spoon” chocolate. Since we also split an old Czech delicacy called hořice rolls, I was glad I didn’t go for the even more chocolatey chocolate. The hořice rolls were surprising good–they didn’t look too impressive, kind of like plain, crunchy crepes. However, they were filled with a light cream and cinnamon and sugar, and of course, anything you can dip in chocolate sauce is never plain. Read a history of the rolls here–according to the story, the original recipe was given to a Czech villager by Napoleon’s personal chef, after she saved his life.
Evolving Christmas decor in our place.
Gifts and candy and a few more candles made this little corner of our flat feel extra festive this week.
More Christmas Markets in Prague.
Mostly Old Town Square because it’s the most classic, but we hit up a few smaller ones in between finishing up classes and packing. Our last visit to Old Town Square, we made sure to sample the potato chips we kept seeing everywhere, and wow! Who knew fresh, warm potato chips could be that good? Sadly this week I was avoiding alcohol since I was still mostly feeling terrible, so I only imbibed hot cider. Still delicious! One night at the market we caught a children’s choir singing Christmas songs. The best one was “Let It Snow” which was a creative mix of Czech and English. The Czech word for snow is “sníh” (sounds similar to “snee”) and it’s pretty funny listening to kids shouting “LET IT SNEE” over and over!
Finally (slowly) starting to feel human again. Just in time for Christmas!
This illness has lasted waaaay too long but the last few days I’ve started to feel better…or maybe the anticipation of the next few weeks is just making me force myself to feel healthier! Either way, I’ll take it. I’ve been bummed to miss out on so many fun holiday plans, and everything else besides just getting healthy has taken the back burner these past few weeks. Now I’m off to inhale more Vitamin C and use some hand sanitizer…just in case!
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How are you feeling festive this holiday season? Do you have a break for the holidays and/or fun plans? And…what are your remedies to avoid getting sick??
Linking up with BYOP with Yalanda and Jamie!
Glad you are starting to feel better!!! I’ve been overdosing on my wellness drink I drink!! I can’t get sick over Christmas!! Thanksgiving was bad enough! Prague Christmas market just seems lovely….and those chips….I would be walking into the square every day for a snack time with those. Have aa wonderful holiday and can’t wait to see your insta updates 🙂
What’s your wellness drink?? I still feel pretty awful (although I seemed to briefly recover over Christmas but now it’s back…is Prague trying to kill me?) so I’m getting desperate. I think maybe working with kids is the culprit! Hope you had a great holiday–happy new year! 🙂 xo
It’s chock full of vitamins and super foods…it’s pretty amazing! It’s not available in CZ but I’m sure I could mail you some if you wanted to try it! I’ve got a few single serving bottles laying around here 🙂 I can’t live without it!! Just email me if you want to try it! Oh it’s called Zeal for Life….
Yay for holiday break! We have one more week! We literally only have Christmas Day off then our official break doesn’t begin until Dec. 27! Your upcoming travels sound so exciting and I can’t wait to see where else you go! Glad you’re feeling better too! I’ve been sick 3 times since being here and each time it’s hung around far longer than any little cold I’d have gotten back home. New germs I guess! Happy Holidays Amy!
How strange that you have break after Christmas! I guess it makes sense for Korea, though.
I was feeling better but now I’m getting sick again…are our new homes trying to kill us??
p.s. Happy New Year! I hope your blog gets fixed ASAP. Let me know if I can help!
Hope you guys have a fantastic time on your Christmas vacation!! I hope you find the doc with the info and links I shared with you to be helpful. Don’t forget to try the hot chocolate at Angelina’s in Paris. It’s a game changer. 🙂 And thanks for mentioning about the chips at the markets. I keep seeing them, but have been hesitant to try them. So … guess what I’ll be having this weekend? 🙂
Oooh I hope you tried them! And I hope you got hot ones because we had cold ones that really weren’t great. I hope you enjoyed them, and I hope you’re enjoying settling into Regensburg! Can’t wait to read more about it. Miss you in Prague!
Also, thank you SO MUCH for your recommendations in Paris. We used so, so many of them and they were all amazing! Especially Angelina’s…sorry Choco Cafe, but they win 🙂
Enjoy your holidays, hopefully illness-free!
Thanks Polly! Happy New Year!
I hope you have a great euro trip!!
Thanks, Kerri 🙂
Aw, Christmas in the flat looks cute! And have a great trip 🙂
Thanks! We tried, while spending as little as possible 🙂 hope you had great holidays!
Have a wonderful Christmas trip!
Thanks, K! I’ve loved reading about your trip home 🙂
Hope you’re having a blast! Going to Choco Cafe has always escaped me but now that I actually see that photo of a hot chocolate in front of me, I know that I’ve simply got to do it sometime this winter… wow! Vesele Vanoce to you and E!
You must give it a shot! It’s a great little cafe and atmosphere, too, even if you don’t like chocolate. I can’t wait to go back. Vesele Vanoce to you and Alex…very belatedly, haha. I’m so behind!
Let is snee!! I have friends with the surname snee, they would get a kick out of that! That tree is massive! Have a wonderful trip x
Cute last name! 🙂
That hot chocolate and those rolls look AMAZING! My holiday plans are visiting my family & in-laws in the States…. super exciting. And I actually feel like total scrooge this week! Here in Lima it’s summer, so it doesn’t feel like Christmas, and we haven’t decorated a lick, so it feels like Christmas is still weeks away, even though it’s only two days away!!! Yikes. Hope you have a fantastic holiday & break!
Although Prague was pretty decorated, it didn’t really FEEL like Christmas until we were smack in the middle of a Christmas market in Germany. Hope you had a great one, even if it didn’t feel like Christmas until actual Christmas 🙂