Euro Christmas

So it's Christmas time. (And in Amsterdam, they actually call it Christmas - it's not Happy Holidays, no matter what religion or not religion you are, it's Merry Christmas.) Anyway, we've been partaking in holidays European style and thought we'd share a few:

• German Christmas Bizarre - Roadtrip to Aachen with friends to check one of the many farmer's market style events that take place in the town square. Good excuse to buy random crafty trinkets, taste every German desserts and drink gluhwein (warm spice wine, yum). Pics here.




• Sinterklaas - On the 5th, the Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas (it's for the kids they say). I debated whether or not to mention as it's such an insane tradition to grasp. It involves a Santa looking guy with a pope hat taking a boat from Madrid (right, no water there), along with 'helpers' (up for debate) called "zwarte piets", who happen to be white dutch people painted black. The overall wrongness of this is baffling but the kids go nuts. (David Sadaris tells the story best.) Anyway, for several weeks leading up to Dec. 5, kids get small treats in shoes and then a cooler present delivered on the 5th. And if you've been bad, Sinterklaas takes you back to Spain. So there you go.




• Christmas Tree - Geno surprised me with a tree ... which he hauled on his bike. I'd pay good money for some pics because that tree is heavy! Apparently even the locals stopped to see this vision of Geno. Amsterdam is full of lights and decorations, even a houseboat nearby has Santa on his sleigh with reindeer all in lights. Pics here.

Birds in Atlanta

Turkey time in Atlanta. Yep, we went back for a great Thanksgiving in what was an non-stop feast. It started with Mom and Dad taking us to a delicious Mexican restaurant (something sorely absent from Amsterdam) to help expand our stomachs in prep for Thanksgiving.

The best part of the next day wasn't what was on the table, but everyone surrounding it. My grandmother Maggie is ageless, sister Mendy and brother-in-law Rob Eskew, my aunt Melonie and her family all drove up from Jacksonville, and my niece (Stella) and nephew (Harris) were hanging off both arms. I even ran in to my buddy David Cochran and his family.

Thanksgiving night, more bird! Brother David and I went to see the lowly Falcons (a.k.a. Dirty Birds) play the Colts. We weren't sure if it was the tryptophane from the turkey of the Falcons lack of offense that put the fans to sleep in the second half. Thanks a lot Vick.

The next day was Stella's big day. A puppet show followed by a trip to another favorite, Chick-fil-A. After two sandwiches I was growing feathers and Stella was repeatedly shouting, "Willie can't stop eating!" in complete disbelief.

The fourth day we stopped by my buddy Gordon "Gramps" Wotton's house to see his wife Molly and two boys, Mac and the newest, Cole. Then, thanks to my buddy buddy Brent Allen, I witnessed my beloved GTech Yellow Jackets lose to their rivals from Athens. We capped off that night with laughs supplied by comedian in East Atlanta. We would've never found it, but with Clarke Tate leading the adventure, we couldn't say no.

It was another mad dash home, but Mom and Dad made it a great trip. Thanks y'all! Here's a link to all pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/Stefani.Willis/Atlanta