After five years of Christmas As a Second Language, we are in the heart of it all.

Obernai, Strasbourg, family, children, Santa, gluhwein, trees with thousands of tiny lights, and thick bricks of homemade gingerbread.

The CB radios helped us all keep tabs on each other as we wandered through the streets of Obernai and Riquewihr.  These kids are pretty cute!

Nougat, anyone?  How about a whole kilo, Pamela?

So who was it that first decided to enrobe a block of caramel-covered nougat in chocolate and call it a Snickers?  Sheer brilliance.  Because straight nougat without the chocolate is a little sweet.  Cloying, almost.  The kids had samples here too!

Look, Oma found the Gluhwein!

Mmmm, a pretzel with bacon and cheese.  Bacon and cheese on everything….

We paused from the markets to warm up in a little WeinStub, where the lunch menu offered various forms of potatoes and cheese, some with the option of bacon and more cheese.  Oma reminisced over the “boiled dinners” of her youth, while Dad, Mike and Pamela unflinchingly downed about 10 pounds of Personal Pan Gut Bomb.  Did you guys really just eat all that cheese?  Good Heavens.

Leila’s lunch was a little weirder.  How many forms of pork can you serve to someone who doesn’t generally eat pork?  Turns out, quite a few.

Hats, candles, ornaments, little villages, and paper cones of roasted nuts.  Kiosks of street food are always the best part of traveling.  Germany has pretzels, Paris has crepes, Belgium has waffles, Poland has fried cheese, Strabourg has Pretzel Beignets.  I wonder what will Austria have?

After we were stuffed to the brim with cheese and Biere Noelle, we stumbled back outside to get our circulation moving again.  This could be romantic…

We strolled down the cobblestones a few more times, stopping to get pictures in front of Christmas trees and watch the teddy bears waving their hands from the windows.  Our kids have been SO good, but the sun is going down soon so maybe it’s time to start back home and see how Paul, Jaclyn, and Noelle are doing?  We missed them today!  Yes, definitely time to start back home.

We will be back to do more of this tomorrow!