Christmas trip to Europe

Hello everyone! I can't believe I didn't post for the entire month of January. After we got back from our two-week Christmas trip to Europe I developed a sort of aversion to being in front of the computer! I really did! I didn't blog, I didn't list anything on my Etsy shop, I didn't even post photos on my Facebook page of my trip for a few weeks! I think it was the post holiday blahs. January is really my least favorite month of the year.  Now that February is here, I'm slowly coming out of my hibernation.

Even though it's February, I want to take you back to Christmas and share some photos from our trip to Europe.  We were there from December 14-29 and stayed in seven different towns/cities. Europeans really know how to celebrate Christmas! Everywhere we went, there were markets and decorations and plenty of food!

Our first stop was Bruges, Belgium.  If you've been to Bruges, you'll recognize the building below. It's one of the most photographed corners of Bruges.  I loved how there were large Christmas lights in the trees.

 Swans swam in the canal that ran around the building.

In Brussels they had a light show at Grand Place every night. The buildings were lit up with lights that flashed on and off to music.

We stopped at Orval Abbey on our drive from Brussels to Luxembourg because Orval is one of Mr. H's favorite beers.  It was so fascinating to walk around the ruins of the old abbey.

We were pleasantly surprised by Luxembourg.  We didn't really know what to expect. It is such an underrated city! An area of Luxembourg is built on two levels! It was so neat.

On to Strasbourg, France...their decorations were so fun!  This is a building decorated with huge teddy bears!

They had fun Christmas markets, too.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany was my favorite town for Christmas. Being in the town felt like we were in a giant Christmas globe!

Munich was where we spent actual Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  Because the restaurants closed early on Christmas Eve we decided to get a spread of meats and cheeses for our hotel room for dinner. It was delicious!

Munich's town squares were beautifully decorated.

Prague was our last stop. It was very pretty.

We even got some culture in and went to an opera. We saw Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre.

Now that I'm back I am looking forward to catching up with all of my blog friends! I also want to let you know that my blog may be turning a slightly different direction. I started this blog because I wanted to share my love of home decor. Thanks to this blog I discovered a new passion, sewing! It all started when I made new seat covers for my outdoor chairs. You can read this post here. After I made those seat covers, I just kept on sewing! Since sewing is what consumes any free time I have, it only makes sense for me to capture that in this blog otherwise I'd have nothing to post about! I do hope you all stay and follow along with my projects, but I can understand if you don't. Not everyone interested in home decor is interested in sewing.  With that said, it feels nice to be back :)

Christmas the European way

Mr. H and I make it a priority to travel out of the country at least once a year. I understand that not everyone can afford this "luxury" but we do make sacrifices to be able to do this because I think it's so important to see the rest of the world.   This year we decided to see how the Europeans celebrate Christmas! We leave this weekend.  Here are the places we'll be visiting:

Bruges, Belgium

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 Brussels, Belgium

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Luxembourg

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Strasbourg, France

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Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

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Munich, Germany

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Prague, Czech Republic

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I can't wait to visit all the Christmas markets, drink the mulled wine and eat the yummy Christmas treats! If anyone has any suggestions on places to visit and things to do in any of these cities, please share them with me!

Travel to Burgundy Wine Country

Today I want to take you on a trip to France, where my love of all things French began.  We are going to Burgundy wine country to a little village called Pommard.  

Mr. H and I went to France last summer and of the seven places we stayed, Pommard was my favorite.  Yes, I loved Paris' cosmopolitan vibe, its architecture, its culture, its fashion, its food!  But Pommard showed me the romantic countryside, the quiet slow-paced lifestyle of vineyards and wineries.  It's a very small village with a little over 500 inhabitants.  The closest town is Beaune which is about a 10 minute drive.  Pommard's main production is wine.

We stayed at Le Clos du Colombier, a bed and breakfast ran by a husband and wife team who were very hospitable and spoke excellent English.  Their property is surrounded by their vineyard.  One of the first things I noticed about Pommard was how fragrant the air was.  Lavender, herbs, and flowers mingled to create a soft scent that perfumed the entire village.

We enjoyed each evening sitting out amongst the grapes enjoying wine, cheese, and bread.

We took a tour of the Olivier LeFlaive winery and vineyards which is located in nearby Puligny-Montrachet.  Olivier LeFlaive is very highly regarded for its white wines.  I am more of a red wine drinker so I learned a lot about white wines on the tour.  We were fortunate enough to be guided by one of the LeFlaive brothers, Patrick.

The village was so quaint, peaceful and beautiful. I left a piece of my heart there.