Surviving Thanksgiving - by going to Germany...!

So I made it past Thanksgiving.  Typically my favorite holiday (no gifts to buy or wrap, no candy to gorge upon!), celebrating Thanksgiving this year was not something to which I was looking forward. It was about a year ago when I went to Texas to bring back my elderly Mom to stay with us over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. While I drove back with her, chattering about everything under the sun on the long drive in our rental car, I had utterly no idea that this would be the beginning of the end. That she would never again return to that house. That in a short span of 6 weeks I would become a "motherless daughter", not to mention someone with no parents.

Thanksgiving Day last year is when I finally realized that things were not going as great for Mom physically as I had originally thought. I knew she'd been slowing down and having a few minor issues, but that day stands out in my mind as finally cementing that things were becoming different. Without delving into more depressing details, suffice it to say that I did not relish the idea of reliving my mother's last Thanksgiving. I just was not in the mood for turkeys, football or black Friday shopping. I needed something to take my mind off it all. That something came in the form of my 14 year old son remarking that he would love to go to Frankfurt, Germany to see a Vermeer painting they had at a museum there. Please remember that due to working for the airlines, we can fly for free - on a space available basis, that is.  I started to remark that considering Thanksgiving is supposed to be the most heavily traveled holiday of the year, it wouldn't be possible - when hubby piped up by saying that actually, it *would* be something we could technically do, as he'd already checked the loads for international flights and they all looked wide open. Who knew Americans prefer to celebrate their American Thanksgiving holiday in the states?! So traveling across the pond at that time would not actually be impossible. Well, that's all it took. My son began to badger me. And badger me. And badger me. He is like a dog with a bone when he gets an idea into his head. He convinced me that we could leave on a Tuesday and get back that same week on Black Friday. Hubby could stay home with my daughter, who had a school event she couldn't get out of, and *I* could spend my Thanksgiving in Frankfurt - guaranteed not to jog any melancholy memories of mom and last year.  Hmmm.... seriously?? Could I really do this? Well, I'm nothing if not spontaneous, so after verifying once again that the loads still looked good (and that we probably would even end up getting first class!) - and checking to see if there were any decent and relatively inexpensive hotels available in Germany over those days, I actually bit the bullet and pulled the trigger!  Yes - you may officially call me insane!

And amazingly, it all went smooth as clockwork. We got first class. We landed. Went to the museums. Slept! Walked all over the downtown, toured the famous Christmas Markets - (with me enjoying a few glasses of gluewein in the process!) and ate some incredibly delicious German meals.

 

Enjoying a nice hot  mug of "Gluhwein" 

Christmas Market downtown Frankfurt

Mother and Son in front of the Christmas Market 

Our "Thanksgiving Meal"!

Crazy as it was - I'm totally glad we did it!  And lest you worry about hubby and darling daughter not getting a Thanksgiving dinner - never fear. I cooked the entire traditional meal for them upon our return!

So now I'm back home, rested and ready to tackle the upcoming holidays. My next post should have me in full Christmas mode, decorating the Retro Ranch Retreat with some of Mom's retro Christmas decorations which I inherited - AND the *new* vintage Christmas tree will hopefully be up and displayed in all it's glory, as well  Until then.... "Auf Wiedersehen"!