Pig Fest 2016

Today we went to a local event called Säubrennerkirmes also known as pig fest. When we first got there we watched the parade which is suppose to show the history of why there is a pig fest in Wittlich. The story is that a guard used a carrot to keep a gate closed one night and a pig came and ate it and attackers entered so they gathered up all the pigs and roasted them.

Bringing the pigs to be roasted

the little pigs with their carrots

After the parade we met up with a friend of ours and we got something to eat. The pigs weren't done being roasted yet so we settled of a cheese stuffed bratwurst wrapped in bacon. After we ate we went to the area of the festival with the rides.

This festival had the most rides i've seen at a festival here. They had bumper cars, ferris wheel, and a few kids rides among others. We spent a bit of time at the rides because our friend has an almost 2 year old. After the rides we walked around for a little bit and looked at the stands. They were selling mostly the same stuff as usual, food, candy, wooden toys among other things. 

On our way back to the car we saw them roasting the pigs. It was a fun event that was only about 20 minutes from where we live. Im glad we went this year but I wish we had made it to it last year since this is our last summer in Germany so we won't be able to go back next year. 

Sankt Wendeler Ostermarkt 2016

Today we went back to our favorite Easter Market in Sankt Wendel. Last year we went on a Sunday and it wasn't as crowded but today it was packed. Our usual parking area was full so we had to find another parking garage which wasn't to difficult but there was a bit of traffic leading up to it.

After parking we made our way to where the market was and looked around at a few stands. We then decided to get some lunch since it was after 12. Bill and I each got a käsegriller which is a sausage that has cheese inside of it. It is one of our favorites. 

After lunch we walked around to see what each stand had to offer. They had stands selling cheese, baked goods, and food. Stands that were selling Easter and spring decor and then some stands were still selling knit hats and gloves since its still pretty cold here in Germany and we got some snow last week. The one thing I needed to buy was another painted egg because unfortunately the one I bought at the market last year broke. Thankfully I found the stand I bought my egg from last year and was able to buy a new one.

Im sure everyone remembers the infamous Easter Dragon. He was out and about with his friend the Easter Lion. Bill and I both love the markets that are put on in Sankt Wendel thats why we have been to the Easter market twice and we will be returning to the Christmas market in December. Our favorite part and the main reason we keep going back is for the chimney cakes. Chimney cakes are similar to fried dough but they are cooked over coals on a metal rod. They are absolutely delicious. We looked in the area that the chimney cakes had been in last year and they weren't there. We made it our mission to find where they moved them. We had just about gave up after walking the entire market and were about to start heading to the car when I spotted the chimney cake stand. So Bill and I each got a cinnamon and sugar chimney cake. After we ate the cakes we made our way to the car. We spent about an hour and a half at the market and we had a great time. Sankt Wendel will definitely be a place we will miss when we leave Germany.

Ice Star Wars Liege, Belgium 2016

Bill and I went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens earlier this week so we rounded out our weekend with going to Liege, Belgium to see the Star Wars ice sculptures. Every year in Liege they do Disney ice sculptures and this year was Star Wars. Bill is a big Star Wars fan so I knew this was something we had to see. Liege is about an hour and a half from where we live. We got to Liege about 1:45pm. From the website it seemed like parking was an easy thing to find. Well the first address I had for parking led us to a parking garage that you had to have a pass to get into and then the second just led us to the end of a round about.

We ended up finding parking on the side of the road and so we just went with it. Of course at this point I had no idea where to go because according to the website the parking garages were right next to the ice sculptures and I didn't have the gps address to look it up on our gps. So we decided to walk towards where the first garage was suppose to be. Now this wouldn't have been an issue except for the fact that it was pouring rain out and we didn't have an umbrella. I knew the building was right next to the train station so we ended up finding that. We went into the train station first to use the restroom since its hard to find a public restroom in Europe. After that we walked across to the ice sculpture building. We're soaking wet and about to enter a building that is 20ºf. We stood under the pavilion for a bit to dry out as much as we could before going in.

Almost as soon as we got into the exhibit our hair froze solid. The detail in the sculptures was amazing and actually looked like the characters from the films.

Inside the exhibit they had a ice slide that you could go down and also a bar where they were serving alcohol. Only in Europe when your inside a freezer do you drink to keep warm.

We were inside for about 30 minutes and we had seen it all and we were both really cold so we decided to head out.

Once you leave the ice sculpture room they have a heated sitting area where you can buy snacks and drinks. Bill and I each got a waffle because you can't go to Belgium and not get a waffle. After we ate and warmed up a bit we made our way back to the car. The rain had slowed down a bit so it wasn't as bad of a walk as it had been coming down. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to get out of the house again after the break we took after all the Christmas markets we did in November and December.