Girl Meets Globe

08 December 2013

The Day to Day

Tina @ Girl-Meets-Globe December 08, 2013 0

I have found blogging to be all consuming lately and just haven't been able to keep up with the writing, photo editing, reading and interacting with other bloggers. I just can't find the time to do it all. I'm slow at writing, slow at editing and with 3 kids I get interrupted about a bagillion times a day! That's in between the cleaning and cooking and all the other needs of my family. I've been at this blog for about 7 years now and I have no plans of giving it up, but I am just not one that can be a consistent blogger. I don't want it to be something that I come to despise because I feel I have to get a blog post up three times or even once a week. I truly appreciate those of you that keep coming back to this space even if I'm inconsistent. That said I can't say that I've been doing anything grand as of late. It's just the every day tasks on top of being smack dab in the middle of Christmas season. I wish I could say we were attending Christmas markets and other fun Christmasy things in our area, but money is tight and we're just trying to get through the holiday season and keep our kids focused on the true meaning of Christmas and not every. single. toy and cool gadget they see on tv! So, what have we been up to? We had a great Thanksgiving and hosted 4 families totaling 14 people in our house for dinner. I wasn't a big pie eater growing up. I don't like the traditional pecan, apple & pumpkin. Then I married into Jerry's family and learned about chocolate and coconut cream pie. Now that's the kind of pies I love!

One of the friends that came has a turkey fryer. Such a treat to have fried turkey in England!!

I made Alison's grandmother's rolls for a Thanksgiving office party. I will never use another roll recipe ever again!

We decorated the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. We have a small house, but we had space for 2 trees......MY tree and the "sentimental/let the kids decorate it however they want" tree!

This is my tree, I couldn't get a good IPhone photo of the kid's tree. I'll share it later.

A letter for each of our names.

My new friend this winter season. Keeps my toes warm every night.

Took a friend to a cute little pub for a birthday lunch and got to sit by this roaring fire. So quaint!

Sweet friends, Clare & Charmaine. Our boys are the best of mates! Our girls are all different ages, but they love to play with each other too. I'm so thankful for these 2 friends!

A couple of months ago Jerry had the brilliant idea of taking each of our kids on a breakfast date before church on Sunday mornings. We rotate each week and they get one on one time with each of us. It's been so fun to be able to do this!

Recently the downtown walking areas of Horsham were re-cobbled. There are several of these plaques placed in the stones giving you interesting historical facts and information about Horsham. It is fascinating! And I guess a little disturbing sometimes too!

And that there is the exciting life of Girl Meets Globe and her family. Thanks for keeping up with us and our fascinating lives! Have a great week!

Christmas Across Europe

Tina @ Girl-Meets-Globe December 03, 2013 0

I'm joining in another Travel Tuesday with Bonnie and this week we're talking about travel destinations during the holidays.
We've had the joy of living in 5 different countries throughout our 14 years in Europe, so I thought I would share Christmas, history & traditions in each place we've lived.
Russia
During Soviet times, Christmas activities were adopted into New Year's Eve celebrations. In 1991, Christmas was reestablished as a public holiday on January 7, based on the Julian calendar followed by the Russian Orthodox Church. December 25 has little meaning to Russians other than they know it is widely celebrated by western countries.
New Year's Eve is celebrated with lots of family, friends, gifts and food!!! As well as staying up all night long to celebrate, which we joined in a couple of times. January 7th is observed by attending Christmas programs at church.

My Russian nesting dolls, Дед Мороз (Santa Claus), Снегу́рочка (Snow Maiden), and снеговик (Snowman)

Novy Arbat Street in Moscow all lit up in 2001.

с Новым годом (translated "With the New Year"), on the building below is wishing you a Happy New Year/Merry Christmas.

Czech Republic
Christmas is typically celebrated on Christmas Eve. As my Czech friend explained to me, they get all their cooking out of the way so they can relax and enjoy the family on Christmas Day. Cookies are made throughout December to give to family and friends. I've been told that up to 15 different types of cookies might be baked.
Carp is the traditional Christmas meal. Turkey was and is expensive and thought of as a rich man's meal. So, carp became the traditional dish of Christmas. I've even been told many don't even like it, but serve it out of tradition. We are not fans of carp, so we never joined in this Christmas tradition. Big tubs of live carp are set up on street corners across the country. To keep it fresh, people will keep it alive in their bath tubs until the big day.
In 2009 this Vodafone ad was all over the city at Christmas time. It is my all time favorite. Cracks me up!
Wrestling a Christmas carp!

Christmas 2009

Old Town Square with the Christmas market set up.

Spain
Christmas festivities take place on Christmas Eve including midnight mass.
Department store in downtown Madrid, 2010.

Another tradition connected to Christmas is Three Kings Day celebrated on January 6. The kings followed the star to find and meet the King of Kings, Jesus, and offer the gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh.
On the morning of January 6th, children eagerly wake to see what gifts have been left in and around their shoes by the kings.
Notes to the kings.

Gifts from the kings.

Coal (crystalized candy found in stores) might be left if you haven't been good!!

King Cake, similar to the cake at Mardi Gras. Inside the cake is a small prize and a bean.

Whoever gets the prize will have good luck all year. Whoever finds the bean must pay for the cake!

My Three Kings.

Austria
Christmas markets!!
Rathaus in Vienna.

Christmas Market at Schloss Hof near the Slovakia border.

Streets of Vienna.

Prater, in Vienna, all decorated for Christmastime.

It seems I didn't take any photos of the Christmas Market at Schonbrunn, so I'll just give you a photo of the palace itself.

Another aspect of Austrian tradition is the Krampus Festival. The Krampus came about pre-Christian times with roots in Germanic folklore. A beast-like creature thought to punish naughty children. You can see a video of the parade below.

I never attended the parade as it's not a tradition I wish to share with my children. I thought it deserved a mention though. The masks can be found in the Christmas markets. They are quite elaborate and expensive.
England
I don't actually have photos of Christmas in England as of yet, except for these photos from 2 years ago when we flew in to London on Boxing Day (December 26th). We visited the gift shop at Buckingham Palace and saw these cute crown ornaments that the kids had to try on!

We've had some memorable Christmas' in some beautiful places. Learned some interesting and sometimes weird traditions and joined in on celebrations that have become our own. And we're the better for it!
What memorable holiday season have you had away from home?

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25 November 2013

Tenby, Freshwater West & Irish Ferries

Tina @ Girl-Meets-Globe November 25, 2013 0

While in the gift shop at Pembroke Castle to buy some souvenirs, I asked the very kind and friendly worker if there was anything else to do in Pembroke. She told me "absolutely nothing." Ha! However, she mentioned Freshwater West, a beach near town that was the backdrop for Shell Cottage in Harry Potter and where the 2010 version of Robin Hood was filmed.

Then, she asked if we liked quaint little fishing villages. Who doesn't?!

She told us about the nearby town of Tenby. We decided to go there first.

We wandered through town, grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the beach.

We had no idea that this would greet us!!

The sun was going down which only increased the beauty of it all!

Oh, to wake up to this view every day!

We had a little mishap while wandering around the beach. My father-in-law got ahead of us and found himself a bit lost. Luckily, we found him before it got too dark but we didn't get many more photos after that.

I was able to snap this last one before it got completely dark.

Tenby, Wales, expat, travel, village, quaint

One day I'd love to go back and explore more of this quaint little village.

The next morning before getting on the ferry to Ireland we drove to Freshwater West beach. Amazing!!! Beach and grass covered sand dunes! It was beautiful!!

Freshwater West, expat, travel, beach, Pembroke, Wales

It's understandable why this beach has been in several films.

Mid-afternoon we headed to the ferry port to head to Ireland. The ferry was comfortable. Sleeping cabins, play area for kids, restaurant, cafe serving Costa Coffee with wi-fi and a football game playing in one area on a medium-sized screen.

We had a good experience with Irish Ferries. If it just weren't for the fact that Karis gets motion sick. It's a bit of rough sea between Wales & Ireland this time of year and the medicine I gave her didn't help! I gave her a stronger med coming back and it was much better! We probably won't take the ferry again, unless it's from the northern port, which is much shorter.

Next up I'll be sharing our various outings in Ireland, but we were off to a good start after our time in Wales.

Have you been to Wales? I look forward to exploring more in the future.

I'm linking up with Bonnie again for Travel Tuesday.

Pembrokeshire on Dwellable

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08 December 2013

The Day to Day

03 December 2013

Christmas Across Europe

25 November 2013

Tenby, Freshwater West & Irish Ferries

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