Back in Michigan - Northville & Plymouth Ice Festival

Lucky me - I was able to go back to Michigan this January! Yes, it was cold as usual but still - I was happy to be back.
The trip started with two hours delay out of Frankfurt (guess they weren't as prepared for snow & de-icing as Detroit) so no time to go to the office this evening - headed directly to the hotel.
Saturday was mainly some preparation of my meetings the next week and my autoshow booth duty so getting more familiar with the presentation material a.s.o. ...
The huge breakfast was a good start (especially in front of the cosy fireplace) but in the afternoon, I was in the mood for some sushi so headed over to Koji for my favorite rolls. Northville was still fully illuminated and looked as pretty as always.

Sunday was up to a wonderful start as I was meeting friends for brunch at Anna's House! Great talks and a salmon breakfast bowl & I was prepared to head over to the Cobo Center for the NAIAS dry run.

Some hours later, on my way back to the hotel, I decided to do a quick stop at Plymouth and check out the ice festival. It was quite cold already so even though the festival was already coming to an end, a bunch of the sculptures were still standing and looked really beautiful - especially with the different lights and illuminated Christmas trees in the background.

I wasn't in the mood for a lonely dinner so just headed back to Novi - but really happy to have had the chance to catch a glimpse of the festival!

Holiday Time & Welcome to a new year!

This Christmas time has been one of the most relaxed ones in the last years - looking at the plans we made as well as how to get to my parents.
Instead of a long flight (missed out on the movies though) and an early morning Starbucks in Amsterdam, I arrived after a pretty easy five hour drive from Stuttgart.
As usual, packed far too much stuff...
Plus time to try a new gin made in Hanover!

We had already visited the Hanover Christmas market end of November, so this time we went to the smaller one at Hildesheim, which has the better Glühwein & great food options.
Located at the historical market place on cobblestoned streets, we shared the "Rahmfladen", a type of sourdough bread with sour cream, bacon & chives as well as some "Poffertjes" - mini fresh made pancakes topped with butter, powdered sugar and orange liquor.

Not to forget the amazing mulled wine at Wein Kusch, though! It comes with your choice of liquor - I went for my usual Tempranillo (red) with pomegranate chili to spice it up. Delicious!

Christmas eve went on as usual- became kind of a tradition to eat seafood before opening the gifts. I really enjoy the lobster, big shrimp and bacon-wrapped scallops.

This year though we went to an earlier mass at the church with my godson watching kids reenacting the Christmas story. Maybe next year he's big enough to join?
My best friend helped us hide the Christmas pickle ornament I bought in Michigan - no, it's not a German tradition ;) but I made it one in our family after having heard about it in the US.
On Christmas day, I visited my godson and watched him unwrap my gifts - initially nervous, I was pleasantly surprised that he liked all of them :) and instantly started playing with his car garage.
The second Christmas day (yes, two holiday days in Germany...), it was family time again with my aunt and uncle coming over for a huge portion of potato pancakes and coffee & cake.
To burn off some of the calories, a group of us went with my godson to a huge indoor playground where I enjoyed feeling like a child again - especially in the big ball pit :D.
We also visited a nearby park with wild animals - I was really happy I got to spend so much quality time with this cute little guy 💓

After some days of relaxing, baking tons of cookies & cake for my parents and playing a bunch of board games, New Year's came along.
This year we kept it relatively quiet, enjoying a nice evening with Negronis, Raclette and games - and watching the fireworks all over town at midnight.

Wishing you all all the best for a wonderful and happy new year!