Christmas in Germany

Arrived in Germany on the 23rd and the trip was a Pain In The Arse. Walked to the bus station at 7 am, caught the bus to Bilbao (2 hours 15 min), a bus from Bilbao to Santander (1 hour 30 min), plane to Frankfurt Hahn (2 hours), a bus to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (1 hour 45 min), train from Frankfurt to Giessen (45 min) and then when my uncle picked me up, it was another 20 minute drive to his house. The thought of the return trip gives me nightmares. (Photo: Great uncle, receiving Christmas gift of fish roe from my parents, which arrived on the 24th. He looks forward to it every year)

But otherwise, I had a fantastic Christmas. My great aunt cooked lovely food and lots of biscuits as usual, and we decorated the tree, went for walks in the woods and fields and watched the candles on the Christmas tree go out one by one on Christmas eve.

It was almost exactly the same as it was two years ago, except my cousin Jennifer replaced my sister Lisa and I only stayed two nights. We stayed in the house of my great uncle's neighbour, in her son's old room. It was a great room, with an electric guitar (which I had fun with), blue and green light bulbs, a plaster of his girlfriend's breasts, band posters, flags and bottles of tequila and whiskey. AND in the bathroom was an actual tanning bed that I wanted to try out for novelty's sake but I didn't get a chance.

It was nice to see both my cousins Jennifer again. And speak in Taiwanese with my great uncle. Speaking Taiwanese always makes me feel like I'm home because I only ever do it with my family.

Then in the afternoon of the 25th, I caught the train to Cologne, where Lily picked me up from the station. I don't get how the train prices work. It took me 2.5 hours and cost 28 euros, whereas if I'd caught one that took me 20 minutes less, I would have had to change trains twice and pay 73 euros. How is that intelligent?