Home Sweet Home

I am currently really home sick. I miss Europe, but most of all my hometown Berlin, my family, the food, and Switzerland the most. I decided to show you a little of where I am actually from and what I miss so much. 

Berlin...my hometown:

Berlin at Night

Common Street in Berlin

Peninsula in Spree River

The German White House

Christmas Time Downtown

I love little shopping places like this in Downtown 

Downtown Berlin

I was born and raised in Berlin, the capital of Germany and had the greatest time growing up there. I lived in Berlin my first 20 years of my live and spent most of my summers in our cutest little cabin in the french part of Swiss Alps...where I also fell in love with the sport snowboarding and the mountains in general. My family ended up being in Switzerland a lot and we made it our second home. We traveled from there to Italy, France, Liechtenstein and other countries as they where in such close proximity. My favorite memories are from our adventure road trips when my mom and dad decided, while vacationing in Switzerland, to just pack our bags the following day and start driving anywhere we felt like going. Those trips where sooo fun for my sister and I and we got to experience most of Europe this way...just driving with our parents from one local village or big city to another and eating the best foods, ice creams, and buying unique cloths. :) 

More Pictures of Berlin

The TV Tower

Our Castle Charlottenburg

The Brandenburg Gate

The River 'Spree' That Flows Trough The City

Concert Hall Downtown

Back in Germany, I was involved in the sport called European Team Handball, which is so much fun and you will never understand until you actually play it...it's in the Olympics and huge in Europe. My club was called Reinickendorfer Fuechse (translated North Berlin Foxes)...soooo funny ;). I had so much fun playing it though and I have my Tricot (#9) here in the states as well as the ball haha...I remember breaking fingers and my knees just being open all the time from playing. Our team traveled all over Germany for tournaments and we even got to go on trips to Sweden...which is like the Mecca of Handball. Anyway, it doesn't really exist here in the US and I never get to play it anymore...sooo sad.

Our Family Residence:

I miss our home so much :(

My Dad trying to be funny ;)

I also miss European food! Everyone always asks me what German food is like and if we eat sausages all the time? It's so weird but what can I say we do have a lot of different kind of sausages in Germany and lots of beer but it's not like we eat and drink that all the time. Our cuisine is actually made up of so many different things since in Europe all  nations are so close we all adapt foods from everyone and just mix it up a lot. We have lots of salads, pasta (Italian food is like mexican food over here...it's everywhere), middle eastern, and lots of potatoes, different meats and vegetables. Recently, I started to cook German Pancakes for Craig and he loves them soooo much...they are different than American Pancakes and we put sugar and apple sauce on them...yummmie :).  Another German dish I like to make is salad with lemon juice and sugar...I love it and it might sound weird to most of you but its so freakin delicious. You can eat potatoes and sunny side up eggs with it and it's the perfect summer dish. Then there is the cream cheese and tomato sandwiches, which Craig absolutely loves. It's a slice a of bread with cream cheese, sliced tomatoes, thinly sliced onions and salt and pepper on it. I love them too :). There are just so many other dishes that I grew up with and are really delicious and if you ever want to eat anything like that just come and hang out with us in Park City and I'll cook you something German.

German Food :)

Yummie...typical German Dish

German Asparagus and Potatoes

 

My Mom :)

Switzerland Pictures:

Switzerland Vacation - Champery

Little cutes Cabin

Skiing with my Mom :)

Hiking by the Matterhorn

Taking a break...Beautiful Alps

Swiss Town where our Cabin is located at

My Dad

My parents at the Matterhorn in Switzerland

I am so excited to take Craig next summer to Europe and also celebrate my wedding one more time with my family. I want the food to be all the things I grew up with and have a big celebration with my high school friends and all of my family members. My grandparents are bakers and they will make my second wedding cake and I am so excited for it. They used to have their own bakery and all they baked was cookies and cakes...can you imagine growing up and dunking you entire arm into melted milk chocolate? Well, when my sister and I were little we would sometimes spend a few weeks during the summer at our grandparents and they take us to their bakery and all we do is run around half naked and taste every goodie that was around and stick half of our bodies in melted chocolate buckets to then lick it off ourself...kind of gross I know but we loved that and it's one of my favorite memories from back home. My grandparents would send us every Christmas so many freshly baked cookies and everytime we had a birthday we got a big old cake baked by them...with whatever we wanted in or on it. I loved it!

I am determined to make a point to go back home at least once a year if not twice after Craig and I are getting married. I feel like I am missing out on my family and their lives a lot. I also want my children to grow up with my German family and experience my culture...it's just so beautiful over there that I want to make sure my family knows what I call home and that they are always going to be welcome there. I miss my family so much and I love Europe and Germany and I can't wit to share it with Craig...and whoever wants to come with us on our future visits :)