Ringing in 2009

Getting ready for the countdown on the patio....all bundled up in the 10 degree weather.

Midnight kiss

Our midnight toast on the patio of the castle while the fireworks flew through the sky.

There was one other American couple at the dinner and they were sitting next to us. Turns out, they were therapists. Jason embarassed me by telling her crazy stories about me and then asking her if I should be institutionalized. He sure did provide many laughs for her. I love the look on his face here.

This picture isn't an accident, I purposely took it. I am not an easily embarassed person, but when I walked into our seven course dinner in the dining room of a castle in jeans and saw EVERY other person in the room dressed in sequins and suit jackets, I wanted to die. I asked Jason repeatedly if we should dress up and he said no over and over. He said that he even talked to some Germans and they said that there will be people there wearing jeans and some will be wearing suits, but anything will be okay. That person was wrong. I just can't believe how inadequate I felt. However, I will say that after a few glasses of wine, several courses, and many hours, I bet that many of the other patrons at the castle were wishing they were in a little more comfortable of an outfit.

The beginning of our seven course meal.

My precious Jason

The beginning of our evening.

Jason thought I was a TOTAL idiot when I started to take pictures of my food. The lady across from me understood though and promptly stood up, grabbed my camera, and snapped away.


For New Year's Eve Jason got us a room in a castle. We not only stayed the night there, but we also got to have a seven course meal there and watch fireworks on the patio at midnight. It was simply beautiful. The dinner lasted about five hours, but no one noticed....especially us. We talked to each other and held hands and just had the most wonderful evening. The castle even catered to me with my vegetarian diet and served seven meat-free (and delicious) layers. Jason loved his food too, but I will say, it's a gooooood thing that I am a vegetarian because I'm pretty sure they served every animal possible and I ain't eatin' no possum or dove or pigeon or whatever it was on his plate. Just ain't happening. They even served these frozen fruit drinks in between some of the layers to cleanse our pallettes. We sat at a table with 10 other people and although there was only one other American couple there, our other table mates seemed to be able to carry a decent conversation with us. We were the minority and so we fielded plenty of questions from the locals as well as got a bounty of helpful travel advice. In comparison to the French, the Germans are such a friendly people.