One of my very favorite things about Europe is that they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, meaning you get a super long Christmas celebration (sorry Thanksgiving!).

Since my brother had to go back to Colorado we decided to drown our sorrows over his departure by driving to Germany to check out their legendary Christmas markets (Weihnachtsmärkte).

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Germany, but one look at this stormy sunset view, and my mind changed completely:

We stayed in a cute residential area between Düsseldorf and Cologne. The house was modern eclectic, which I loved!

This area of Germany is gorgeous but honestly, the markets are off the charts. We had a rental car, which meant we could drive to all the best ones.

The markets were amazing, filled with so much cozy Christmas spirit. I couldn’t stop smiling!

And the food, OH the food. Every market smelled amazing, and we definitely over indulged on some incredible German food.

Surprisingly, we were walking Lilly through Düsseldorf, we discovered Schloss Benrath, which is an adorable pink palace. There was a small market out front with glittery balls strung up.

Pastel inside and out, I was tickeled pink (see what I did there?!) with the discovery.

Jeremy and I talk a lot about how it often happens that the place we’re least looking forward to, is the place we enjoy the most.

Germany was one of these times, we all enjoyed it much more than we expected! And like always, the Germans were just in love with Lilly (happens everywhere we go!)