The hotel that we are staying at is called The Excelsior. The rooms are small but very adequate. The free minibar includes juice, water, beer and soft drink (only two bottles of each though) and is replenished daily. Breakfast is open from 5-11am and then there is a table in the lobby that serves complimentary tea, coffee and cake. The hotel is situated across the road from the main train station and there are always taxis out the front should you need to go somewhere else.

We made our way to Scott’s place on Christmas Eve morning where he cooked us perogi for breakfast. It was a store-bought variety filled with mushrooms and sauerkraut and he fried them up with butter and pieces of speck, yum! Then we got down to business….making more perogi! This was a fun family affair enjoyed while drinking kir royales and listening to George Michael.

We had tried to find a leg of ham to bake for dinner when we’re in the Rewe the previous day but were informed (by a lovely lady who took pity) that it was not a tradition in Germany, and it would be difficult to source. We settled for a nice roast pork instead, with extra thick fat….hello crackling! The day was filled with singing, dancing, food and laughter. Topped off with traditional apfel strudel served with hazelnut liqueur ice cream. Scott was a very good host who made sure a glass was never empty and a belly was never rumbling.

The weather on Christmas Day was still overcast and around 6 degrees. We had a lazy morning, going back to the hotel room for showers and then returned to Scott’s place where he cooked up leftover roast pork, bigos and perogi. Then we grabbed a Car2go and drove to the other side of the bridge to the old town. The streets were once again cobblestone lined and the buildings dated back to the 1400s.

The afternoon slump had hit so we decided to stop somewhere for a coffee. There were not a lot of places open but we managed to find a cosy little Italian restaurant with a most welcoming hostess. We ordered beer, coffee, minestrone and tiramasu. The restaurant was loud with people celebrating and there was a kind little dog called Jarna running around stealing scratches. Once our batteries were recharged we explored some more and then set off for home. It had been a short, 10minute drive there but somehow Scott got lost on the way back and it took 3 times that long! We got to see some beautiful buildings along the way.

When we finally returned, the sun had set and there were quite a few people now out and about on the streets, which we weren’t expecting on a cold Christmas Day. we noticed an Australian bar on Scott’s street called Kakadu’s. We decided to humour ourselves and stop in for a drink. The place was decked out in photos of Australian flora and fauna and the menu featured kangaroo, emu and crocodile…no vegemite though. We ordered a round of cocktails and a fried finger food platter with onion rings, calamari, jalapeño poppers, fried chicken and tiny potato wedges. Nothing spectacular. After we went back to Scott’s for a couple of drinks before retiring for the night.