Each year we take turns on where we spend Christmas.  This year was our turn to stay in The Netherlands, but we decided to squeeze in a visit to Scotland early in December to spend a couple days with my family in the holiday period too.

We only had two full days in Scotland, so we had limited time to see friends and family. But one thing we could not miss while I was home was spending some time in Edinburgh City Centre.

One thing I do miss about Scotland is the scenery and history.  You don’t find views like these in The Netherlands.

For anyone thinking of visiting Edinburgh at Christmas time, you need to visit The Dome on George Street.  All year round it’s a lovely place to visit, but in December they really go all out with gorgeous decorations.

After walking around the centre and taking in all the sights and sounds, we stopped off in Harvey Nichols for some cocktails and sushi.  The cocktails were delicious and the sushi was good too.  Although it was more enjoyable watching my mother trying to eat sushi for the first time!

After lunch, we said goodbye to my mother and sister and said hello to my best friend Stacey, her partner Mark and their little girl Ellie for a fun evening in the winter wonderland.

Edinburgh’s winter wonderland is pretty well known and each year it seems to get bigger and bigger.

 

Our last full day home we were all planning to have a full Christmas dinner at home but my mother surprised us all by booking a table at a local restaurant.  At first I was a little disappointed because my mother cooks a mean Christmas dinner, but it was actually nice to relax and have someone else serve us… And no dirty dishes at the end of the night!

The rest of the day was spent back at my mother’s house, just relaxing with more family members and drinking a very large bottle of Prosecco that my grandad bought us all.

Christmas in the Dutch culture is a little different from what I am used too.  This is now my second proper Christmas the ‘Dutch way’ and I have to say it is different, but the main key aspects are there. Family time and good food!

Christmas Eve we headed down to Sittard, where my Dutchie’s family is from.  We spent the afternoon with his parents and his nephews, while his sister and partner spent thieir afternoon in the centre.

In the evening we all got together for an intimate and delicious dinner.

 

Once dinner was over and we were all too full to move, it was time to open the presents! This is the one thing I had to get used too, as I am used to open presents on Christmas morning in our PJ’s.

This rest of the evening was spent relaxing, chatting away with Serious Request on tv in the background. Oh and drinking some delicious Gin.

Christmas morning we had a delicious breakfast and since my Dutchie’s nephew needed to go to bed early on Christmas Eve, he got to open his presents in the morning which made it feel more like Christmas for me.

On Christmas day after all the presents were opened and we all got ready, we headed a little closer to home to spend the day with Family in Asten.  There was a telephone ban once we all entered the home of my Dutchie’s Uncle’s, so unfortunately no more photos where taken.

We enjoyed a beautiful five course meal that was prepared by several family members. But what I think we enjoyed most was a day without any phones, a full day eating delicious food and being surrounded by family.

I really do count my blessing that I get the chance to have two lovely Christmases with two amazing families.

Christmas 2017 location should be Scotland, but I am hoping that we are lucky to find our dream home this year and we can spend our first Christmas in our own home.

I really hope everyone had a lovely festive period and got to spend it with loved ones.

 

N x