Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers is encouraging us to celebrate the 2011 Christmas season with a series of posts called the Advent Calendar of Memories. This is today’s entry.
Did you or your ancestors travel anywhere for Christmas? How did you travel and who travelled with you? Do you remember any special trips?
My family never went away at Christmas time as it was simply too expensive being peak-holiday season, and I guess, as with all work situations, the bosses were pleased to have someone who was happy to stay on duty during this period. So the furthest we went for Christmas was across Brisbane to my maternal grandfather’s house. As we didn’t have a car it could be quite a journey by public transport and I would amuse myself learning to spell Woolloongabba, the suburb where we changed between the trolley bus and then tram to Buranda. My grandfather had been widowed by then so the different families would also take food for a Christmas meal. I wasn’t best pleased when my mechanically-minded cousin would investigate how my new toys worked, or when one of my rougher cousins simply went into destructo mode.
In 1992 my husband and I made a special trip to Europe via the US in the six weeks before Christmas. We loved all the wonderful sights we saw, especially the Bavarian Christmas markets, the snow and the trees being wrapped in onion bags. Not to mention drinking gluhwein while eating bratwurst on crunchy rolls! On the return sector we were in New York in the week leading up to Christmas so we saw, and heard, the Santas with their bells, skaters at Rockefeller plaza, angel decorations and wonderful lights. We vowed we’d go back one Christmas but so far haven’t made it though two of our daughters celebrated Christmas Day there a few years back. A definite item for the travel Bucket List!
Family history across the seas 
New York City is certainly beautiful at Christmas time: the skaters, Macy’s windows, the lights everywhere & all the people. On our last visit there was snow everywhere and sidewalks were reduced to a single lane. It was difficult to get anywhere. We still had fun.
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It all sounds beautiful…except I can’t imagine the crowds having to be in a single land on the sidewalk. Definitely have to have it on the travel Bucket List.
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