Toys for all the good girls and boys...

Ruby and I went on a road trip last Saturday. We originally planned to visit the city of Seiffen, near the Czech Republic border, back in December but because of the major snow & ice and hectic schedule we decided to wait. I am really glad we did because the 2 lane road there for 65 km was so narrow and winding it would've taken 4 hours to get there instead of one and a half. Instead, we drove through beautiful rolling countryside and farms, and later scenic forests and lakes. Our first photo is of some old castle ruins that we came upon during our drive.

We made it to town and went straight to the Toy Museum. We could tell instantly that we were going to like this place. This area is known for the wooden hand carved Christmas decorations and toys. It is charming. Originally Seiffen was a mining town but because of hard times and the difficult work conditions placed on miners, they started carving wooden toys and decorations; this was convenient because of all the nearby wood. It grew into a major business and today these lovely wooden pieces are shipped all over the world. The pyramids are extremely popular here in the holiday season, in fact, Dresden claims to have the tallest wooden pyramid. The Dresden pyramid is displayed every Christmas season at the local Christmas Market and holds a Guiness World record. The museum is great for children and provided several hands-on wooden toys to play with as well as information about how they make these toys. It is good that we've been practicing our German because there were no English translations, but it was basic enough that we could figure it out. We worked up an appetite looking at the museum and opted for a local biergarten for lunch. This was no ordinary biergarten, it had a pyramid built into the exterior of the building.

All throughout town are wooden carvings (note: even the street signs are decorative). After lunch we spent a couple of hours snooping around, shopping and finding some very special items. I also recall a mandatory stop at the local bakery. On our way home we came across a really wonderful windmill on top of a hill. We just HAD to stop and get pictures. So our windmill photo has nothing to do with our little Seiffen visit, but it was too good not to share. And, now we know who Santa calls for backup when he gets just too busy, these folks can make some wonderful toys and decorations.