Last night was Bill’s company’s Christmas party. It was the first one we’d had since 2019, thanks to the pandemic and last year’s “hectic schedules”. There was a company party last February in Mainz that was supposed to make up for not having a holiday gathering last year, but I wouldn’t call it a Christmas party. It was more like a company dinner, followed with trivia afterwards. We skipped the trivia part of the evening, because our elderly dog, Arran, was still with us and needed us at home with him.

Last night consisted of a wine tasting by Domdechant Werner Weingut, followed by dinner in a restaurant, a white elephant gift exchange, ugly sweater contest, and supposedly, karaoke at the end. I like karaoke, but I knew we wouldn’t be making it to that part of the evening, because Bill gets too tired. He actually tried to get us there by cab, but they were so busy last night that we eventually gave up waiting for a ride and drove there. Bill stuck to non-alcoholic beer and just tasting the wines, rather than drinking them.

The party took place in the nearby town of Hochheim, which is a very cute wine centric village. The vintners that did the wine tasting were the same folks who did a Christmas tasting for Bill’s company in 2018. I remember attending that party just a couple of weeks after our initial arrival in Wiesbaden. It’s crazy to think we’ve now been in Wiesbaden for five years! Time really flies!

After the wine tasting, which took place in a chilly “barn”, we went across the street to a very nice place called Restaurant Mediterran. Bill and I had never eaten there before, but I think we’d be pleased to try it sometime. The dining room was quite pleasant, and the food was decent. I’m sure we’d like it more a la carte. What we had last night was a buffet.

To be honest, neither Bill nor I were really in the mood for a Christmas party before we went out last night. It was very cold and dark, and this kind of weather tends to make both of us want to hibernate, rather than socialize. I also don’t know too many people Bill works with, so I end up sitting there making small talk with strangers. But we did end up talking to a really nice couple, and commiserated about once having to deal with shady landlords. Happily, we have much better landlords now.

The white elephant exchange was hilarious, too… Some of Bill’s co-workers are pretty ruthless when it comes to getting the funniest or most entertaining gifts. I was rather partial to the “dogs shitting in beautiful places” calendar, but we ended up with a “make your own gin” kit, which Bill stole from some other person.

We brought a bottle of Riesling and a small wheel of garlic and herb cheese from Henri Willig, which is a Dutch company we order from sometimes. I had an extra wheel from last week’s order, and that turned out to be attractive to a man who sat across from us and loves cheese. He stole it from a very fit looking woman who probably doesn’t eat a lot of cheese. It was, of course, one of the last gifts chosen, because people could tell it was wine, and here in German wine country, we have wines out the ass.

By the time the evening was over, I was glad we went to the party. It was getting kind of late when we left. I’d be surprised if anyone did karaoke, since today is still a work day. ETA: actually, some diehard folks did stay for karaoke, but Bill said they appeared to be dragging!

This morning, we have a slight dusting of snow on the ground, but I’m sure it will be gone by the end of the day. Below are some photos from last night’s festivities. I was mostly focused on the pretty lights, and how charming Hochheim is, especially at this time of year. We’ll have to consider visiting this weekend. They’re having their very small Christmas market, and it’s only going on this week. Or maybe we’ll stay home and hibernate.