Christmas tree – Family Travel Blog

Christmas ornaments around the world: US Edition

As a companion to yesterday’s post on international Christmas ornaments, here are some items from our tree that hail from around the United States:

(Left photo) The most instantly-recognizable symbol of St. Louis, Missouri is the soaring Gateway Arch, designed by Finnish architect Eero Saarinen. The city calls itself the “Gateway to the West,” a major jumping-off point for intrepid pioneers. There’s also the excellent Museum of Westward Expansion underground beneath the Arch.

(Right photo) Our Cinderella’s Castle ornament from Walt Disney World has been dropped a few times, so some of the little turrets are suspiciously short or missing, but it still brings back memories of visits to the Magic Kingdom when we lived in north central Florida.

(Left photo) The Powell & Hyde cable car line in San Francisco, California.

(Right photo) The wintry charms of a little seaside town in Maine – Castine – where some of our friends used to live and where we used to visit regularly when we lived in Rhode Island.

(Left photo) This is from our trip to Virginia’s Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg.

(Right photo) Some holiday greetings from my home state of Texas, with a nice gifty boot and some springtime bluebonnets to get us through the short but exciting Texas winters.

Thanks for joining me in a trip around my Christmas tree! Happy Holidays to all of my readers….

Christmas ornaments around the world: International Edition

In the spirit of the holidays, here are some ornaments from our tree that remind me of family travel to all sorts of places outside the US (and here is the US version)

(Left photo) Ornaments depicting two parts of our lives: time spent living in Japan and time spent living in Europe (with trips to Paris, of course, whenever the budget permitted.)

(Right photo) Colorful Asian ornaments, from Hong Kong I think – the rectangular one is probably not even made for Christmas, but still works well on the tree.

When I’m traveling I always look for hang-able items that can serve as ornaments, although a lot of smart people around the world have figured out that tourists buy things like fridge magnets and ornaments as inexpensive travel souvenirs, so you’d be amazed where you can find them.

(Left photo) The Waddenzee Islands are a favorite Dutch getaway; my son and I spent time on Terschelling and my daughter and I visited the largest island, Texel.

The beaches are super-wide and good for kids, although the North Sea water temperature is pretty bracing (sorry, I’m a Gulf of Mexico/South Pacific/Indian Ocean warm-water-beach weenie.)

(Right photo) I found this in Jerusalem, and it’s heavy brass so I have to find a particularly sturdy branch each year. I like the combination of warding off the Evil Eye and the fish motif.

(Last photo, below) This is the perfect ornament for a former Navy family like ours – Santa riding a seahorse! It’s made in Germany by Käthe Wohlfahrt in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, but I actually bought it in a Christmas shop at the BX (Base Exchange) on Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Happy Holidays!