Last Day Adventures

The time has flown by and it’s hard to believe our travels in Germany have come to an end.  The Christmas markets have been fantastic, and we’ve enjoyed them immensely.  While we’ve seen a lot of similarities between the markets, they definitely have unique character as well.

For our last day, we left Munich and drove south into the Alps in search of elusive snow and mountains.  The past two days have been very foggy which limited visibility to right by the autobahn. For a time, we thought our day might be a bust with continued fog, but after driving through two lengthy tunnels, we emerged to the sun poking out from clouds and beautiful views of the mountains.

Our destination was Eibsee Lake with a great view of Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany.  Our plan was to hike around the lake and soak in the views.  There’s a popular cable car at the Eibsee that goes to the summit.  Zugspitze is along the border of Austria, and there is a companion cable car that ascends from the Austrian side.  Although lots of folks were going to the top, we decided to enjoy the hike and views from the lake. It was a wonderful trail through a mossy forest like something out of a fairy tale.  At any moment, it seemed possible to stumble across a family of gnomes.

One of many beautifully stenciled buildings
in Oberammergau

After the Eibsee, we drove back to the Munich Airport to spend our last night as we had to be up at 3:30am for the flight home.  Along the way, we detoured to Oberammergau to check out the town and grab a meal.  Oberammergau is in a region known for its woodcarving.  With several shops in town, it was fun to wander and be amazed at the talent on display.

A fabulous last day that even included an unexpected final Christmas market in a large courtyard at the airport next to the terminals and hotel.  Of course we had to soak up the festive atmosphere one last time.

Happy Winter Solstice

Yesterday was the winter solstice marking the shortest daylight of the year.  By happenstance, we took a day trip to Salzburg, Austria to see the town and their Christmas market not realizing the significance of the date.  Fortunately for us, we got to participate in an old Austrian tradition -- the Perchten run.

What is the Perchten run? Perchten are creatures from pre-Christian times that blend pagan nature beliefs and old seasonal beliefs with Christian traditions.  The "run" is really a procession that symbolizes the driving out of winter and evil spirits while also heralding the coming of spring and the return of light.  Perchten runs are traditionally held on the 12 darkest nights of the year beginning with the winter solstice.

Perchten typically wear goat or sheep hides with bells attached that jangle with their movements.  Perchten masks are large and heavy, often weighing 30 pounds or more. These masks have rough facial features, sometimes resembling an animal, and will often have one or more pairs of horns. Another feature of Perchten runs are the appearance of witches who symbolically sweep away the snow with their brooms to make space for the arrival of spring.

We had no idea what our day was going to look like when we arrived in Salzburg.  In addition to the Christmas market and the Perchten run, Radio 3 was doing a live broadcast from one of the squares and hosting live music performances.  These events definitely contributed to the large crowds which made it challenging to see the Perchten up close.  Later in the day, we were doing a self-guided walking tour of the city and wandered into St. Peter's church five minutes before an organ concert. Yay!

We experienced all of this against a backdrop of overcast skies and temps that barely reached freezing.  If the Perchten were successful, Salzburgers will hopefully enjoy a mild winter.

Munich's Christmas Markets

Munich is the third largest city in Germany, with over 1.5 million residents.  While the main Christmas Market in Marienplatz square dates back to the 14th century when there were only a fraction of today's residents, many more have popped up around the City. We made a full day of it, walking 9.5 miles around the old town area visiting seven different markets.

Christkindlmarkt in Marienplatz Square -- this is the original Munich Christmas market and its oldest.  Taking place in the main square in the shadows of the New Town Hall, a grand Neo-Gothic structure built in 1905.  It is very similar to the other markets we've been too, with lots of food and drink choices as well as vendors.

Viktualienmarkt -- this is the main food market in Munich, with multiple stalls selling fresh fruits and vegetables year round.  It also features a large maypole, which is festooned with white lights and visible from many blocks away.  The Christmas market here is small and complements the permanent vendors here on a daily basis making it feel large.

Kaiserhof of the Residenz -- this market is located in the largest courtyard of the Munich Residenz, another former royal palace.  Much of this building was destroyed in the war so what we see today is modern construction made to resemble the original. This is a great market to visit on a windy day as you are shielded in all four directions by the Residenz.

Medieval Christmas Market -- located at Wittelsbacher Platz not far from the Residenz, this market leans into all things medieval.  The costumes, the rustic wooden stalls, the music, and the performers including a court jester, all contribute to this market having the best unified theme.  They even had raptors on display with their handlers.

Christkindlmarkt at Sendlinger Tor -- Sendlinger Tor is one of three remaining city gates.  This market dates back to 1886.  It's a small square so the market is small, but it's located at a metro stop which makes it busy.

Pink Christmas -- located at Stephansplatz not far from Sendlinger Tor, this market caters to the LGTBQ+ community.  It was bedazzled in pink lights everywhere, and though small in size, it was big in festiveness.

Haidhausen Christmas Market --  this market in Weissenburger Platz was the closest to our hotel and we started and ended our day here.  Tucked into a square in the Haindhausen neighborhood, it very much had a local feel where all the nieghbors came out and socialized.

In between all of our market visits, we also made a stop at the Hofbräuhaus Brewery (since 1589!) where they claim to be the world's most famous tavern.  This is one of the six major breweries in Munich and a very popular stop for tourists.  The staff are dressed in traditional Bavarian outfits and there's also an Oompah-band playing in the main floor beer hall.  While not a Christmas-themed stop, it was certainly festive, and we enjoyed a respite from the walking while I enjoyed my liter of beer and pretzel.  

Let's Talk About Food

Two of the best thing about the Christmas markets are the glühwein and the food.  Since I've already covered glühwein, now it's time to celebrate all of the different foods we've had.

Würzburg Feuerwurst and käsespäztle

We'll start with the wurst first. Sausage (wurst) is a staple of German cuisine and different regions have various styles. There is of course the traditional bratwurst which is fairly consistent across the country.  A Nuremberg sausage is small -- about the size of your finger -- and come three to a roll.  In Würzburg, their feuerwurst is skinny, spicy, and half a meter in length.

Käsespäztle is another popular dish seen at all of the markets.  We would say it's similar to our macaroni and cheese.  Spätzle is an egg-based noodle or dumpling that is another staple of German cuisine and käse is cheese.  Käsespäztle is typically topped with fried onion straws like we use on green bean casseroles.

Küchle

In Dinklesbühl, we discovered küchle, a traditional Bavarian pastry.  It is a yeast dough stretched thin in the center and folded over around the edges to create a thicker ring.  It's then deep fried and dusted with powdered sugar.  At the Trier market, there was a stand making langos, which is a Hungarian fried yeast dough.  They place the fried dough on the counter for you to add the amount of garlic butter and paprika you desire. The server then places optional toppings like salami, ham, or cheese and finishes with a sour cream swirl.  The langos was my new favorite.

Just like the Hungarian langos, the food was not solely limited to German specialties. There were long lines at other stalls serving crepes (France), waffles (Belgium), and trdelniks (Czechia), which commonly translates to chimney cake.  Trdelniks are sweet dough wrapped around a cylinder, traditionally baked over a charcoal fire, then coated in cinnamon and sugar.  We fell in love with them in Prague, so we of course ate them more than once.

Hopefully all the walking we're doing will negate the extra calories.  A Christmas miracle indeed.

Langos

Glühwein

Glühwein is omnipresent at every German Christmas market with multiple stalls selling it.  What is glühwein?  It is a mulled wine, meaning it is warmed and flavored with spices.  In Germany, you can get Rot (red) or Weiss (white) glühwein.  Some of the markets we visited also had a rosé option.  It is served in a decorative mug unique to each market every year.  Depending on the city, you pay four or five euros for a 0.2 liter mug.  You also pay a deposit of the same amount. Return the mug and get your deposit back or keep it as a souvenir for the price of the deposit.  The designs and styles vary quite a bit and some are more colorful than others.  

Cologne

Nuremburg

Munich

Würzburg

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is something out of a medieval fairytale -- half-timbered buildings, cobblestone streets, and a large stone wall with towers that completely encircles the entire city.  However, it's not a fairy tale or some faux Disney recreation. It's the real deal and arguably the best-preserved medieval city in the world.

We saw Rothenburg for part of one day on a previous trip and we quickly realized that wasn't nearly enough time.  For this trip, we've spent three nights and it's been fantastic.  It's a tourist hotspot and sees large crowds during the day, but at night, it's peaceful and sublime.  We've walked along the walls and explored many of its streets, marveling at the beautiful architecture and the ambiance.  It's fast become our favorite place to visit in Germany.

Würzburg

Grand Staircase in Residenz

We've departed Trier and made our way to southeastern Germany -- Franconia and Bavaria regions -- where we'll be for the rest of the trip. Yesterday, we spent the day in the city of Würzburg.  The city was practically destroyed in World War II, with only shells of buildings left standing.  While a majority of the city is modern construction, there are still pockets of historic structures in and around its old town center.

Residenz

We spent our morning visiting the Residenz, the 18th century palace of the prince bishop. This opulent palace suffered extensive damage in the bombings.  American 2nd Lieutenant John Skilton -- an art historian by training -- is credited with saving it according to their history displays.  He led the effort to find lumber, tar paper, and cement at a time when resources were extremely scarce. He and his team built makeshift roofs until more permanent repairs could be made.  The Residenz is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Baroque Gardens

The Residenz also contained the opulent Baroque Court Chapel for exclusive use by the prince bishop.  Outside of the Residenz is a symmetrical Baroque garden open to the public as part of a larger park.  Even though it is winter and nothing is in bloom, its beauty was evident in the manicured lawns, shrubbery, and trees.

Marienkappelle

After touring the Residenz, we walked through the old city center to the main market square where their Christmas market was taking place.  Front and center at the square was the Marienkappelle, a late-Gothic church paid for by the city's merchants.  This was their answer to St. Killian's Cathedral which was the church of the prince bishop.   The ingenius way to raise money for this church was the inclusion of little shops around the exterior that are attached to the church building itself.  This enabled the church to run little businesses to generate income.  These shop spaces are still rented out today.

Würzburg's Christmas market was small compared to others we've seen on this trip but still had a variety of stalls.  We had the traditional Würzburger fueurwurst, which is a spicy skinny sausage that's a half-meter long.  It stuck out of the roll on both ends, and while it looked funny, it was quite tasty.

Old Main Bridge

We finished our time in Würzburg by walking across the Old Main Bridge which dates back to 1133, making it the second-oldest in Germany.  It crosses the Main (pronounced "mine") River, is pedestrian, and has statues lining both sides. The bridge is a popular spot for the locals as there were many folks hanging out having a beer or glass of wine.  Even with the chilly weather, it's a great place to be.

Scenes from Trier

This is our second visit to Trier.  There is so much Roman history here that we don't realize when we think of Germany.  I wrote about Trier in more detail here when we visited back in 2019.  For this trip, we didn't focus on the history as much, but instead soaked up more of the atmosphere and enjoyeed the Christmas market.  Some highlights:

Porta Nigra -- the old Roman Gate

The Imperial Throne Room -- now used as a church.
The entire Porta Nigra can fit inside this space

Trier Cathedral seen from the top floor of the Porta Nigra

Christmas Market in front of the Cathedral

The street where our hotel was located

At the Christmas Market

Mosel Wines

Porta Nigra -- the old Roman Gate

After Cologne, we've made our way to Trier (rhymes with clear) which is the oldest city in Germany.  It became the capital of the western Roman empire after the Emperor Diocletian divided the empire into four sectors.  You can still see evidence of the Roman empire with an intact city gate, the imperial throne room (which is now a church) and ruins of an amphitheater and thermal baths.

Trier sits at one end of the Mosel River valley which is the center of Germany's riesling vineyards and wineries.  On a previous trip to Germany, we sampled some riesling wines and discovered them to be some of Mona's favorites.  Today, we were able to visit one of the wineries and have a wine tasting. 

Dr. Loosen winery

We visited the Dr. Loosen winery in Bernkastel, a family-owned winery that has been producing wines in the middle Mosel region for over 200 years.  We can sometimes find their wines at home in the US, but we've learned that many of the wines produced in the region stay in the region.  We had a private tasting with two other couples from America, and tasted 6 different wines.  Dr. Loosen produces a wide variety of rieslings, and the tasting was tailored to our preferences -- we like more sweeter rieslings and the other four participants preferred drier wines.  Because of this, we tasted different wines from the others and learned about all 12 presented. 

Bernkastel -- in front of the giant advent
calendar

We had not been to Bernkastel before, and it's a lovely town along the Mosel.  It has a very traditional old town with half-timbered buildings and cobblestone streets.  They were having their own Christmas market, and although it was much smaller than others, it still had a nice variety of crafts and food.

For dinner, we had reservations at Weinstube Kesselstatt immedieately across from the Trier Cathedral.  This is the wine tavern of the Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt winery which has 675 years(!) of wine-growing in the region.  We discovered this weinstube on a previous trip and wanted to make a repeat visit.  It was just as we remembered -- a cozy atmosphere with excellent food and wine.  We enjoyed two different glasses with dinner, bringing our total to eight different rieslings sampled.

Luckily for me, Mona only bought one bottle of wine to bring home, so my wallet didn't take too bad of a hit and my back will not be burdened with the extra weight in our luggage.  Win-Win.

Home of Kölsch

Köln is the proper German name for what we know as Cologne.  It is also the home of kölsch beer, which gets its name from Köln.  Kölsch beer is one of the most strictly-defined beer styles in Germany, and it must be brewed in a specific method and within a 50km radius of Cologne.  In America, we have kölsch-style beers that are likely made and taste like the Cologne original, but cannot truly be called kölsch.

We went to the Früh brewhouse near the cathedral which has been brewing beer for over 120 years.  Kölsch is served in a 0.2 liter skinny glass.  Once you order one, the server will keep bringing a refill until you place a coaster on top of your glass.  The server marks the number of beers you have on your coaster to calculate the bill at the end.

Even though she's not a beer drinker, I did convince Mona to try the kölsch since this is where it's made.  We ended up with a total of six beers on our bill....but I won't divulge who drank how many.

Cologne's Christmas Markets

We've learned that many cities in Germany have multiple Christmas markets and Cologne has been no exception.  The main Christmas market is next to the cathedral.  However, there are a number of others throughout the city squares and parks. We went to this market on Friday while visiting the cathedral.  It was similar to the one in Frankfurt, except the stalls and decor were much better coordinated around a common theme.  We toured two other markets on Saturday after getting back from Aachen, with different themes and vibes.

Stretching across the Alter Markt and Heumakrt squares is the Heinzels Winter Fairytale. It pays homage to the legend of Heinzelmännchen, friendly household spirits that would come out at night to help with chores and help craftsmen finish their work.  Although not a direct translation, we would think of Heinzelmännchen as gnomes.  The decor and theme for the entire market centered on gnomes.  This is the

largest market in Cologne and also has an outdoor ice skating rink and curling.  Rather than just have a small oval-shaped rink, this one has 100-meter long straightaways and circumnavigates a horseman statue in the middle of Heumarkt square.  These two squares are in the Old Town section of Cologne near the cathedral (and several beer halls) and it definitely had the largest crowds.

The Markt der Engel (Angel's Market) was in Neumarkt square and was the closest to our hotel -- less than a 10-minute walk.  This market is in a tree lined square, with plenty of stars and hanging white lights giving it a fairytale feel. This smaller market with its atmosphere and decor had an intimate feel even with a large crowd.

While each market has lots of glühwein and similar food offerings, there is still uniqueness and character.  We have many more markets to visit, so it will be interesting to see if any one jumps to the top of the list as our favorite.

Walking in the footsteps of Charlemagne

Today we drove about an hour west of Cologne to the city of Aachen near the border with Belgium.  Aachen isn't usually one of the top places listed when visiting Germany -- Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bavaria, and the Black Forest will likely be mentioned first. However in 800 AD, Aachen was the capital of most of Europe as it was the home of Charlemagne.  After the fall of the Roman Empire, Charlemagne united most of western and central Europe and was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III.  He died in 814 and was buried in the Aachen Cathedral.  You can read more about Charlemagne and his life by clicking here.

Royal throne

Given its history, Aachen Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the first in Germany to be designated as such.  In addition to being the final resting place of Charlemagne, it was also the site of the coronation of German kings and queens. Beginning with the coronation of King Otto 1 in 936, 30 kings and 12 queens were crowned here until 1531.  The imperial marble throne still resides in the cathedral though it is no longer used.

The interior of the cathedral is a blend of architectural styles given its lenghty history of being constructed in stages.  It is more ornate than we expected.  The original portion was constructed as an octagon with a domed roof. The choir section, built in the 1400s in the gothic style, has 80-foot high windows. Mosaic tiles cover the walls on the lower level of the octagon, and gilded paintings cover the dome.  Photos definitely do not do justice to seeing it in person.

Aachen's Christmas market is adjacent to the Cathedral, and we walked through the various stalls while drinking glühwein.  On the way back to the parking garage, I was able to find a spot without crowds to fly my drone and capture the entire cathedral in a single photo.  Even with overcast skies and misting rain, it still made for a beautiful sight.