German Christmas Markets!

I’d been waiting for this all semester. I love Germany at Christmas time. It’s magical. There’s something in the air.

Wednesday I flew to Munich and then took the train to Regensburg (my old study abroad home). I had a yummy butter filled pretzel at the train station while I waited for my train. Pretzel-check. Then, it was off to Regensburg. When I first arrived, I didn’t recognize much. But, once I got into the part of the city I lived in, it began to look familiar again. It was fun to see some of the places I used to hang out. I also stopped at the tourist information office and they hooked me up w/ a map of all the Christmas markets in Regensburg. Genius! A map just for markets. Perfect! I spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around looking at the cute booths, while eating my doner kabab and drinking gluhwein. I took a break in the early evening for a conference call w/ work (it was a good thing because I couldn’t feel my fingers any more). After the call, it was off to see the last market on the other side of the river. On my way it started snowing! Magic!! This market was crowded. Maybe people having their gluhwein post work? I opted for hot chocolate w/ rum this time. Also delicious. Then, I went to a little Italian place and had a huge pizza for dinner. I was able to eat half. I was proud of myself. Love the German pizza.

Thursday: Woke up early and went for a run around the city. It was fun to run around and see some of the other parts of Regensburg. Then, I had breakfast at the hotel and planned everything down to the minute. I planned to arrive at the train station at 10AM or so and head over to the attached mall to get some Bears and Friends gummy bears. These were our favorite back in the day, but the store in Old Town was gone, so I decided to check the one out in the mall instead. Well, things didn’t go according to plan. They couldn’t take my swipe card at the hotel, so I had to pay with cash and I was 10 euros short. Ack! The closest ATM was about a 15 minute walk away. So, with all my gear I ran into town and ran around like a crazy person until I found an ATM. Then, I ran back to the hotel. Paid. Then, ran to the train station. I had about 5 minutes to spare. Ridiculous! So, needless to say, I didn’t get my Bears and Friends and I’m still angry about it. But, I guess I got a second run in that day.

Then, it was about 5 hours on two different trains as I headed to Cologne. I took these train rides to grade finals. It was a good way to pass the time. After checking into my hotel, I went to have a nice German meal (schnitzel and fries w/ mayo) at the corner pub. Then, I went to check out one of the 8 markets there. This one was cute. Had a local feel. I had some gluhwein and strolled around a bit.

Friday: Had a leisurely morning. No running. Nothing to do until 11AM. Had breakfast. Then, it was off to see the Dom. A beautiful cathedral. Massive! Very different than the stuff I’ve been seeing in the UK. Then, I checked out the market at the Dom.

Walked a bit to two other markets that had a gnome theme and an ice skating rink in the middle. I had some wurst for lunch (along w/ my gluhwein).

I got some of this bread. It looked cooler than it tasted.

Then, I headed to the Museum Ludwig to take a break from the cold. It was a great modern art museum with a big collection of Picasso and they had a special Pop Art exhibit that was fabulous. Lots of Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Liechtenstein. Great stuff!

After the museum, I went to one more market in front of the Chocolate Museum. On the way there I passed the love locks bridge. GIANT BRIDGE…all covered w/ locks. I can’t believe how big it is! I know these things are everywhere now, but this one was super impressive. I should read about its history.

Anyways, the market in front of the Chocolate Museum was a bore. White tents instead of cute German wooden huts. Boring. So, I left there pretty quickly and the museum looked like a tourist trap, so I skipped it too. I went back to the hotel and took a little nap while I waited for my REU friend, Cathy to arrive.

After her arrival it was time to hit the final 3 markets. We checked out the two near Rudolphplatz. Got our token mug. Tried some sort of weird punch at the Gay/Lesbian market. Their booths were all decked out in shiny stuff. Fancy!

A Father Christmas sighting!

Then, to the oldest market in Cologne. We had Flammkuchen there. Tasty. Then, it started to really rain. It had been raining most of the night, but it was really gross now. So, we went to a wine bar near by and had some dinner and a glass of wine. Then, it was off again. We went back to the markets I had attended that morning (the gnome ones) so I could purchase a Christmas pyramid. It’s amazing. I’ve wanted one for so long and now I have my very own. I just hope it makes it home in one piece.

Then, we called it a day. We were exhausted and wet. Went to sleep about 10PM ready for our adventure the next day.

Saturday it was off to Aachen for one final market. We took a 9AM train and were in Aachen by 10 or so. We put our luggage in lockers and went to explore the city. We stopped at a few crowded printen cookie stores on the way to the market. This city is famous for this particular type of cookie and it’s pretty good. Tastes like Christmas!

Then, we checked out their Dom. Impressive and super different than the one in Cologne.

By this time, we were cold and wet again, so we stopped in a café and had a tea and some of the printen cookies we bought.

After that, it was time to explore the Aachen markets. They were fun and the mug was cool. Cathy ordered us some different version of gluhwein. They lit it on fire. Crazy.

After a few hours it started to get really crowded. The rain had stopped, but there were SO many people! I did get a nutella crepe and an assortment of other German cookies. But, by then we’d had enough of the crowds. It was only like 1PM and Cathy’s train didn’t leave until 3, so we headed back towards the train station hoping the printen cookie museum would be open. Not the case. It’s not really a museum. More of a bakery that you can get a tour of if you call in advance. Bust. So, we had almost 2 hours to kill at the train station. It was fine. We got a little table at the café and enjoyed being indoors and resting a bit.

After Cathy left, I went to a Thai restaurant across the street and had a glass of wine and some summer rolls. I found something fascinating in their bathroom!

I still had another hour to kill after that, so I just sat on the floor of the train station and did some more grading. Kind of a bummer, but the market was too crowded and too far from the train station for me to want to go back. So, lesson learned: avoid tiny town Christmas market on a Saturday. Total bust. But, I’m glad we went and seeing Cathy for the first time in 10 years was super fun!

I took the Eurostar from Brussels and was back in London by 10PM or so. Another great trip!