It’s hard to believe how quickly two weeks have passed. Once again, I write from the train. This time, we’re at a more modest 100km/h. Packed lunch of the day includes mango yoghurt, a banana, an apple that is haunting us all the way from France, and the last of our German pretzels (sob).
Our week started in Cologne. Cologne really blew our expectations out of the water. We came for the markets, but met some of the warmest, most hospitable people. People on their daily commute stopped to help us, not once, not twice, but three times! Either we look completely clueless, or people really are just that kind.
Cologne is famous for its enormous cathedral, which towers 157m high on the skyline of Cologne. The completely nutty human reaction to big things: Must climb. Of course we picked a day that was as windy as Wellington, where you really had to lean into the wind to not be blown over.
With my last post about deep vein thrombosis being such a hit, y’all have made me too comfortable sharing my anxiety-brain intrusive thoughts. This week’s anxious moment was while climbing the cathedral. Steve and Sarah reassured me they’d catch me if I fell. I then got to joyfully explain that I was not worried in the slightest about me falling, but instead it was the very well-built, sturdy cathedral I was concerned about. Steve gently explained that the cathedral has stood for nearly 800 years, and my brain kept thinking “yes, constantly wearing down til this very moment, when it is prime time for it to collapse”. Newsflash, the cathedral stood for another day, we made it to the top, the view was epic, and it was well worth the 533 stairs we climbed. I am sure we are all stunned by that turn of events.
Cologne was also our chance to catch up with Jonny and Rebekah, our glaswegian friends who spent last year in New Zealand. We say our reunion was to catch up, but the true reason was to play Dutch Blitz, a vicious all-play card game, where we all show our true colours and constantly accuse each other of cheating. Only the strongest of marriages can survive, and we like to put ours to the test. This time round, Jonny was my only real competition (#notsorry Jerry and Rebekah), and seeing as we didn’t keep a written score, the winner of this round will remain hotly debated. Glühwein apparently greatly improves my play, a note I will definitely remember for our next Dutch Blitz Championship, likely held in Glasgow in July (sneak peek at our upcoming itinerary!) I am sure Rebekah and Jerry will come back with a vengeance, especially now I’ve called them out on the blog.
Cologne’s christmas markets are themed, with each one playing homage to a specific christmas character or location. I’ll take you on a tour of the big 5 in Cologne shortly.
Firstly, one key thing about German christmas markets: Hot drinks are an essential accessory. You buy a hot drink, and it comes in a mug. You pay a “pfand” or deposit to get a mug, and can get this returned when you bring the mug back to any of the stalls in the market. Hoarding gremlins like me do not return the cup, and instead create their own christmas mug collection for back home, which gradually fills my mum’s suitcase. Luckily, she loves them too, so I hide mine amongst hers… The mug collection grew exponentially for both mum and I in Cologne, thanks to some of the cutest mugs we’ve ever seen.
The Markets of Cologne
Market of the Heart
At the heart of the city, this market sits underneath the towering Cologne cathedral. This is the most classic market, and it really shows its beauty at night, under a canopy of fairy lights. We experienced our first and likely only alpine horn concert at this market. No shade to the excellent musicians, but we probably won’t be queueing for more alpine horn concerts, seeing as they really don’t have much range.
Market of the Angels
Suitably angelic, with its colour scheme of white and gold. I loved the gold dripping from the trees, and that the young woman at the help desk was also dressed as an angel. Miri, Rebekah’s niece, cameoed as baby Jesus in the nativity scene, which we feel was a big improvement on the laminated paper Jesus that was there before her.
Heinzels Winter Fairytale Markets
Two combined markets, and my favourite of the lot. Based on the fairytale of the elves and the shoemaker, which was linked to and first written down in Cologne. Cologne says that the house gnomes have agreed to come back once a year, to help the city of Cologne with their Christmas market. I’m a sucker for a story, so I love the storytelling of this market. All the stalls have sneaky gnomes doing various fun activities, including skiing, drinking, crafting, riding merry-go-rounds… Here, I had my favourite market food yet, “handbrot”. Literally translated as hand bread, this is a stone oven baked bread roll, filled with cheese and ham (or mushroom) and topped with sour cream and chives. Mum, Rebekah and I all tried feuerzangenbowle, which is glühwein on fire. Literally, they light a rum-soaked sugar cone on top of your drink, and melt the sugar into your glühwein. 10/10 for the experience, taste, and the mug (yes it’s coming back to NZ…)
Village of Saint Nicholas Market
Jerry’s favourite, in part due to the excellent food, and in part because it became the local market, since it was just around the corner from our accommodation.
We met Saint Nick, ate multiple ham rolls (Jonny and Jerry in particular), and enjoyed general merriment with tipsy Colognians (that is not their name, but I can’t remember what it actually is).
Harbour Market
The harbour market is appropriately nautically themed. The glühwein stand is a boat, and there are plenty of blue and white stripes. Harbours are really a summer destination to us, but we bundled up and drank our glühwein by the river.
From Cologne, we headed to Nuremberg. This is Jerry’s and my first return city of this trip. Nuremberg, as well as an epicentre of world war two history, is home to a classic market that Jerry and I love. Nuremberg is a very classic market, with candy-striped canvas stalls, a brass band playing familair christmas tunes, and lots and lots of elisen lebkuchen, a.k.a soft gingerbread biscuits. Apparently, this is a love-it-or-hate-it market. You’re entitled to your opinion, but if you hate it you are wrong.
Last time we went to the Documentation Centre and Nazi Rally Grounds. Well worth it; such an insightful view into propaganda over that time. This time, we visited Nuremberg’s medieval castle. This visit reminded us that you never know what will be a highlight. We threw in the additional tickets to the deep well and Sinwell tower, since it was only one euro more. I have never had a more engaging, entertaining presentation than we did at the well here. Sinwell tower had beautiful vistas, and not as many steps as Cologne Cathedral, thankfully.
In Nuremberg, we met up with Sam and Maddie (Sam is Sarah and Steve’s son, and Maddie is their soon to be daughter-in-law!). Sam and Maddie were coincidentally in Berlin at an event for their non-profit vegan AI initiative. So cool, what are the chances of all of our travel plans aligning to be in Germany at the same time! They’re heading home via Türkiye, so we eagerly await their updates, since we’ll be in Türkiye mid 2024.
Bag update: We still have our Ospreys, they’re still going well. I’m still figuring out where I put everything once I have dirty laundry.
First laundry day was a mixed bag - a German combined washer dryer left our clothes washed and… steamed? Definitely not dry, but very hot. I’ve only shrunk one pair of socks, and thankfully they were a little bit big in the first place, so no harm done. We decorated our room with festive Christmas garlands of socks, underwear, and shirts. Travelling aesthetic, for sure.
On Friday, we crossed into Dresden, which was once a part of East Germany. We did an excellent walking tour, which covered so much of Dresden’s long and sometimes devastating history. The majority of Dresden has been rebuilt following the second world war, where it was bombed by the allies. Our guide was passionate and engaging, and she gave a thought-provoking commentary on the effects of war, religious conversions (Catholic to Protestant, Protestant to Catholic), and the whims of Saxony’s dukes over the years. She also quoted Tolkein, which us kiwis always love.
Dresden’s Striezelmarkt is the oldest documented christmas market (this is hotly debated, don’t fight me if you disagree). Apparently the first market was for selling meat, very controversial at the time, since good Christians were fasting in the lead up to Christmas. The next included stollen, Dresden’s famous version of Christmas cake. Tried it, 4/10. Better with lots of butter on it. That first market was in 1434, which means we attended the 589th market. Due to its proximity to the Ore Mountains, Dresden’s markets have a lot of handmade wooden decorations. Beautiful, but pricey!
I finish this blog post much later than I anticipated, thanks to the epic views out this window. If you’re training around Europe, we highly recommend the stretch between Dresden/Berlin to Prague. Sit on the left side of the train (facing the direction of travel) and you’ll wind through the gorge, next to the river. Exquisite. We’re off to enjoy sunshine, a highly coveted currency here in Europe this time of year. Long may it continue.
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