Europeans hold nothing back when it comes to Christmas decorations. I started to notice the stores putting out Christmas decorations at the end of September. And the intensity slowly grew over the next months. Goes has many cute lights and decor that I will post on later. This post is about a weekend we spent in Cologne, Germany, a city famous for its Christmas markets. Cologne is about a 3 hour drive from Goes.
This time of year, there are seven Christmas markets throughout Cologne. We rented an Air BnB right in the middle of the Center so we could walk to all of the markets. The farthest market was about a 25 minute walk. A person could take a cute little Christmas train to each market if he or she wanted, but we chose to get the exercise. Thankfully the weather was gorgeous, cool but dry. We enjoyed all of our outdoor time!
Each market is decorated with a different theme. There is an Angel Market, Old Market, Cathedral Market, Garden Market, Winter Wonderland Market, St. Nicholas Market and a Harbour Market. Every one of them was beautiful. I am not going to write about each market specifically. Instead I will write about different aspects of our weekend. It was SO fun!
The Dom Cathedral
The largest Gothic church in northern Europe, the Dom Cathedral stands 515 feet at its highest point. Roman Catholics started it around the year 1200, working in phases for hundreds of years. It wasn’t complete until the late 1800s. One of the larger Christmas markets is located right next to the Dom.
Above is the only picture I took of the inside of the Dom. It is so vast that it is hard to get it into a picture. There isn’t one main sanctuary. Many smaller sanctuaries are spread throughout the huge building.
Market Pictures
The markets consist of many small stalls selling goods. The types of items for sale vary. Could be anything from Christmas decor to hats/mittens to whiskey to food. The stalls themselves are something to behold. I can’t imagine the time taken to set up such a beautiful presentation.
We are thankful that we started our market tours when they opened on Saturday at 11am. The later the day got, the more people that crammed into the markets. At one point on Saturday we were stuck in the middle of a crowd and couldn’t move. We couldn’t see the stalls or what they were selling, and we couldn’t see an exit. Some other body pressed up against my front, back and both shoulders. We stood that way for a few minutes and finally the crowd started moving. We didn’t have a choice but to walk the way the crowd walked. Eventually we saw a way out of the market and took it just to catch our breath for a bit. I have to say though, everyone was polite and respectful. We didn’t have any trouble with big mouths or bad attitudes.
Food and Gluhwein
Can’t complain about not finding food! It was everywhere! Jeremy and I shared items so we could try a variety of foods. Some dishes were German. Some just looked yummy. The staple item that EVERYONE carried around was the Gluhwein. It is mulled wine, a German Christmas tradition. Our favorite was the blueberry! They give you a ceramic mug with your hot Gluhwein, and you can turn the mugs back in for a partial refund. So fun to try different tastes.
Mushrooms with Garlic Sauce
Reibekuchen- Potato Pancakes with Applesauce
Gluhwein
Poffertjes!
German Brat
Large Ham and Cheese Pretzel
Steak Sandwich with Onions
Spinach and sun dried tomato flat bread
Frites with bacon and dried onion
Music Makes the Experience!
The markets made the experience complete by having such fun live music everywhere! The songs they played were the same Christmas songs I grew up with in the U. S. If a person was singing, they sang in German or Italian. But I knew all the words in English!
Music Box
Piano
Violin
Small Orchestra
Woman Singing On Stage. Yes she was a long way away from us.
Other Fun Sightings
In between Christmas markets we did see a few other parts of Cologne. The town has a rich history! There are castle ruins right in town! Here are a few fun things we saw around Cologne.
The roof of the Chocolate Museum. We didn’t go through the museum. But we enjoyed the view!
Random orange house in town. Stuck out like a sore thumb. Notice the date on the front is 1643.
Bridge to the Harbour Market.
Cheese store with 4 floors? We didn’t go in. Not sure just how big the place was.
View of the harbor on the Rhine River.
And thus concludes our experience in Cologne, Germany! I hope you were able to get a small taste of the Christmas Markets! And I hope you are enjoying your holiday season. Until next blog post.
It was lovely reading about your experience at the Christmas market in Germany and seeing your beautiful pictures. My favorite ones are the ones with the yummy food! I love how you tried all the different types of food!:))))