Cologne not alone for Christmas

While we usually post soon after we visit, circumstances this year got in the way. This post is exceptionally fun as we get to experience Christmas in June. 

Advent marks the official beginning of Christmas Market season in Germany.  

Lanarca, Cyprus

Reijka,Croatia

We went to our first Christmas Markets about 10 years ago on a trip to Vienna and Berlin. While we saw many different iterations throughout Europe, Germany seems to take special pride in their Markets.         

Metz, France 

Typically Christmas Markets surround the town square with a series of wooden booths, covered in holiday decorations.

Metz, France 

Booths are somewhat specific for place but everyone seems to claim wooden toys, candles and jewelry. We particularly enjoyed the towns where nothing was sold but food and drink, those kind of felt like being at a wedding or party where you were invited but did not really know anyone there.
This was really felt in the ruckus of opening night of the Advent Market in Reijka https://thechosenfugue.blogspot.com/2018/12/pula-treiste-and-rijeka-istrian-trilogy_4.html and the more intimate Advent evenings in Zadar https://thechosenfugue.blogspot.com/2018/12/pula-treiste-and-rijeka-istrian-trilogy_4.html.
Everyone was either singing and dancing or drinking Gluwein, which ranged in flavor from warm Sangriá to warm Dimetapp.

Trogir

Saarbrücken

Some towns had shows for children and  rides, enhancing the feeling like you were at an elementary school carnival. Made you feel the nostalgia that probably every German/Croatian/French/Austrian feels anticipating and going to the market.

Saarbrücken

the exalted Metz jacket potato

And of course there is food, lots of food. Reibekuchen/kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes),kartofellanzen (potato spirals), flammkuchen (flaky pizza), wurst (sausages) and more wurst, all kinds of cheeses-fresh, fried or melted over anything, candy, cookies, roasted chestnuts and almonds, jacket potatoes (the best ever was in Metz, France), all washed down with hot (mainly) alcoholic drinks. It really didn't matter what town, what country, the food pretty much was consistent with the exception of the uniquely German little bread guy with a pipe.
Overall, multi-generations of families, groups of teens; everyone feeling and looking festive,  roaming Santas, Christmas Kings and Queens,  completely unpretentious, minimally commercialized- in other words, an un-American style Christmas.
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We mostly wandered through enjoying the vibe, but some members of the family were a bit more hardcore, eager to sample every Pfannkuchen and wafflein and slug multiple collectible mugs of Gluwein. Gluwein is the starting pitcher of the season, but actually, almost any alcohol is heated and served at the markets even beer, if the alcohol is indeterminate it’s called grog or is that how you feel the next morning. 

This year, we had preview with our visit to Worms (early birds), Luxembourg and watched Santa flash across the Saarbrüken Christmas market with baby Jesus as his co-pilot riding under the sleigh in a foil wrapped potato (note the consistent potato theme).

Can't look!: Will Santa will make it across the sky!

Despite the tension of the baby Jesus transport, we were not prepared for the onslaught of Christmas Markets in the Cologne/Bonn/Dusseldorf corridor.  We should have realized something was coming based on the sheer number of Santa hats and bottles of Sekt (German Champagne) we noticed on the trains; morning, noon and night. Typically, the Markets are in the town square, but in these  cities they seemed to exist at every turn, each with a different theme. Market hopping!  It was a Nativity scene! 

Our Christmas Market marathon began in Cologne. We took a  break with a short tram ride to Bonn, with time to see Beethoven’s house/next door museum.

Nope, not a Christmas Market, just a typical town square 

Then we took another short ride to Dusseldorf  the Mother-Mary-lode of Christmas markets. Between the two cities we strolled through a  gnome themed Christmas market, an alpine themed Christmas market, an angel themed  Christmas market, an Ice Palace themed market (Frozen?), ... etc. Basically a loop of booths of things you don't need to buy, you don't really want to eat, followed by a cup of Gluwein in a unique-for-place collectible mug, another lap, rinse, repeat- becomes a drinking game with a side of knick-knacks.  In Dusseldorf alone it was 4 or 7 or 10 markets (we don't remember- it was the Gluewein) in a 2 mile radius.

Prost! Gluwein

One last cup of Gluwein

The Christmas markets were just part of our very Rhine valley experience.
Christmas dinner was at a  traditional German restaurant. We knew it was traditional as all of the vegetarian dishes had bacon in them.  Plus, they just kept filling up your cups with beer.  Since Köln is known for Kölsch beer we thought it was all complementary until we learned you need to put the coaster on top of the cup to get them to stop pouring.  It took us awhile to figure that out, but after our laps of Gluwein, we were well trained for bottomless Kölsch.

A few walks along the Rhine

And passing a few stolpesteine https://thechosenfugue.blogspot.com/2019/01/they-do-make-you-stumble.html.

This was in front of what was a gay bar during the Weimar, he was a female impersonator

And the main attraction of Köln, the cathedral, which like most of the city was heavily damaged in WWII. 

James Dean hot water bottle store

Köln, like most of Germany, shuts down for about 3 days around Christmas, so when not market hopping we were window shopping at the unique stores immediately around our apartment.   This included  a store exclusively selling cutlery with eight large  picturesque storefront windows of cutlery and a store exclusively selling religious objects and priest frocks (The Holy Men’s Warehouse?). You can virtually shop there now to avoid the pre-Christmas rush right here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1SW7RSb3vY

attractive sandwich store

We said goodbye to the stateside group going on to Amsterdam, to our German crew (plus Santa looking a bit groggy) going home to Saarbrucken and we went on to the last stop on this ride... Frankfurt

(Thank you Trevor for the additional pics)