Actual date of this event: 15 December
The last stop on our German Christmas Market tour was in a town called Wiesbaden.
Jill and I had heard about the town through a blog we read (Casey at
We Took the Road Less Traveled), who is temporarily living there. We really didn't know much about the town except there is an Air Force base (so lots of Americans), it is close to Frankfurt (which is what we needed since we were flying back home that day), and that it had a Christmas market. We had seen a few pictures of the market on Casey's blog, and it looked like the prettiest market ever, so we were super duper pumped for this one!
As soon as we drove into town, we could tell it had a different vibe than the other two towns we visited. It was "elegant" and made me think "this is where the rich live". Haha! True? False? I don't know, and it doesn't matter, it just gave me that vibe. It makes sense that the town felt different though because Wiesbaden is in a different state of Germany. It is located in Hesse while
Würzburg and
Rothenburg ob der Tauber are located in Bavaria. Anyway, we found a parking spot, and worked our way to the town square where the market is. Along the way, we passed by a store that claims to have "The World's Largest Cuckcoo Clock".
We weaved our way in and out of a few rows of stalls to see their offerings, and then pleased our bellies with sausage and of course
a glühwein. We also met up with our friends,
Kelly and Billy and their kids, who chose to drive in from Stuttgart for the day. We had just seen them the weekend before in
Amsterdam, but it was great to see the kids, since it had been a long time since I had seen them last.
Funny story: Kelly's youngest son referred to Luke as "my dad" a few years ago... I guess because Luke, um, has no hair?? We still crack up about that comment!
Unfortunately, the market quickly turned unpleasant. Since it was Sunday and the weather was nice, people were everywhere! It was definitely the most crowded market of the weekend. So much that we chose to plant ourselves in one location in front of the main stage to chat while we watched an American group of children sing carols. I was mostly focused on the town's cathedral though. I am not sure whether it was the blue sky or what, but I could not stop staring at it. It was breathtaking, and almost looked fake!
The kids started to get antsy, so we meandered our way to get more g
lühwein.
And also stopped for a treat. This was my most favorite thing I ate all weekend - a Zwiebelkuchen aka onion cake. It was basically like a pizza, but I must say that I enjoyed it more than pizza. <gasp!!!!>
It was about that time for the sun to disappear on us which meant that it was getting close to time for us to head to the airport. We watched as the market came to life with its beautiful Christmas decorations. This was what Jill and I had been waiting for all day!
We never really got to see the market in full darkness, but it's probably better that way. We may not have ever left! We headed to the airport, and Jill and Ryan went to Aberdeen while we went to London. There were no tears though because Luke and I crashed their Christmas party in Aberdeen just a week and a half later! Read about that soon :-)
Now that we have been to a few German Christmas markets, we feel a trip to Germany in December is an absolute must. The markets are super cute! They are relaxing (for the most part), and perfect to enjoy with friends. The research is on to find other great markets to attend! Do you have any suggestions for us?
RANDOM FACT:
It seems Vienna (Austria) was the first to hold a Christmas market (in 1294), with Munich being the first in Germany (in 1310).
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