Overschild, Netherlands

Ever since MJ started to learn German in High School, she has always heard about the German Christmas Markets. In later years, her mother who was not known for her love of commercialism visited the markets and enjoyed them. Maybe it was all the Glühwein that mellowed her! After our week in Turkey, it is time to get back into the markets!

We arrived safely back in Crailsheim and are ensconced in the spare room of our friends Toby & Christine. Our first port of call was the local markets are Schrozberg. Here we got to stuff ourselves silly with all sorts of food items, as well as Glühwein, coffee (for Nick) and Feuerzangebowle, which is a dangerous concoction that involves Glühwein and Rum – need we say any more? Though we were a bit worried because Lena (10-month old daughter of Toby & Christine) seemed to be very interested in MJ’s cup of Feuerzangebowle! The smaller markets are more like a local fete, with various organisations having a stall of eats or drinks or small gifts and it gives them an opportunity to raise money & awareness within the community. There were children’s choirs singing Christmas songs and carols and we had a great afternoon walking around. After a few drinks, you don’t even feel the cold any more!

Our second markets would be at Rothenburg ob der Tauber. We ventured here on our own, as we knew our way around from previous visits. If you haven’t been here, Rothenburg odT (as it is called because the full name is too long!) is the home of Käthe Wohlfahrt (www.wohlfahrt.com), which is the original year-round Christmas Store and also the German Christmas Museum! And unlike other Christmas shops, it manages to look the part at any time of the year – MJ has seen it in April and August, as well as December, and she says that there is no difference, except the temperature outside. At this store, you can buy a traditional Nutcracker or a Scout Nutcracker, you can buy a Christmas Pyramid, you can buy “Smokers” which can be either a figure or a house and you put a lit perfumed cone inside it to make it “smoke”, you can buy all sorts of Christmas decorations, Christmas-themed linen – in fact, anything and everything you might need for the holiday season, except the food!

Our next Christmas Market was the grand-daddy of all Christmas Markets – Nürnberg! Our hostess took us to Nürnberg and we spent the afternoon walking around the biggest Market of them all. There are three sections to this market – the Children’s Market, the normal market and the International market. And, in case you didn’t know, Nürnberg is the originator of Nürnberger Lebkuchen. You have been able to buy this in Aldi stores in Australia, usually around late October/early November for the past few years. Anyway, it is a fantastic taste sensation. If you hate ginger biscuits (like me), then these taste nothing like that – much nicer! We also had Stollen, Dampfnudeln, Bratwurst – I’m not stepping on any scales for a while! I’m worried about how much weight I’ve put on, just at the Christmas Markets!

The other great thing about the Nürnberg Christkindlmarkt is that there is a big variety of things to buy – not just food, drinks, Christmas decorations, but in the Children’s Market, there are activities for children, so for Christmas, you might get a bread board with their name burnt onto the board, or a decorated candle, or a decorated plate. In the International Market, you can buy goodies from the various countries such as Matruska dolls from Russia and wine from France. And, in the “ordinary” Market, you can buy knitted goods like socks, beanies, scarves, jumpers. You could also buy leathergoods, eg purses or wallets. So, there is plenty of options for last-minute Christmas presents. We also went to the Dinkelsbuhl Christmas Market, which was in another medieval town (there are a few of them in Germany!) and you can get Glühwein, Bratwurst, … the list is endless. The big difference we noticed was that more shops were open than having stalls with things for sale.

We also discovered that southern Germany has a lot of Spas! We know that there were Thermal Baths or Mineral Baths over near France – think of Baden-Baden, Aachen, but there are Thermes (as they are called in Germany) scattered across Baden-Wurttemberg. So Christine and MJ spent a lovely few hours at Aalen and we visited Bad Windsheim on Boxing Day. The planning for these Spas is really good because the entry price for the basic programme is quite cheap, sometimes only €9 or €11 for 2.5 hrs or 3 hours, and during that time, you can use a number of pools and sometimes the saunas. We found it a wonderful way to warm up and relax, because all this travelling is so stressful!

To start with, Germany is confusing because they talk about Heiligeabend (24/12), Christmas Day (25/12), 2^nd Christmas Day (26/12). Generally, Germans are very traditional in what they eat on what day – Wurst & Potato Salad on Heiligeabend, Roast Goose with Dumplings and Rotekohl. Also, you would not consider spending Christmas Day with your friends, it is always with family! Germans will travel from one end of Europe to the other to spend Christmas Day with their family.

Our friends (Toby & Christine) were playing host on Heiligeabend and they were being a little bit daring because their menu was not the traditional offerings. They did this because they didn’t want to have to drive to someone else’s home, with their 10-month daughter, in the cold evening. Both sets of parents and Christine’s brother joined us for a lovely meal. And all the presents were done on Christmas Eve! On Christmas Day Morning, we had a late breakfast before heading out to have lunch with Toby’s parents – thanks Ursula and Rudi, it was a great day. Whilst we were there, Nick was in 7^th Heaven – Rudi runs a shop which sells Nuts, Bolts, Washers, Nails, etc, etc, etc. There was every size and length that you could imagine and Nick was drooling because he wanted to fill the car with as much as he could carry!

On Boxing Day, Toby, Christine & Lena were heading to Nürnberg for a few days with Christine’s family, so we took ourselves to Würzburg which is another (yes, another) old town with lots of lovely buildings, fountains, market-squares. It was really strange because all the shops were shut – seriously! The only places that were open were either Cafes or a few Take-Away food joints. Even McDonalds was closed! Germans are serious when they say that they are closing for the holidays! They obviously don’t do the Boxing Day Sales!

As it was a cold and wet day, after exploring Würzburg, we took ourselves to Bad Windsheim to thaw out in the Thermal Baths there. These particular baths are salt baths, so it was a big mistake to rub your eyes with wet hands – Aaaarh, salt in my eyes! There is even a pool that is called the “Red Sea” because it is super salty and everyone can float. But if you are expecting warm water, like in the Red Sea, then you will be in for a rude shock! Whilst the water wasn’t “outside-cold”, it was not heated!

Finally, it was time to try and repack the car – where did all this extra stuff come from?, and head over to Stuttgart (Sindelfingen actually) to prepare for Silvesterabend – that’s German for New Year’s Eve, with Sabine.

Sabine had found that there had an English language guided tour, so we had a great time listening to the political machinations of the Wurttemberger Royals. It turns out that Mary of Teck (George V’s Missus) was from the House of Wurttemberg, and also that Napoleon made one of his brothers (Jerome) marry a daughter of King Friedrich I (he used to be Herzog Friedrich II until Napoleon “granted” him a kingdom). Whilst she didn’t want to marry Jerome, after Napoleon was defeated and Friedrich said “Come home”, she said “No way, I love him” and she stayed with Jerome till she died. I was glad to hear that someone from Napoleon’s family was happy! It was fascinating to hear about European politics in the 18^th Century.

Time to do the final shop for Silvesterabend – food, alcohol, fireworks! Yep, Germany allows its citizens and visitors to buy Skyrockets, Roman candles, Catherine Wheels, Fountains, Bungers, Throwdowns from 28/12 to let off on New Year’s Eve. We joined Sabine and Jörg and Sabine’s friend, Simone and kids for dinner, fun and fireworks. Simone’s son, Samuel, is really interested in the Fire Brigade and he was so cute because he had his Fire Brigade helmet to wear and he put up a safety cordon for everyone to stand behind. And when we asked if Nick could be on the dangerous side of the cordon because he had been a firefighter, Samuel’s response was “Er war ein Feuerwehrmann” (that means “he was (heavily stressed) a firefighter”)! We all had a laugh. 😀

Dinner that night was a traditional Germany meal (for Silvesterabend) – Raclette, or melted cheese – like a fondue but you don’t dip, they have a set of individual trays (one for each person) and you put whatever you want on the tray, cover it with Raclette cheese and then put it under a burner which melts the cheese. You could choose from a variety of salami, ham, mushrooms, spätzle, onion and other raw vegetables. MJ loved it, but it was too much cheese for Nick. For dessert, we had a Pavlova that MJ had made with whipped cream, raspberries and blueberries. Plenty of food, great conversation, laughs – a great night for everyone. Thanks to Sabine & Simone for sharing your friends & family with us.

New Year’s Day was spent recovering at the Thermal Baths in Böblingen (near Sabine’s place). This Spa was great because there had 4 different saunas that were included in the basic price, as well as a number of pools. We tried all of the Saunas, but skipped the Steam Bath (90% humidity) due to time and after nearly 3½ hours, we were feeling rather like prunes, but very warm.

The worst thing about being back here is, that we have to sort out all of our clothes and souvenirs to repack our luggage for the flight back to Oz. But it isn’t a simple pack for an Australian summer – no! We are going to the UK for about 10 days and from weather reports it is downright miserable there! So once again we are packing for multiple seasons!

After 10 months on the road, and having missed a number of birthdays, as well as Christmas, we have an astounding array of things that have to go back to Oz, so now we have to sort out and prioritize what goes home now and what will stay in the car. It took a day and a half to finish sorting, but finally it was done.

All that is left to do is to catch the train to the UK!