Christmas Markets

Christmas Markets ... we went to Heidelberg, Luxembourg City, Trier, Cologne and Speyer! Each market has its own mug. When you buy hot chocolate or gluwein (spiced wine) it comes in a cute mug with something special to the city on it. Second on the highlight list is Christmas market food it is awesome!! We had smoked salmon in Cologne (my favorite). We also had dampfnudels, which ended up being my parent's favorite.

^Dampfnudels are great! It's like a dumpling, with warm vanilla sauce on top. Some have a cherry filling on the inside. Others just have cherries on top.

^ On the Heidelberg Bridge ... with the Castle in the background.

^ With my awesome roommie Heather

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^In Luxembourg City - downtown for the market.

Before heading downtown, we went to the American Cemetery in Luxembourg ... site of General Patton's grave.

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On the way home from Luxembourg, we went to Trier - it's an old Roman city, one of the oldest cities in Germany - and the furthest the Roman Empire spread. Emperor Constatine had a palace in Trier.

^ Cute Christmas booths, all lit up in Trier.

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^In Speyer with friends from Okinawa! Linda (by my mom) is a Dodds teacher. Bekka (by me) is a teacher in the Dallas area. Bekka flew to Germany for Christmas break and we had a chance to spend an afternoon together. Fun reunions!

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We spent a day in Cologne - there were 5 markets spread throughout the city - it was awesome!! Cologne (or Koln) is a super cool city - the Rhine runs through it and there's beautiful churches all over. There were two markets on the river - one was actually on a boat and the other was alongside a bridge. Another market had a gnome theme - I found mittens there! The other ones were more normal, right around the town square.

^This market was on the river and had a pirate theme.

^The main market around the Koln Dom. The Cathedral is AWESOME! It's one of the largest I've ever been in. Supposedly, the bones of the 3 wise men are located in a box in the church.

^It's hard to tell in this picture, but the cathedral is right behind the tree. It was a really cool site to see through the light canopy.