It was another “normal” week at home. School, work, German classes, and after-school activities. German class is really getting old! I’m enjoying learning a new language but I am so tired of rushing from work to three hours of class twice a week. Granted, I am mostly working from home and the class is virtual so there’s no driving but I sit at the same desk for 12+ hours a day. I think I’m burnt out from German and I’m ready for a break.
This weekend, we were supposed to go to London to check out it’s Christmas scene. The Uk is still on the high-risk list for Germany so while weighing whether or not we still wanted to go, both of our flights were cancelled. So, our minds were made up for us about London.
We had already booked the dog kennel and it was too late to cancel so we needed a new plan for the weekend. We decided to stay close to home Friday, as Ryan had a doctor’s appointment Saturday morning, and then head to Köln (Cologne) to check out their Christmas markets, which are supposed to be awesome.
Friday night, we went into downtown Stuttgart for Glanzlichter Stuttgart, aka “Stuttgart Highlights.” The whole downtown area was lit up with different light installations representing icons of the city like Mercedes, Porsche, the Zoo, Wine, Fernsehturm, etc. Since the Christmas market was cancelled, the city allowed the vendors to set up stalls, more spread out throughout the city. We did a little shopping, got some sweet treats, and even found some glühwein (in mugs!)! Every thirty minutes there was even a light show on Schlossplatz. It was an easy, nice night out.
After the Glanzlichter, we headed back to Sindelfingen to meet up with our friends who were celebrating their promotion. We finally made it inside of the Christmas Hut and celebrated with the typical German toast, Jägermeister.
The next morning after Ryan’s appointment, we hit the road for Köln. We got lucky with good traffic and made it in just under four hours. We checked in at the hotel and needed a quick nap before heading out.
The first market we headed to was the Dom Christmas Market. Dom is the German word for cathedral and the market is spread out, right outside of the beautiful Dom.
The market itself was beautiful and there were lots of treats. We immediately ate, got glühwein and procured our mug. There was a band playing Christmas songs that added to the good vibes but once we had walked the whole circuit, we decided to leave because it was so crowded.
Köln had a little tram that takes people from market to market so we jumped on and next we were at the Harbor Market. It was smaller than the Dom market but not as crowded so much more enjoyable. We got another glühwein (and mug) and more snacks. We even got a hot chocolate for Ryan, which he enjoyed very much because it tasted like powdered mix.
After the Harbor Market, we got back on the tram and headed to the next market, the Angel Market. The tram dropped us at a mall so before we went into the market, we let Brooklyn drag us into Primark for some final Christmas shopping. Primark is Germany’s version of Forever 21 (cheap but trendy) but huge, like the size of a Macy’s.
After Primark, we checked out the Angel market, which is not surprisingly- decorated in an Angel and star theme. We were getting tired so we got our glühwein and mug, walked the circuit and got the tram back to our starting point. We got two glühweins in the market and returned one of the mugs because they were the same, but afterwards, we found out they had 3 mugs so we are kicking ourselves for not leaving with at least two.
Our last stop was the Christmas Pyramid Market which was around the corner from the Dom. It was the prettiest pyramid I’ve seen so far. It was so packed though, there was barely a way to walk around and I didn’t like the mugs, so we left, even skipping the glühwein and headed back to the hotel.
Sunday, we took a walk around the city to check it out before the markets opened at 11. We walked around the old city and back and forth across some bridges to take in the views of the city.
Afterwards, we headed to the Fairy Tale market. This was Brooklyn’s weekend to choose an activity and she wanted to ice skate. Luckily, the Fairy Tale market had an ice rink so we made that our final stop on the way out of the city.
We skated for a couple of hours through the market. There was a drink stand to pull off and grab a bier or a hot chocolate.
After skating, we grabbed our last market snacks; a potato sword for Brooklyn, and TWO grillwursts for Ryan. I got a spiked apple cider in a gnome mug (which is a tough one to find!) Then it was back home again for our last week in Stuttgart before heading back to the States for Christmas.
Gilcrests Abroad 