December 22nd was my last day of vacation, and I was spending it in Germany as I had a flight out of Frankfurt on December 23rd. I took the tram to the train station in Basel that morning and took a 45 minute train to Freiburg. You always hear "German trains run on time!". Well I have photographic proof that is NOT true. As you can see my train was stopped on the tracks just outside Freiburg and was already 12 minutes late!
Once I arrived in Freiburg, I did something I had never done before, and stored my luggage at the train station for a short stop in this city.
I honestly didn't know much about Freiburg. I had seen pictures and thought it looked like a pretty city. Approx 220,000 people live here, it's a university town, and on the western edge of the Black Forest. I also had read that they had a good Christmas market, and December 22nd was the last day for the market in 2018. Freiburg is a city that many people visit while in Alsace. It's only about 30 minutes by train from Colmar, France.
I headed out of the train station and followed the crowds, which led to the old part of the city.
Freiburg Münster
The church was under some construction, but this is the only German Gothic church tower that was completed in the middle ages and survived World War 2 bombings.
You can go to that observation tower and get a great view of the city and the Black Forest, but it was rainy and overcast, and I was short on time, so I skipped it.
They were having their local market around the church. Cheese, flowers, fruits, veggies, meats, etc. were being sold and you could tell people were shopping for their Christmas celebrations.
I decided to get a bite of lunch here rather than at the Christmas markets.
The cut amaryllis was sold at all the local markets in Germany and Switzerland.
Why don't we have that here?
Here you can see the Black Forest over the rooflines
German Christmas markets are just a little more special than those everywhere else.
After a few hours in Freiburg, I caught a train to Frankfurt. It was just over 2 hours from Freiburg to Frankfurt. Once at the train station in Frankfurt, I took a taxi to my hotel. I checked in and then headed out to see the markets. I didn't really have much time in Frankfurt, so the Christmas Market was the only thing I really intended to do. Frankfurt is one of the oldest markets in Germany, dating back to the 1300's, and it is certainly one of the busiest.
I don't know if it was because I was there on the last day of the market, on a Saturday night, or just a couple of days before Christmas, but this place was so incredibly crowded.
Dinner (yeah it looks the same as lunch)
Then I had a waffle...
but I forgotten that I had purchased a chocolate pretzel
AS BIG AS MY HEAD earlier!
For my last night on vacation, I stayed at the Moxy Frankfurt City Center hotel. When I booked it, it was still under construction, so I didn't know much about it. It opened less than a month before I was there, but it turned out to be a great location and perfect for the night. It strives for that hip young vibe, but the price was really reasonable.
And that's a wrap on my 2018 Christmas Market adventures. It was another great trip! Thanks for following along!
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