On Friday, December 16th I switched countries again. I walked to the train station and all of my good train mojo from the days prior went out the window and there was a bit of a snafu that resulted in me sitting in a Brussels train station (not the one a block from my hotel) for 2 hours waiting on my train. Luckily there was an Au Bon Pain where I could get something to eat and sit while I waited. I had two stops planned for this day. First stop was in Aachen, Germany.
Since Aachen isn't a town that everyone is familiar with, here is a map. You can see Aachen is right where the borders of Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands meet.
I was so happy to finally be on a train, I took a pic! It was about an hour and 20 minutes from Brussels to Aachen.
Since I wasn't staying overnight in Aachen, I got a luggage locker for the day at the train station in Aachen. This is one reason I was worried about getting delayed in Brussels and when I arrived I got the last big locker. (They can tend to fill up as the day goes on)
I left the train station and walked toward the Cathedral/Christmas Market, but on the way was the Marschiertor...
This is one of two remaining original city gates that dates back to the 13th century
Once I got the Christmas Market, the first order of business was lunch
It was so cold (actual temperature was 30 degrees) that I decided to have a hot chocolate while I looked around that portion of the Christmas Market
The Market in Aachen is very well done. It is not just located in one place, but as you walk along the cathedral, Rathaus, etc. the markets are in all the free spaces.
I went to the Cathedral next. It had really pretty mosaic ceilings.
This portion of the cathedral dates to around 800.
The gold shrine in the back portion of this this picture is the final resting place of Charlemagne. He died in 814, but since 1215 this shrine has held his mortal remains.
The larger gold shrine is The Shrine of St Mary and contains the four great Aachen relics.
Aachen Cathedral is important because between 936 and 1531, thirty kings and twelve queens were anointed and crowned here using Charlemagne's throne.
"Our Dear Lady of Aachen" (14th century)
Looking toward the Rathaus
Stars are sold at basically every single Christmas Market, but especially the ones in Germany
Most Germany markets also sell cookie cutters
Once I was done wandering around Aachen, I went back to the train station and bought a ticket to Köln (Cologne). I bought a ticket on the 4:51 train that arrived at 5:44. It was a bit delayed, but once I arrived in Köln, I took a taxi to my hotel. Köln has many Christmas Markets. I walked to the one closest to my hotel first... The Angel Market at Neumarkt
It was so pretty
But oh my gosh! It was SO CROWDED!
Since it was so crowded I thought I'd try another market. This one is the Nicholas Market at Rudolfplatz
It was also just crazy crowded, so at this point, I decided to abandon the markets and go find something for dinner.
Not the most authentic of meals, but there was a Five Guys at Neumarkt and it just sounded good!
My hotel in Köln was Motel One-Neumarkt. Motel One is a chain in Europe and I stayed at one in Basel, Switzerland a few trips ago. It's not fancy, but was clean and the price is usually very reasonable.
On December 22nd, I departed Salzburg train station at 8:00 and arrived in Munich at 9:40. The station is under construction and a real mess! I finally made my way out and found it was really raining. I made my way to a taxi and took it to my hotel. My hotel room wasn't ready but they kept my bags for me and I headed out. I have been to Munich a couple of times and wanted to see a couple of things I haven't had a chance to do before. I planned to to go to the Nazi Documentation Center first since it was raining, but when I looked it up on my phone to double check the hours, I learned they had just closed for renovations. So rain or not, I was going to have to head out to Nymphemburg Palace. I took the tram out and then walked to the palace. I don't know why, but I didn't take many pictures on the inside. I also bought a ticket to the Royal Stables Museum which houses lots of coaches. I really found all the sleighs to be a sight to see, bu...
One week from today will mark 2 years since I started this whole blogging thing. I'm very excited about this blogiverary because an opportunity has come up for me to do a giveaway for you guys! My sponsor has many websites that sell just about everything... lately I've been looking at the site for luggage because I'm feeling the need for a new carry on bag for my upcoming trip to NOLA. But more about the giveaway! Here's a picture of a couple of samples... I will be giving you a set of Tervis tumblers! If you don't know about Tervis tumblers, they are great because they keep your beverage super cold and they don't sweat all over your table! As you can see, I'm feeling the collegiate tumblers in honor of the upcoming football season, but if you are the winner, I will give you a couple of choices: (1) You can choose from over a hundred different tumbler themes to fit your personality or lifestyle: Texas themes, Initial...
Welcome to my Christmas Shin-Dig! I've never thrown a blog party before so I'm kind of nervous, but that can just be our little secret. I have lots of things I want to include in my party, so I've decided the best way to tackle this is to do several posts, so keep scrolling down so that you don't miss a single thing that goes on at this party! I always try to have party favors when I throw a party, and this one shouldn't be an exception, so I am giving away a prize. Here are some photos of the prize All you have to do to enter is comment on one of my Christmas Party Blog entries. I will put all the names in a hat and draw a winner. I will post the winner's name on my blog on Sunday, so check back to see if this cute little Santa bubble light is coming to your house! All entry comments must be posted by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. If this is your first trip to my blog, Welcome! Please come back and see me again!
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