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.
I'm obsessed with Swiss Oatmeal. I particularly love Corner Bakery's Swiss Oatmeal. If you are not familiar with Swiss Oatmeal, it is a cold oatmeal cereal with fruit and nuts. I've had a similar recipe for years, but it was only similar. It wasn't close enough for my liking. So I finally set out into the land of Pinterest to find a recipe that was a good Copy Cat. I found a few, combined them and came up with what I think is a very close Copy Cat Recipe of Corner Bakery's Swiss Oatmeal. Here's what I do (note, this recipe is really just pictures, because I don't really have measurements for these things. The photos aren't great, but it's easier if I show you what I do)... Here's the Phase 1 ingredients... Milk Honey Yogurt (I use a vanilla greek yogurt) Oats (old fashioned, not quick...you probably could do steel cut too) I've simplified this to where you only need a bowl and a spoon for Phase 1 becau
On Tuesday, December 20th I grabbed breakfast at the hotel and then walked about 15 minutes to where I met my tour for the day. On my first visit to Munich, I only had time for one "day trip" outside of the city and I chose to go to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, but I always knew I wanted to venture down to the Bavarian Alps and see some castles on my next visit. I had booked the premium tour and it was so fancy. There was a snack bar and they even served beer and wine on the way home after the last stop of the day. First stop was at Linderhof Castle. This was a "small" castle of King Ludwig's that was a partial mini-replica of Versailles. It was a snowy walk to the castle... Interior photos were not allowed, but you can see some pics of the interior HERE Like Versailles, there are fountains and sculptures surrounding Linderhof, but they cover the statues with wood huts to protect them from the winter elements. After visiting Linderhof, we made a (to
I mean I guess it's really all about getting married, but come on, you always anticipate the dress right? Well holy moly folks! Today a big secret was released to the press. No, we still don't know which dress or tiara Kate will be wearing, but we heard for the first time that Princess Diana had a back-up dress! Here are some of the pictures and sketches... Real dress on Left~ Back-up on the Right Here are the sketches of the back-up dress And you know what? I like the back-up dress better than the one she wore! I know, I know. I'm going to get blasted for saying that, but I'll just confess it right now... My name is Kara and I've never thought Princess Diana's dress was all that and a bag of chips. Nope. Not my favorite Royal Wedding Dress by any stretch of the imagination. What is my favorite? Probably the one that Sarah Ferguson wore when she married Andrew... It had beautiful beading and stitching throughout. Also on the train it had an &quo
Comments