On December 22nd I had an early train from Berlin to Mainz. I really wanted to fly home directly from Berlin instead of going back to Frankfurt. I have been to Frankfurt and didn't care to spend the time to return. The only option I was given when I was trying to book flights was flying from Berlin to Helsinki and then Helsinki to DFW. I didn't mind connecting through Helsinki, but the only option given was just a 40 minute layover. That made me too nervous, so I just decided to do round trip to/from Frankfurt direct to DFW.
I was bummed about having to "waste" time in Frankfurt, but then I did some research and decided to spend the day in Mainz.
I took at taxi from my hotel to the train station for my 7:06 train from Berlin to Frankfurt and then had to switch for a regional train to Mainz which arrived at 11:15.
Give me a dog as a fellow passenger ANY day!
Locker storage in Mainz.
I took the tram and then walked to my first destination.
St. Stephan's
St. Stephan's is one of the few churches in the world (and only one in Germany) with stained glass by Marc Chagall. These were done in the 1970's when Chagall was in his 90's
From the church I walked toward Mainz Markt where you find St. Martin's, the Christmas Market, etc.
A Poppy hot water bottle cover!
Mainz has a very good Christmas Market
They have a lot of very good food options beyond what I've seen at most other markets. I got this tarte.
I decided to have dessert in a bakery to sit down and warm up a bit.
A red currant cake
After walking around the market for a bit more, I took a bus to the Gutenberg Museum. It's moved (as you can see) but will eventually be back in it's original location in the heart of the Markt.
I've seen the Gutenberg bible on display at the Library of Congress, but when I started researching Mainz, I realized that Gutenberg was from Mainz and that's where his print shop was located.
After the museum, I took the bus back to the train station and took a train to the Frankfurt Airport. It's only about 30 minutes by train. I had booked the Sheraton at Frankfurt Airport for my final night. I had a 10:00 flight out on December 23rd and for ease I stayed at the airport. The Sheraton is huge. It has over 800 rooms and it's connected to the Marriott which is also huge. Lots of people stay at the Frankfurt airport I guess!
I contemplated going to Frankfurt for a run through their market that evening, but at this point I was tired and just decided to eat dinner at the hotel and rearrange my packing to be ready to go the next morning.
Next morning I headed out around 7:00 in my new sweatshirt I got for my birthday. It was an airport hit! Lots of people commented! And but for the need to work, is there really any other reason to leave a vacation?!
That's a wrap on Europe 2025. It was another great adventure!
Let the planning for 2026 begin!
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