Fed up

It's time to step off the eaten path and head back home.

Thank you to my mom, Julie, and Rose for sharing a wonderful winter wonderland trip to remember! Their enthusiasm and good humor know no bounds. (But they do have cookie limits.) Julie and Rose took beautiful iPhone 8 Plus photos that they generously shared with me and therefore with you. Special thanks also to Julie for all the excellent trip planning — she made it happen—and for keeping me laughing no matter how map-challenged or trapped in "escape room" bathrooms (why so many unmarked doors??) we were.

Thanks also to Celeste, Uschi, Chris, Ric, and Vanessa for all their advice and recommendations.

Here's my mom's trip theme song to the tune of "Dashing through the snow."
——
Dashing through the snow,
Christmas night and day
O'er the rails we fly
Stations flashing by.

Bells on churches ring
Stalls are very bright
What fun it is to look and shop
Drink glühwein til we drop.

Ornaments! Cookies, too!
Pastries by the score
What fun it is to eat our way
Through France and Germany!
—-

Thanks to you, dear reader(s), for following along. Kathy S. said she gained 5 pounds just reading my blog!

Christmas comes in about 13 days so be sure to put your shoe on the sill.

Christmas market tips

Before we forget, we captured our thoughts and suggestions on the places and markets we visited.

1. Nuremberg is a must. We loved the charming town, the large but condensed market with a great variety that never felt too crowded. And lebkuchen.

2. Strasbourg is a must. Seeing a French market expanded our horizons and refreshed our palates. The town has about seven markets (all with different themes) and exploring the very walkable city of tiny streets decorated with lights made exploring extra fun. And French pastries.

3. Esslingen or Rothenburg is a must just to see the difference in a small market. Esslingen has the medieval twist that gives it an entertaining edge but Rothenburg feels more like stepping into a fairy tale.

4. The markets are most beautiful at night but can get very crowded then, especially in larger towns. Since it gets dark around 4:30, we found heading to the markets at 4 or so gave us the opportunity to see the lights come on and we could make our way around before the crowds arrived at 7ish. Weekends are much more crowded, but that is also when more special concerts and events happen. We often toured the markets in daylight then returned at night for the gemutlichiet. The market hours generally run from 11 am - 8 or 9 pm.

5. Clothing. Dress for cold since you are walking at night in the snow or rain or both. Temps were in the low 30s. Warm and comfortable footwear is a must. Buildings, hotels, restaurants and trains are very warm so a lighter weight top and a very warm coat is the way to go so you don't have to strip layers off. Long underwear bottoms highly suggested.

6. Bring a water bottle since water is not served and water fountains are nowhere to be found. You are obviously supposed to be drinking glühwein or beer.

7. The markets only accept cash; small bills are easier to deal with.

8. We found group train/tram/bus tickets a very good deal: around $15 for all 4 of us to ride all day.

9. Bring a shoebox to pack and protect your ornaments and gluhwein cups. Bring a good-sized purse/tote bag.

10. Next time: Add Salzburg to see Austria's angle and maybe get a Krampus sighting.

11. No washcloths provided in hotels.

12. Staying close to the markets makes it easier to come and go. But easy access to public transport is almost as good. Though with four of us, it was nice to be staying close to the markets so we could reconvene at the hotel.

13. Restaurants near the markets are crowded at dinner time and we were often scolded for not making reservations. In France, restaurants are closed between 2-7 pm.

14. Always visit the Tourist Info for maps and details of the myriad events, tours, music, etc., happening—many of them are free. All the markets are free.

15. We noticed security and police presence and blockades at the entrances to the German markets. In France our bags were checked every time we crossed into the pedestrian streets or entered a cathedral and armed guards with automatic weapons patrolled the trains, stations, and markets.

16. Eat vegetables before you go. Aside from cucumbers, we didn't see many.

Consolation prize

Julie and I considered a layover in Iceland as part of this trip but decided it would be cold enough for us in Germany. Imagine our delight when we discovered that Strasbourg selected Iceland to highlight in a side market this year. There I learned the story of the 13 mischievous Yule Lads that come, one at a time, in the 13 days leading up to Christmas and stay for two weeks. Children leave a window cracked open and a shoe on the window sill before they go to bed. Each Yule lad will leave a small present in the shoe. The lads keep an eye on the children and if they catch naughty children they leave a potato instead of a present.

My namesake must be Pvoörusleikir, or Spoon Licker. He likes wooden spoons and will come in and lick any spoons left dirty. Spoon Licker arrives on Dec 15 and leaves on Dec 28, my birthday!

Mannele

Brioche comes in many forms at Christmas in Alsace including mannele, little bread men that represent St Nick or good little children.

Rose shot the last photo using portrait mode on her iPhone 8 Plus. Nice work, Rose!

Petit Strasbourg

We cruised the Ill river by petite boat, wandered the cobblestone streets of Petit France, and even found Le Petit Prince airplane.

When in France

So many things to try and so little time!

Bredele

I tackled the German cookie assortment by focusing on a specialty (or two) in each town. Since we are only in one town in France, I'm cookie-challenged. There are market stalls with dozens of amazing choices and samples, windows with macarons in tempting flavors, and whole shops called biscuiteries dedicated to cookies. We didn't make much progress seeing the town because of my delays. Julie finally had to put her foot down and cut me off.

Alsatian Christmas cookies are called bredele and one baker told me there are 1001 varieties...and they keep making new ones. I give up!

Strasbourg

Just when we successfully navigated all the German markets and could still zip up our pants, we stepped across the border into France. Now all bets are off.

Strasbourg straddles French and German cultures and nowhere is that more apparent than in the markets where you find beignet pretzels and glühwein crepes. Just to one-up Germany, you can sample foie gras in the French market. But the glüwein is served in plastic cups. Sacre bleu!

Stollen

Stollen, a German Christmas fruit/nut/spice cake that dates as far back as the 15th century, has a better rap and is tastier than our maligned fruitcake. Varieties include different fillings like poppy seeds, nougat, and marzipan (my favorite). As soon as it comes out of the oven it is slathered in butter and covered with powdered sugar to help preserve it and give it a snowy look. The "standard" size weighs about 4 pounds and some stalls make them the size of 2x4s.

Apparently, in the old days, advent was a time of fasting and bakers were not allowed to use butter. The cakes were tasteless and hard. Prince Ernst wrote to the Pope in 1450 to remedy the situation. Pope Nicholas V denied the first appeal and 5 more popes came and went before the Prince received a letter in 1490 known as the "butter letter," which finally granted the use of butter. For that, I am most grateful!

On the snowy morning in Stuttgart I found a baker who had just pulled stollen konfect cookies out of a small oven. The warm version with marzipan put the cakes to shame and ranks up there, with my fresh lebkuchen in Nuremberg, as my top 5.

Ludwigsburg baroque market

Just north of Stuttgart the baroque palace of Ludwigsburg enticed us to venture out on a rainy night. If you're wondering, that's a very baroque giant ear of corn. The market sits in a square between two cathedrals with golden angels gazing down. A small but beautiful example of a cozy market with music and locals enjoying the night. One local led me and six of her friends around the market to show me where to find a funny glühwein mug.

Esslingen medieval market

A short train ride from Stuttgart, past the Mercedes factory, lies the town of Esslingen. They put a medieval spin on the market with period costumes, archery, blacksmiths, fire eaters, puppeteers, mouse roulette, and naked men in hot tubs drinking glog. The latter two still confound us. Julie bravely got close enough to the spa for a photo.

Stuttgart base camp

From Rothenburg we traveled to Stuttgart where we set up base camp to explore a big city market, the medieval market of Esslingen, and the baroque market of Ludwigsburg. I tried to tempt my team into a quick trip to Tübingen for the chocolate festival but they are all in a sugar coma.

Stuttgart vendors elaborately decorate the tops of their stalls hoping to win the prize of best stall. Saturday night was so crowded that we returned on Sunday and enjoyed a picturesque snowfall.