Nuremberg Christmas Market

Nuremberg is supposed to be have of the biggest and best markets in Germany, but I think I prefer the smaller ones. We were there on a Saturday so it was especially crowded. It was fun and I'm glad I finally saw it, but I bet the small one we're going to in the Baileys' little town is going to be more fun. Their kids are so cute and, except for the occasional hunger-induced whine, are incredibly well-behaved. Todd and Colleen are great parents!!  We'll leave here tomorrow heading toward Amsterdam, but we'll spend a night in Rudesheim on the way so we don't have to drive too much in one day. Rudesheim is a small town on the Rhein and it looks like the Christmas market is adorable. 

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The only pics the blog will let me post so far - first night in Cologne!

Baileys!

After a morning of more Prague wandering, we hit the road to return to Germany and visit the Baileys!!  It's so great to see them and get to know Natalie and Grant.  Soo cute!  Their house is HUGE!  I could definitely live with them permanently without causing much disruption. ;) More Christmas markets tomorrow!

Prague!

They're so different, I feel like it's fair to declare a tie in the contest for world's most beautiful city (that I've seen so far):  congratulations Venice and Prague!!!!  I just love it here. Last night, we ran into an older American couple who are here for the full 3 months allowed in the Shengen area.  The first time they came here was supposed to be 2 days, but they stayed 2 weeks. Then they shit for 2 weeks and stayed 2 months. Now they just stay all 3 months allowed and come back when they're allowed back in. What a great life!  It's so cheap here that it's quite doable. We have a room right next to the Charles Bridge with 2 bedrooms (complete with desks, flat screen tvs and chandeliers!), and what appears to be a butler's prep room for $100 a night.  That's just 50 bucks per person! We also get free breakfast and wifi - which I'm enjoying right now. It's amazing!  Beautiful, cheap, and absolutely everyone speaks English - what more could you ask for from a European city?  We wandered all over yesterday and will be doing a bit more strolling this morning before setting off for Todd and Colleen's house in Germany. Yay! Pics available on Facebook.

Really the last full day in Berlin

We arrived in Berlin on Sunday in time to settle into our TWO-BEDROOM APARTMENT ONE BLOCK FROM BRANDENBURG GATE (!!!!! - cheaper than hotels!) and stroll over to the gate and the Reichtstag for some lovely nighttime photos. Then we walked to what is supposed to be the prettiest market in Berlin. It was beautiful because it's in the middle of three gorgeous old buildings, but it started to rain so we didn't get a perfect version of it. This market was different from others I've seen in that it had a lot of restaurants and bars - not the little huts that can hold about 10 people, but full-sized restaurants in tents. They were amazing. We settled into one that was a bar and enjoyed a few beers, a seranade by a guitarist I called Albino German Gay Jesus, and a chat with a strange, drunk, older German man who helped Mel with some of her German. Another weird guy had taught her "schmekt lecker" in Hannover and she's been perfecting it ever since. It just means "it's tasty."  On the first full day we got tix for a hop on/hop off bus. What I learned from the not particularly interesting audio guide is that Berlin has a lot of shopping areas and there were cool things to see but they were all bombed during the war. Geez, sorry, but we didn't start that. Of course, we stopped at more Christmas markets - another pyramid, a full carnival with big rides, and brats (we eat brats once a day). We got off the bus at Checkpoint Charlie, learned a bit about the wall and touched a piece of it   Overall, the city isn't especially beautiful or interesting (so far) but I'm hoping for better today on the bus that goes to East Berlin. It seems they don't want to talk too much about the stuff I would find interesting - Nazis. We'll see how it goes today. If nothing else, we're having a great time at the markets!  If you're wondering how I finally found time to blog - I found that there is ample time between my shower and the completion of Mel's beauty regimen. :p

Last full day in Berlin

I'm sorry I have been blog-delinquent, but it's definitely more difficult to find time to write when you're traveling with another person...who isn't in the hospital. ;)  Quick recap of the trip so far:  I met Mel at her departing gate at Heathrow on Friday. I couldn't get on her flight but we had time for a quick hello and to make it clear to her flight mates that we are American, rather than British. Two hours later I caught my flight and we got in and out of the Brussels airport without a hitch. There were soldiers in the airport and two cops on the gangway(? is that what you call the thing that connect the plane to the airport?) when I boarded the flight to Brussels, but no problems. We drove to Cologne and then Hannover the next night. These were just two spots on the map that appropriately broke up our drive to Berlin but they were great!  There was a Christmas market outside our door in Cologne and a gorgeous one a block or two away in front of the Cologne Cathedral, making it a lot easier to stay away the afternoon and evening of my first day in Europe. In Hannover, there was another market right outside our door (and we got free parking for the night!) and the coolest two things I had ever seen at a market. First, we happened upon a giant thing they call a Christmas pyramid. Bars on the first two levels, manger scenes on a few more increasingly smaller levels, and a big propeller on top. All festively decorated!  It was awesome. Then we stumbled upon a man-made pine grove. The trees on the outside were decorated with white lights and inside there were little huts serving drinks and pub tables scattered along the windy path. It was sooooo cool. And the pine smell (and glühwein, of course) was fantastic. Free breakfast the next morning and then we headed to Berlin with 6 Christmas mugs each tucked into our luggage. I'll write about Berlin in a new entry - this blog freaks out when I add too much. Also, it's not letting me add pics...yet. I'm putting more than usual on Facebook to make up for that for now. Two-stop shopping!