Much of southern Germany and Austria celebrate their Christmas outdoors. Each town/village/city has a Christmas market or as in Munich and Vienna, tens of markets. The markets occupy large plaza areas that are characteristic of European towns. The vendors erect large lean-to/ cabin like structures and decorate them with colorful lights and signage that reflect the Christmas holiday season. Products sold vary ...Christmas ornaments, cold weather apparel, toys, and of course food....sausages, cookies, candies, beer and my favorite "gluhwein", a hot mulled wine that warms the tummy and muddles the brain. Each town/village/city has it's own decorated mug in which it's town folks offer their unique "gluhwein" recipe; I especially liked the elderberry enhanced "gluhwein". I was able to accumulate 10 unique "gluhwein" mugs which I brought home as gifts for our large family; five are pictured below.
Munich - Bavaria's Capital and Largest City - famous for its beauty, Rathaus- Glockenspiel, music, Oktoberfest, and food.
Rothenburg - a quaint, lovely medieval town or as Ric Steves describes "Germany's Fairy-Tale Dream Town". The town's history goes back to the year 1000...the town's centrum is contained within its still-standing stone walls which separate history from the modern world. Unfortunately, our stay was but a few hours during daylight hours....Rothenburg is a town that needs to be enjoyed like a glass of fine wine...slowly and over a period of an overnight stay.
Nuremberg - Bavaria's second largest city...guarded by an Imperial castle located high above the city....it is where we meet up with our ship to begin the Danube river cruise portion of my holiday.
Regensburg - an enjoyable town that dates back to the early Roman empire. One of my favorites since it is where we attended a quartet A-Capella concert in a beautiful church and visited a Christmas market located on an estate where fog, darken spaces and shadowy paths provided a different setting for the festivities.
Passau - Our last stop in Germany before entering Austria. Passau and Regensberg were my favorite river towns that we visited. With both towns, the ship docked near the town's main centrum area making it easy to walk to and from the ship. In addition, each town was walk-able meaning that one didn't need to walk long distances to explore their sites and sounds.
Grand Circle inserts special events/activities throughout the cruise that enhance the enjoyment of one's holiday. In Passau, we were treated to the history of German Christmas family traditions told to us by Sonja Reichel-Lipke. During Sonja's one-hour of storytelling , she took us back to her childhood and, in the process, brought back memories of our celebration of Christmas past. I found Sonja's story-telling one of those special treats that one unexpectedly finds when traveling.
Melk - a small, population 5,000, Austrian village located adjacent to the Danube river. The purpose of our visit was to visit the famous Benedictine Melk Abbey, Stift Melk, which will be presented later in this Blog. The town has a Christmas market which is only opened on weekends and was closed during our visit. You can get an appreciation of the quaintness of Melk from the pictures below.
Vienna - Arriving in Vienna, Austria was overwhelming. The city exudes history since it was the capital of the 800 year rule of the Hapsburg Monarchy and Austrian-Hungary Empire. The city is easy to navigate since a majority of sites and Christmas markets are within Vienna's famous "ringstrasse". Vienna's subway system covers every corner of the city and the streets are "pedestrian friendly".
Vienna has numerous Christmas markets with the largest being the City Hall market, Rathausse Wiener Christkindlmarkt. Other markets visited were the Karlsplatz and Schonbrunn Summer palace markets. The city streets are all aglitter with different light decorations. On our last day, we visited a local amusement park and rode their 19th century Ferris wheel...quite a treat.
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