O Tannenbaum - A tour of German Christmas Markets and other spots

[Flashback]

On one day we went to the Christmas markets in Strasbourg. Their daughter had planned a schedule to use the local trains. Unfortunately due to a number of train cancellations and a missed connection on the return trip it took us around 3 hours to get there and over 4 hours to get back. We were pretty shattered by the end.

Another local train with people standing. We had seats this time. Every second train on this route was cancelled or had stops removed.

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After two regional express trains we got to a small station were we had to travel cross country to another platform to catch a local train to get near Strasbourg but still on the German side of the Rhine.

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It was a touch desolate and chilly on this platform

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The silver arches are the bridge over the Rhine from Germany into France - Strasbourg. this is the only time I have used a tram to cross an international border.

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Crossing over the Rhine on the tram. Note all the River Cruise boats moored together past the next bridge.

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When we first got off the tram Strasbourg looked a little bleak.

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But it soon started to look a lot more interesting

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I see the train went through Karlsruhe, shame you didn't stop in there as it had a really cool Christmas market! Probably the best we had all trip.

 

[OZDUCK]

I see the train went through Karlsruhe, shame you didn't stop in there as it had a really cool Christmas market! Probably the best we had all trip.

Ain't that just the way.

 

[OZDUCK]

Soon we began to approach our initial destination. At the main entrance to the markets armed police were conducting, pretty cursory, bag searches.



General Information about the market



It was clustered near to the gothic Strasbourg Cathedral













(My first attempt to put a short video on my TR's.)

Who would not want a gyrating, swinging, dancing Father Christmas in their house. A supreme example of kitsch. The noise they made in real life was even worse than in my video.

 

[OZDUCK]

We had a bit more of a look around the markets and had a quick bite to eat. It began to persistently drizzle.

This picture captures my best 'side'.



For those with a sweet tooth





The daughter of our friend who had planned this trip then wanted to have a look at the Petite France part of Strasbourg. It is a very attractive area - and there were Christmas Stalls spread through it.

The Petite France - Office de tourisme de Strasbourg et sa Région

The Ill River, its five arms and its quaint quays The Ill River is everywhere in the Petite France, which is why this district is sometimes compared to a little Venice. The district is spread across an amazing river delta, formed by the five arms of the river. Seen from the sky, they look...

www.visitstrasbourg.fr

It is full of very old half-timbered houses and pretty little squares

 

[OZDUCK]

More of Petite France. We all agreed that Strasbourg looked like it would be an amazing place to visit in summer.

















The Barrage Vauban - built in the 17th Century and designed by the great French Military Engineer the Marquis de Vauban

Barrage Vauban - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[OZDUCK]

Finishing off Strasbourg

We took a tram to see the European Parliament. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake as we missed our tram/connection by about 2 minutes and ended up spending an extra 30 minutes on a cold windy platform.



The local trams - very flash







A blurry photo of a Sherman tank commemorating the liberation of Strasbourg in 1944.

 

[Flashback]

More of Petite France. We all agreed that Strasbourg looked like it would be an amazing place to visit in summer.

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The Barrage Vauban - built in the 17th Century and designed by the great French Military Engineer the Marquis de Vauban

Barrage Vauban - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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I've visited Strasbourg in both Summer and Winter (Xmas markets) and can confirm that indeed, it is very nice in the summer! Colmar too, at both times of year as well.

 

[Pushka]

Did you notice the really heavy police presence in Strasbourg? And come night time (at 4pm ish) we saw a batch of around 7 shaved militia with face hoods and heavy artillery make their way towards the Cathedral. Clearly expecting trouble.

 

[OZDUCK]

Did you notice the really heavy police presence in Strasbourg? And come night time (at 4pm ish) we saw a batch of around 7 shaved militia with face hoods and heavy artillery make their way towards the Cathedral. Clearly expecting trouble.

Certainly did. As I wrote our backpacks were searched by police and we saw plenty of heavily armed militia/army patrolling. We had left the main market area by about 4pm.

 

[OZDUCK]

I've visited Strasbourg in both Summer and Winter (Xmas markets) and can confirm that indeed, it is very nice in the summer! Colmar too, at both times of year as well.

It certainly appeared that it would look nice with more foliage around and the sun shining on the water. We have been around Colmar in summer and it was very pretty.

 

[Pushka]

Certainly did. As I wrote our backpacks were searched by police and we saw plenty of heavily armed militia/army patrolling. We had left the main market area by about 4pm.

I was waiting for our tour group to finish their much delayed lunch and was hanging around the restaurant. Next thing I got asked to have my backpack searched. I had so little in it and couldn't be bothered getting it off my shoulders so I simply turned my back to them and told them to go for it.

 

[OZDUCK]

And now for something completely different --- another Christmas Market! (After all this thread is titled "--a tour of German Christmas markets ---)

This one was in a small city south east of Stuttgart called Esslingen am Neckar. We visited "Der Esslinger Mittelaltermarkt & Weihnachtsmarkt" (Mediaeval Market & Christmas Market). As usual we had to work around train cancellations to and from our base in Eberdingen.



The sculpture of a man on a beam is attached to one of the old gate towers





Esslingen Castle over 700 years old looms over the marketplace.



In the background is the Alte Rathaus, built around 1422, with one of many performances being presented on the stage in front.



There are plenty of half timbered buildings in Esslingen. In the foreground are my wife, her distant cousin and his daughter and another distant cousin - with the blond braid. In Munich you will see her fraternising with Krampus.





As night fell - well the afternoon anyway - the market began to look more interesting

 

[OZDUCK]

Continuing on at Esslingen





We then moved onto the medieval market area.



There were a number of hand powered rides for kids







Plus a blacksmith




All conveniences were available



I had a snack of Langos with apple and cinnamon. Apparently Hungarian in origin. OK but not super special

 

[OZDUCK]

Something hot to drink



The kids seemed to enjoy the ride

At one stage we caught the tail end of a parade

Cooking with wood



Later on we went for meal at a restaurant that specialised in Swabian food. The Restaurant Palmscher Bau is housed in a building that dates to 1701 and was originally the residence of the Barons of Palm.







I had Schwäbischer Sauerbraten with Butterspätzle and potato salad . The Germans with us couldn't really see any difference from 'ordinary' sauerbraten



My wife had had pork in mushroom sauce and spätzle

 

[TheRealTMA]

Something hot to drink

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The kids seemed to enjoy the ride

At one stage we caught the tail end of a parade

Cooking with wood

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Later on we went for meal at a restaurant that specialised in Swabian food. The Restaurant Palmscher Bau is housed in a building that dates to 1701 and was originally the residence of the Barons of Palm.

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I had Schwäbischer Sauerbraten with Butterspätzle and potato salad . The Germans with us couldn't really see any difference from 'ordinary' sauerbraten

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My wife had had pork in mushroom sauce and spätzle

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Lovely photos.

 

[OZDUCK]

And now for something different. Our hosts have been buying their wine from a small winery just outside Stuttgart for decades and it was holding a tasting event on the Sunday we we there so along we went. This is, of course, one of the advantages of staying with locals.

Some sights on the road there and back





Once you are off the main road you can see all sorts of things



I wonder if they have sheepdog trials? He seemed a pretty clever dog


The grapes are on the hills in front and the cellar is on the road to the right in this picture. The small town on the hill is Hohenhaslach.



There were quite a few attendees

 

[OZDUCK]

This is what the vineyards looked like in the late summer of 2011on a previous visit. Each producer has only a few acres.



I remembered from that visit that while the whites were pretty good the reds seemed very anaemic. But of course the first reds I drank were W.A shiraz from the Swan Valley - subtlety is not their game.

As remembered the whites were very nice. No questions about tasting as many as you liked and no thought of any charge. Our hosts did buy a few dozen bottles but we only ended up with two small bottles of non-alcoholic wine for my wife. It was too early in the trip for me to be interested in carrying bottles of wine around. The staff were very friendly. I could bluff my way around being a foreigner for a few sentences but some of them worked me out. I actually found a few reds that I did like. Most of the grapes varieties were completely new to me.













There were also handicrafts, cheese and chocolate for sale. We ended up buying a few little things as gifts.

 

[OZDUCK]

Just a few final photos around Eberdingen. Just to divert to a serious note for a second. Both this year and last we had noticed how many more 'Eastern European' accents we had been hearing. Our hosts told us that their local community centre had been seconded to host refugees for the last 2 years or so and thus unavailable for use for local activities. Plus the they were putting a strain on other local facilities. They were trying hard to be sympathetic but it is obviously beginning to wear on the local communities. Apparently every town is allocated a certain number of refugees based on the size of the own.

We got all excited when we saw a little bit of snow fall especially as all of our German friends had told us not to expect much before Christmas - little did they know.



In this area there are small villages and towns every 10 km or so. This is something that confused me when I first went to Germany as their major cities seemed to have relatively small populations. But there are huge numbers of people clustered in these small places just outside each large city.







Schloss Kaltenstein in Vaihingen an der Enz. This is where the nearest train station to Eberdingen is located. I was told to be careful which station I booked for our train as there is another Vaihingen just on the other side of Stuttgart.



Now we headed off to Ulm. The train was again about 30 minutes late and fell more behind schedules as we went along. A new high speed link has just been partly opened between Stuttgart and ULM but for some reason we travelled on the very twisty and slow old line. Purely based on a couple of experiences that may have been just bad luck the EC trains seem to be older than the IC or ICE trains.

We thought that we had packed a bit too much stuff to travel comfortably on the train.



On board the EC



A lock and weir on the River Neckar just east of Stuttgart



As we went further east a sprinkling of snow appeared on the higher ground



Soon it became more than a sprinkling



The train was often only travelling at only about 80 km/h on these tight curves with approaching trains

 

[TheRealTMA]

…

We got all excited when we saw a little bit of snow fall especially as all of our German friends had told us not to expect much before Christmas - little did they know.

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They were right. That’s not snow! Just sprinkles.

 

[OZDUCK]

Ulm is the 'ancestral home' of the German side of my wife's family. The family name there can be traced back to around the 14th Century and there is still a branch living in Ulm. We had spent a couple of hours there on an organised tour during her family reunion in 2011 and thought that it was worth a little more of a look around.

Ulm - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The most famous feature of Ulm is the spire of the Ulm Minster - 1377. But the final construction of the spire was not completed until 1890. This is currently the highest church spire in the world at 161.53 metres. Once La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is completed it will take the record. The ancestors of my wife were one of the 9 wealthy families in Ulm that financed the original construction of the Minster.



There are a number of plaques on the walls commemorating notable citizens of Ulm. Two of them are for a member of her family

















A Real Estate firm run by her very, very distant relatives in the centre of the Old Town