Allison is back sharing with us her experiences last week visiting a Christmas market in Cologne, Germany as well as her prior visit to a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France. After reading her experiences, I know which one I would like to visit.
Hello readers! We were set upon this trip after visiting the Christmas market in Strasbourg, France several years ago. The massive, beautiful gothic church sits in the middle of an historic square alongside restaurants in buildings from the fourteenth century. This area was the location of the main Christmas market and lucky for us, our hotel! Stalls lined the square and sold festive French pastries and German sausages.
The vendors sold beautiful handmade ornaments and other traditional holiday crafts. One of the most interesting aspects of the Strasbourg market was the blending of French and German cultures and cuisine. Everywhere we went felt homey and rustic and served generous portions of bratwursts and sauerkraut, alongside escargot and crepes.
On Christmas Eve we passed an impromptu choir singing beautiful Christmas hymns, and on Christmas morning we awoke to what felt like the inside of a fantastic a snow globe. As we stepped out of our hotel into the cathedral square, the market was awake and bustling, the cathedral towering breezily over the scene. Snow was falling in fat, soft flakes, and there was a brass band playing Jingle Bells.
Spending Christmas away from family is hard for me, but being in Strasbourg was a unique experience that hubby and I both cherish. Fast forward to last week when we landed in cloudy Cologne. Hubby and I both agree that we had some misguided expectations of our first trip to Germany, as there were no oversized beer steins or lederhosen to be found.
