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Christmas Market Trip 2025!
  • Jen Ritchey
  • Jen Ritchey

Christmas Market Trip 2025!

A 31-day adventure by Jen Read more
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  • Trip start
    November 14, 2025
    Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler
    1

    Schweinfurt Part 1

    November 15, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    It feels like we just got back from our trip and we are headed off again! This time for Christmas market adventures, but first we are going to Milan as Raymond has a work thing there Tues-Thurs next week. Originally I wasn’t going to go anywhere until a bit later, but since we were headed out anyways for his work thing I rearranged things and were will just stay out and have all the Christmas fun!

    So yesterday we started towards Milan and I booked a place just off the freeway just as a place to stay the night. As we were driving there we saw a sign for Schweinfurt and Raymond and I both were like “what does -furt mean??” Because Schwein is pig (or swine) and I was thinking there are other towns with -furt - Frankfurt and Erfurt were the first I thought of so what is happening with the pigs there?? Well Raymond looked it up and -furt is to ford like ford a river so this is where the pigs crossed the river! Well that was just so much fun, I kept wondering if they were they taking the pigs across on rafts like the Oregon trail game? Was the water low and they could splash their way across?? It brought me such joy thinking of the little pigs.

    As we were driving were kept seeing more signs pointing towards Schweinfurt so I finally asked Raymond if it was on our way to our overnight tonight as sometimes the signs are for places farther away…and it was! So of course we had to go! Though Raymond did point out that the city webpage does state that some historians don’t think the name comes from pigs crossing but rather people migrating from the north, but the people living there refuse to believe that - it has to be the pigs!! (More info here: https://www.schweinfurt.de/en/1631.How-did-Schw…). I said I’m with the townspeople! It must be the pigs!

    First stop was just outside town at der Seelenvater - a place where they used to tie up criminals and also where they executed someone and his last wish was to mark off how far his body walked after death and make it a square and give it to his family so again of course we had to stop where the dead body was walking around! (You can find more info here if you translate it https://www.schweinfurtfuehrer.de/sagen-geschic…).

    Then it was on to town! I had found a free parking place on the island in the river and we got there and got the last spot! It was perfect timing as cars kept coming in after us and then leaving as there were no spaces. Then off to explore town! The first stop was a historic crane and right by there was a map of a walking tour with all the things listed to see so we walked that. Walked along the city wall some, headed up the stairs in the town, sped on a church (the inside was very plain - just white walls and a cross on the alter), and then we found the pigs!! I was very excited for them!!

    There was a market in the main square and it was small, but very nice. The produce was so nice!! Everything was huge! If i lived there I would definitely get my produce there!

    The second church we spied on, St Johanniskirche, is the oldest building in the city! It was still pretty plain inside, but had some fun things. And then more wandering to see what we could see!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Schweinfurt Part 2

    November 15, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We walked by the art center with all the fun art (I like the eggshell seats and the book of lost letters), and then spying on another church (Heilig Geist Kirche). This was the nicest church we went in and I really liked the artwork they had!

    Then we looped back to the car along the water and had fun spying on the sculptures there and other fun things! We did learn that Schweinfurt had the world’s first roller dam! It was invented there so I learned what that was so that was fun (the big green thing before the head sculptor is part of the roller dam!).

    It was a really nice time and I never would have stopped there had we not looked up what the name meant! i had been trying not to get my hopes up too high for the city as I was pretty excited for pig river crossing town and I thought it was going to be super tiny and probably not that exciting, but I really enjoyed it (and it was bigger than expected). I had seen some parking lots in the city you can only park for 2 hours and I thought well if we end up in one of those that’s fine. There is no way we will be there for 2 hours! When we got there I was like okay we should leave by 2, but that is just over 3 hours from now so that should be fine…and it was 3 hours later that we returned to the car! There was so much to see! It was a great stop and I was glad we found it.

    Then it was on to our overnight in Kreuzlingen Switzerland, just across the border from Konstanz Germany. We are staying in a high rise building and picked up some Indian food for dinner which was delicious! Such a nice day and tomorrow we explore Konstanz and the lake!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Konstanz Germany

    November 16, 2025 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Today we got up, had a lazy morning, then headed off to explore Konstanz. We headed towards a pizza place for lunch that online showed outdoor seating (and we have seen people sitting outside at restaurants even though it is pretty cold!), but when we got there the outside seating was all in small plastic bubbles so defeats the whole point for us…so we got it to go and sat along the water to eat. I was excited for the pizza, one with zucchini and broccoli and one with veggie meat and chimichurri and while they were okay I was disappointed. The sauce was way too watery so the parts of the pizza with toppings were just mush which I don’t love. And the zucchini wasn’t cooked which was odd. It was fine, but not as good as I thought it was going it would be.

    Then we wandered back through the old town and along the water until we got cold and then headed back to the apartment. We did walk down the Main Street here in Kreuzlingen, but there wasn’t much to it. Tomorrow we head on to Milan for the week. Not sure how much I will have to share there as it’s not my favorite city and I have a few things I want to work on while Raymond is working so we shall see!

    This morning it did say it might rain, but I looked at the radar when we got home and it just missed us all day which was nice. Much nicer to wander when it is dry! And downtown Konstanz was pretty small. I kept thinking it would take longer to wander through, but we had fun.    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Milan Day 1

    November 17, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Today is mostly a food post!

    We woke up to a super grey rainy day. While eating breakfast you could barely see the lake so we got lucky with the weather! No rain yesterday when walking around, rain today when we left (plus it was raining ask day yesterday in Milan and today it was nice weather!).

    The drive was mostly raining through Switzerland which was unfortunate as you couldn’t see the mountains as they were covered in clouds. By lunchtime we had gotten to the other side of the mountains which was perfect timing as it wasn’t raining there! So we could stand outside and eat lunch - we have a VW Touran which…is super duper uncomfortable. Raymond even said it wasn’t great and usually he is fine in whatever we drive. So I did not want to sit in the car and eat lunch! I needed a break! I was so glad we didn’t have to drive yesterday as that seat was killing me the prior two days. One of the issues is I have a cushion I sit on as the seat is too hard, but it is too thick so I have to lower the seat so I can fit, but the way the seat lowers is weird and it marred me sit weird and it was making basically my one side super sore very quickly. My hip/butt/lower back/leg on the one side would just hurt driving and then be super sore by the time we got where we were going. Today I tried it with no cushion and up higher so my lower body was more in alignment and that was much better, then my butt just was sore from the hard seat. So then finally after lunch I was like what if I sit on my jacket to cushion it some and that worked great! So so so much better which is good as I wasn’t super sore when we got here to Milan! We have a longer day of driving to our stop after this so I am glad I figured out a way to get there without it being awful!

    Once we got here we went to spy on food. First up was a matcha place with a red bean and grape bun and a pistachio mochi - the mochi was so good!! I have lots of places to spy on while Raymond is working, but I might have to go back for more! The bun filling was good, but the outside was super dry.

    Then we wandered through Chinatown - I didn’t even realize Milan had one until looking for places to eat for this trip! And we ate our way down the Main Street and it was delicious!! Every place had very different flavors and oh, I loved it! We had a tofu skin and pepper steamed bun, some veggie steamed dumplings with spinach, tofu, cabbage, carrots, celery, noodles, soy sauce, and sesame that almost tasted like stuffing! Then some cabbage, mushroom and tofu grilled dumplings (these were probably my favorite! They were so so good!! Mostly cabbage and super delicious) then on to some dumplings with spinach, carrots, tofu and noodles and an open steamed bun with tofu, cabbage and carrots…these were disappointing. Good, but not nearly as good as the things we ate before it! Then we went back to the cabbage dumpling place and got a steamed bun with the same ingredients and a red bean bun as well - so good!! I love it and I will definitely have to go back while Raymond is working and spy on all the cute shops we saw! We are staying very close so it is a quick walk.

    Tomorrow Raymond has work and I go spy on all the foods and see what I see along the way! But today was pretty good. Not too bad of a drive and a nice walk to eat all the things!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Milan Day 2

    November 18, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Today I did all the walking! I had wanted to go out to a grocery store we went to in Tuscany that always had good things to pick up a few things for lunch. It was about a half an hour walk away from downtown and was a nice area to wander. Milan is not the prettiest city, So I don’t have many photos from my wanderings, but it was a quiet residential area with small parks and stuff (and one park with lots of pups playing!). Unfortunately the grocery store had nothing I wanted so I was like okay, there is a vegan bakery out here so let’s go see what they have…only they are closed today! So that was kind of a wasted trip, though on the way back to the hotel I did find a different grocery store and they had everything I needed! Hooray!

    I thought it would be a quick walk to get a few things and then relax until I meet up with Raymond with lunch, but I ended up getting back to the hotel just in time to make lunch for us and head over there! All the walking!

    Then this afternoon I relaxed until Raymond got back from work. Then we went to explore Tomba di Manzoni. In the photos with the views over the city (the views from our room!) you can see the giant building right there. I thought it was a museum or an old palace or something, but it is a giant giant cemetery. I walked by it this morning on the way to the store and we went back this evening and saw what we could see while it quickly got dark. I might have to have another wander myself if I have time as it is so huge!

    Then we got some ramen for dinner which was super good! Super spicy too! With these “meatballs” which were silky inside which was not the texture I was expecting! And some almond caramel mochi which was amazing! I am already trying to figure out how I will get back there tomorrow to get more! Might be my favorite thing we have had here thus far!

    All in all a pretty good day. Nice walks and adventures even if they didn’t turn out how I expected :)    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Milan Day 3

    November 19, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Today I went for a wander to a Vegan bakery and found a small market euch was fun. I also walked through this mall/park area with all the modern buildings in Milan (according to the Internet) and it was pretty nice. I imagine when it is warm and a weekend it would be super busy!

    On the way to the bakery I also went by someone filming something - likes real production company. I first went by the food cars and was like ??? Then all the lights and stuff. Then I was waiting to cross the crosswalk and there was a person all wrapped in bandages with a blanket on and I was like what in the world? Like you couldn’t see their face at all and it was pretty cold out (I was all bundled up in my layers) so they must have been freezing and then was like oh! They must be in what they are filming and waiting until they are ready for them. So that was fun.

    The treats place had lots of good stuff - a lemon meringue tart, fruit tarts (one chocolate one vanilla), a lemon puff pastry thing, and a pistachio maritozzo (bread with a pistachio cream), and a pistachio mousse treat. The mouse was just okay, but the other things were pretty good. We have an Italian Vegan bakery near us in Berlin and their treats are amazing and their pistachio cream is way better than this one was. Still tasty, but not as good. I remember Raymond commenting when we were in Tuscany why is the Italian bakery back in Berlin better than here?!? I don‘t know. I don’t know if this is more what the non-vegan ones taste like since I have obviously never had them and maybe the one in Berlin is not as traditional and we just like it more? Who knows.

    Then I wandered through Chinatown again looking at all the cute stores and grocery stores and all the fun things. This hotel is in a perfect location for that!

    We went back down there for dumplings for dinner again cause they were so tasty but we also found a place with vegan gelato mochi so had to try some. We got mixed berry, chocolate, and yuzu lemon and they were pretty good. Not as good as last nights, but tasty.

    I realized as we were eating dinner that I have been enjoying Milan more than on previous trips. I think part of it is I am wandering in weird areas that are not main tourist spots (expect for maybe Chinatown) so it is not that busy. I just remember trying to walk by the Duomo last time and there were so many people all over the place. So I have been enjoying my weird neighborhood walks.    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Milan Day 4

    November 20, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    Today I got up and had a lazier morning than I have had. It was supposed to rain so I saved this one Vegan treat place that was close by for today in case it did, but it ended up being another gorgeous sunny but cold day. First I walked by the water tower turned art in 1990 to commemorate Italy hosting the soccer World Cup. Apparently the water turn was falling apart so it was update it or tear it down. This is right across from the hotel on the other side from our window.

    Then the treat place had lots of delicious looking things. I got a chocolate mousse cake, a whipped cream and chocolate cake, 2 strawberry tarts, a red velvet mini piece, a tiramisu mini piece for Raymond (neither of us drink coffee, but I found out in Tuscany that he apparently likes tiramisu which is so odd!), 2 smash nut cookies and a larger cookie that kind of tasted kind of like a sandtart. We only are some of these and are saving the rest for this weekend, but what we tried was delicious! The past 2 days I have walked all morning so by the time I met Raymond for lunch I was ready to sit, but he had been sitting so day so wanted to walk so I relaxed more this morning and did my walking this afternoon instead. Much better plan!

    After we ate lunch we wandered back through Chinatown as it is close to the Microsoft building and Raymond wanted to take a walk and found more mochi I could eat! These were lychee and sesame and they were both very intense flavors, but very good!

    Then I walked down to a matcha place to get some matcha tiramisu. The place we went when we got here had it, but not vegan and I love matcha and never had tiramisu so wanted to try it if I could find it and I did! And it was so so so good! Light and delicious and Raymond was like it is like eating grass 😂 He didn’t like it as much as I did. I did end up sitting in a big park by the matcha place and reading in the sun a bit which was really nice. It was cold, but in the sun it was perfect!

    Then Raymond was at work till later today so I went to spy on the cemetery again. That place is huge! I had about 45 min before it would be too dark and I didn’t get to everything, but I did have fun exploring what I did explore! All the tombs, monuments, and mausoleums are so big! The pictures make them look so tiny, but they tower over you. They are like giant 3 story tall buildings! And so many of them so you can feel really small in the middle of them. It is almost like you are in a small village of tiny, but very tall houses! And most of the graves have lots of sculptures and art on them. There is so much to see as there is so much everywhere! I really enjoyed my wander and I found that it is the second largest cemetery in Milan so the other one is super giant (this one is 62 acres and the largest one is 168 acres!).

    For diner we decided to order pizza - we ordered 2 pizzas and 3 pizzas and some seaweed fried dough which was amazing showed up! I don’t know why we got three, but the pizzas were really tasty so we have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow and the next day! We got one with Vegan mortadella and pistachio and one with zucchini flowers and veggie meat - with think they might have tried making that one and put the wrong veggie meat on it so they made another one the right way and just gave us the one they messed up as well? Because two have the zucchini flowers on, but who knows. Either way we have all the pizza!

    And then we ordered more of that mochi we got the other night that was amazing - almond and caramel ones and matcha ones. So good! I love all the mochi and am sad we will be mochiless tomorrow. But I enjoyed our time here in Milan, probably because were had all the great food! Oh and there are tons of super tiny cars here that look like toys. It seems like every car manufacturer has one and I think they are all electric (though you only get 75km per charge so it is really only for around town). I did see a lot of them driving around while I was walking! Lots of fun and tomorrow we head on to the next stop!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler
    1

    Drive to Freiburg im Breisgau

    November 21, 2025 in Switzerland ⋅ ❄️ -4 °C

    Today we got up and headed towards our next stop - Freiburg in Breisgau. It said it was about a 5.5 hour drive with traffic and there was also a weather warning for snow and ice in Millan so I was hoping it wouldn’t be too bad as we did have to go through all the mountains…when we woke up no snow, a bit of rain and not that cold so that was good. We stopped at some grocery stores on the way out of town and it was very wet snow there. Then started driving and in the mountains it was super cloudy and you could barely see the mountains, but they did have some snow on them. Apparently the cold was coming from the south which was interesting as we went through a tunnel to the other side of the first mountains and no more snow! We stopped for lunch and it was freezing!! The car said it was 5 outside, but it was windy and it was like eat as quickly as we can while trying to stay out of the wind and then jump back in the car! My fingers were so cold they hurt! But driving on it got colder and colder until it was just above or just below freezing so I was glad we weren’t trying to eat there.

    Then there is a long 17km tunnel (in the middle the car said it was 30 degrees! So warm especially when it was so cold outside!) and on the other side of that was so much snow! The photos are ones Raymond took while I was driving and it was so nice! Not actively snowing, but cold outside and really pretty.

    We did miss most of the traffic and took a smaller border crossing into Germany (the main road said an extra 20 minutes! So we said no, let’s go on the smaller road and drove right through). We got to Freiburg in Breisgau and checked in and went for a short walk and it was so cold!! Still windy which makes it colder and I will definitely have to have all my layers on tomorrow as it is supposed to be a high of 1! So very cold! Hopefully it is not so windy…But we walked down to a cemetery and were going to wander through a bit, but it said it closed at dusk and it was already after sunset and getting dark and we didn’t want to be locked in. We would have walked into town but it is a half hour walk and I have book club tonight so we didn’t really have time. Oh well, tomorrow we can do all the exploring in the cold! Their Christmas market is open already so we can spy and see what we see!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Freiburg im Breisgau Part 1

    November 22, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ -5 °C

    Today we woke up to a bit of snow on the ground! Very exciting. When planning the trip I had originally planned to stay in a small town in the mountains close by, it was on a lake but didn’t seem to have much else. No good hiking trails nearby that I could find, but we could always just walk along the lake. Then I found this town and it looked like much more to do so switched to here, but yesterday when we got here I looked and the first place had had snow! A bit sad for me as I love the snow, but oh well. So I was pretty excited when we woke up to snow! Though it didn’t last that long, it was still nice relaxing and drinking my tea and looking out the window.

    Then we bundled up and headed out to explore town. It was -1 with a high of 1 this afternoon and the temp are the other place I thought of staying? -11 with a high of -5!! I was glad we didn’t stay there even though it had snow cause that is too cold!! As it was it was pretty cold here, but we walked into town and spied on the Christmas markets and found a few options for us! We got some hot beverages to warm up (holunder for me and gluhwein for Raymond) and found some vegan schupfnudeln (potato “dumplings” with sauerkraut) for lunch and it was delicious! This is the first time we have found a vegan version as usually the schupfnudeln are made with egg and they add speck to it so it is not even vegetarian. So that was exciting!

    After lunch we went to explore more of town and I was so cold!! I had been fine this morning, but a bit of a wind came up and we sat for too long and I was just an ice cube! But we found a farmers market around the cathedral in the middle of town which was really nice. All the produce looked amazing! I don’t know why we can’t have nice farmers markets like this in Berlin! I guess we don’t grow food nearby? I don’t know.

    We also found a “healthy treat” place that had little cakes made from cashews, flavoring (berries or chocolate), coconut oil, dates, and maple syrup so we tried a chocolate one. Oh my goodness it was amazing! Not very sweet and I could have gotten a couple of them for snacks if we weren’t going anywhere else after this! One of the best things we have gotten so far (though we did have a lot of amazing things in Milan as well!).

    Then we wandered into the cathedral and they had some really gorgeous intricate stained glass windows all over. Some of the most intricate ones we have seen for sure. I was surprised that going into the church actually felt warm! They don’t heat the churches and so normally they are freezing, and it was still cold inside but not as cold as outside! So I warmed up a little bit.

    Then more wandering through town and I saw you could walk up the hill just outside of town for some views so we decided to do that. On the way up we found a bench in the sun and had a nice break as the sun was warm enough! That was really nice as I was like I do need a break, but if we sit I am going to get colder…and then the hiking uphill I thought would make me warmer, but it was cold enough I guess that it didn’t really. Didn’t get colder, but didn’t sweat either in all my layers! And the views were really nice.    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Freiburg im Breisgau Part 2

    November 22, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C

    After walking up the hill just outside of town we headed back and found a nice park, city park, with a cafe that has a vegan brookie (chocolate chip cookie on top of a brownie) and so we tried that and I got a matcha latte and Raymond a hot chocolate and we sat in the sun and enjoyed and it was wonderful! The brownie was probably one of the best vegan brownie I have had from a restaurant! So delicious!! And the table in the sun was not in the wind and it was perfect. We had a nice sit and enjoyed the park and it was great.

    Then we wandered through the park and a small, old cemetery on the way back to our place. It looked like most of the graves were from the 1800’s, but a lot of them were so weathered you couldn’t read them. Then a getting colder and colder walk back home! The sun was going down quickly and boy it was chilly! I had to break out the balaclava to cover my face as it was frozen! Raymond even broke out his gloves (I don’t know how his hands stayed warm all day as mine froze instantly if I had them or if my gloves)!

    Oh! Then the second to last photo was other things we got at the Christmas market - some cinnamon vanilla roasted pumpkin seeds, a cinnamon roll and a banana sesame roll, and a little sheep ornament. The treats are all for later as that is too many treats for one day!

    Then we got Thai food for dinner - a red curry with pumpkin and tofu and a green curry with vegan duck and both were super tasty! The red curry also had tofu skin in and we were saying how we don’t know the last time we had tofu skin, but this is the third time in a week we have had it (it was also in the steamed buns in Milan). So that was odd, but it is delicious so it is good.

    I thought Freiburg was going to be a much smaller town and I thought we would come back for a break this afternoon and then go back out and explore some of the parks on the outskirts that looked nice, but we didn’t have time for them. Oh well, something to look forward to next time! All in all a pretty great day even if it was freezing! Tomorrow is supposed to be cold as well and we are moving on to the next stop! We shall see what we see!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Karlsruhe

    November 23, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ -1 °C

    Today we got up to another cold day (colder than yesterday!) and headed out for more adventures. First stop was Karlsruhe. It is about a 45 min drive from where we are staying tonight and I had originally planned on going there on Tues since the Christmas markets doesn’t open until tomorrow, but since it was on the way to where we are staying we decided to just stop and check it out along the way (and then if it is super nice and we decided we want to we can come back on Tues). Well…I was glad we just stopped today and didn’t make a special trip for it! It was fine, but besides the palace there wasn’t much special about it. It wasn’t super interesting to wander and find things…it was just okay. While we were driving Raymond looked up info about the town and found that by the palace there is the Blauer Strahl - the worlds largest ceramic artwork - 1,625 blue ceramic tiles that link the palace to the oldest and only ceramic manufacturing factory still in production in Germany. For some reason I was expecting something more than just a line on the ground…so when we got there I was like oh…this is it?? Really this was the feeling I thought I would have in Schweinfurt but lucky that was a fun stop!

    So then we walked around the grounds towards town and came across a helicopter taking off! We weren’t that close to it, but once it got up in the sky the wind was so strong on us!! I’ve never been that close to one! Excuse the mitten in the video…it was so windy I was afraid my phone would blow over so I was holding on!

    We ate lunch in the middle of town and then wandered to all the things to see I had marked and like I said it was fine, but not amazing. We did find a bakery with vegan cookies and brownie so we tried one and.. they were fine, but not great. Raymond was like just like Karlsruhe which yes! And made me laugh. When planning I was debating if we should stay in Karlsruhe or Heidelberg and I am so glad I chose Heidelberg! After our quick wander we headed on to our overnight stop. It was still pretty cold today, right about our below freezing, but I added yet another layer and then I was nice and toasty! And the sun came out with was really nice    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Heidelberg Day 1

    November 23, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    After Karlsruhe we headed on to Heidelberg where we are spending the next few days. Raymond has to work tomorrow (using up the rest of his vacation for the year was only enough for the weeks minus a day, but it didn’t make sense to drive all the way home by this evening then head out again tomorrow evening so he will just work from here), and like Karlsruhe the Christmas market starts tomorrow.

    After we got unpacked we headed out for a short wander before it got too cold and it was pretty nice. There is a main pedestrian road right through town that we walked down and spied on all the things. I had planned on making dinners while we were here, but we found some delicious sounding restaurants so we shall see…but it was pretty nice. There is a river right through town, but it was very windy on water so we didn’t spend a ton of time there as it was really cold.

    A few days ago I had been telling Raymond about a Hallmark movie that took place here at the Christmas market and then totally forgot about it once we were here. When we were walking back to our place he asked if it was just like the movie and I was like not really…it is not what I remembered! The lady starts by walking up a steep hill to find the place she is staying and we were just on the pretty flat ground so it must have been either across the river or in the hill with the castle…but I couldn’t really remember what the market looked like, so I was like well we are just going to have to rewatch it to see all the filming locations! And the last two photos with the Christmas markets (where you can see the castle on the hill) are where they filmed them and also on the bridge and they took a walk on a walking trail on the other side of the river that I have on our to do list if we have time! So that was fun seeing the places we just walked through!

    So it was a nice wander and I will go explore more and run some errands tomorrow until Raymond is done with work. It said it might snow tonight, but then tomorrow is supposed to be slightly warmer so hopefully we don’t freeze as much!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Heidelberg Day 2

    November 24, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Today we woke up to much warmer weather! Still cold, but the high was 6 (much warmer!) and I did not need all my layers even in the slight wind. I ran some errands this morning and then after we ate lunch we wandered to spy on the Christmas markets and…they were not great. They all had the same few booths with one or two different ones which was disappointing. We thought maybe they would have a treat, but there was only one booth with anything vegan and that was just a bratwurst so not that exciting. Afterwards Raymond headed back to our place to finish working and I spied on all the cute stores!

    There was a yarn shop that had so many really nice vegan yarns that I need to go back and make note of as they were so soft! I don’t have any projects for them at the moment, but if I have the brands when I do have something to make I can get some of them! The ladies in the shop were not the best, they left me alone which is fine, but I am used to them chatting away with you at other yarn shops. Plus a lady came in and said how someone she knows knits and crochets and are there any good yarns from Germany she could bring her back to the states and the lady working there instantly was like “No!” And not very nicely. The shopper was a bit taken aback which I would be too, but like if I knew more about yarns I might have tried to help her…but also maybe not buy from that shop? I’m sure there are brands and stuff that are easier to get over here. I know I’ve seen people in my cover group talking about brands we have here in Europe so I’m sure she could have be a find something fun! Oh well, maybe at another shop.

    I did spy on the water again and there are spooky clouds which was fun. I did find lots of cute things, but didn’t get anything except new Christmas sweaters for us! I did find a place that had Vegan käsespätzle which I never see so I was going to get that for dinner…only they close at 3 and are not open tomorrow. So sad for me. Then I thought I will get these filled tofu pockets we saw yesterday and have them with some roasted veggies tonight…but that place was closed today and tomorrow for a deep cleaning! So we just had roasted veggies and veggie meat which was delicious, but not käsespätzle!

    After dinner we went out for a walk by the water and through the Christmas markets to see if they were more magical at night…and they weren’t. There was just a lot more people walking around than there were this afternoon. Raymond said we have been to too many Christmas markets and are Christmas market snobs, but I said I have always been like this. A couple we went to the first year in Berlin I was like what is this?!? Is this what they are like cause this is just cheap junk…so if it is nice it’s nice, if it’s not it’s not. It’s not bad here really, but I wouldn’t come back for the markets and I wouldn’t even stop if it was on the way somewhere again unless I really had no where else to go. It was nice that it wasn’t as cold today, even this evening was still fine to wander. Tomorrow we are going to walk a trail on the other side of the river and then see what else we get up to. Should be fun!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Heidelberg Day 3

    November 25, 2025 in Germany ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    Today was a really great day! It was overcast again with lots of spooky clouds, but not too cold and perfect for hiking up in the hills! We headed out and found some silly Egyptian Geese making weird noises in top of the signpost. Then on to a sourdough bakery for some treats - cardamom roll, cinnamon roll, and a chocolate franzbrötchen. We had one before we started our walk and it was delicious!

    Then on to the Philosophenweg walk. It is on the other side of the river and has great views of the town! It was a bit of a steeper hike up at first and I had way too many layers for uphill walking and had to readjust so I didn’t overheat! One of the stops is a garden that was actually still pretty nice! Then we wandered off the way a bit to go up to another viewpoint and once we got there we were like well we are almost to the top of the hill so we might as well go to the top! The hike up to the first viewpoint was super steep…we probably should have followed the road around instead, but we made it. Then it was a nice easy uphill road or old roads which was nice.

    On top were the ruins of an old monastery that was built in 1094! It was disbanded in the 16th century and it fell into disarray. In 1886 they built the lookout tower from the stones of the ruins.

    The top was just high enough that it had some spooky clouds in it so the views were not amazing because of the clouds. It was significantly colder as well so we went back down a bit to eat lunch where it was warmer.

    We eventually made our way back down to where we diverged from the original trail and followed that along until a steep decent to the bridge. There was a really nice viewpoint right before the decent and we had a nice break enjoying the views. Then the last bit of the way down Raymond was Iike this is like the Etruscan roads only with bricks! Which it kind of was. So that was fun.

    Then we wandered across the bridge and down different roads through town and found way too many treats! We got a raspberry cheesecake (I didn’t think I would like this but thought we should try it as it was from the main bakery here and it was actually pretty good!) and a peanut butter and jelly pie from the bakery, some dango from a Japanese place (the balls - they are glutinous rice balls kind of like mochi), and a cookie and something like marzipan but not from a whole wheat bakery (we tried the cookie and it was sooooo dry. I said no thanks to that).

    It was so nice wandering around the woods and seeing all the things. Today was my favorite day here in Heidelberg and we spent most of it looking out over at the city or in the trees. I thought next year I should plan it more like this. One day travel day, one day to explore wherever we go, then one day to hike around in the same area. From here on out we are spending 2 nights at each place so lots of moving around, but it should be fun!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Wiesbaden

    November 26, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Today we woke up to another grey day, but we headed north to our next stop, Wiesbaden, and found some sun! We wandered through town and the Christmas markets and it was pretty nice. We got some green pea soup and a bread with veggies and a bread on a stick for lunch which was all pretty good! The soup place had a couple Vegan soups which was nice and it was cold so it was perfect! Really there were a bunch of Vegan options which was really nice! We got to pick and choose what we wanted.

    We also found a farmers market and a bakery stand with vegan treats there - we got a plum thing and a vegan domino (gingerbread, jelly and marzipan covered in chocolate).

    Then we walked out to the events center where they had a nice park and inside was a Christmas tree made from over 2,000 red poinsettias! The building was really cool and beautiful inside so that was nice. Then back through town and found another bakery with a little raspberry mousse cake which was really good! Then on to our final stop for the day - Frankfurt!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Frankfurt Day 1

    November 26, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    We arrived in Frankfurt this afternoon and by the time we unpacked and everything it was almost sunset - perfect timing to explore the Christmas markets! We are staying not too far from the closest one which is really nice. We wandered through then all and made note of treats and foods for tomorrow! We had our sandwiches packed from lunch so we ate those by the water and it was really nice. Getting cold as it was dark, but it was a fun wander! Tomorrow we will explore the city more and see what we see!Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Frankfurt Day 2.1

    November 27, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    Phew! I have all the photos today! I wasn’t expecting that as I didn’t have that much to do here in Frankfurt, but then I searched for a self guided walking tour this morning and found a great blog that had one (here if anyone wants bit more info about things: https://jetsettingfools.com/free-walking-tour-f… ). It was the best one I have ever found for a place we have visited. It had so many places we never would have known about and a little text about the place, then walking direction to the next stop! So helpful! It was perfect even if we did it a bit out of order at times and veered off the path to see other things. We ended up walking all day!

    We woke up this morning to gorgeous sunny skies! It was still cold (it said it was 2 when we walked up to the grocery store), but it didn’t feel as cold as it has been. I even had to take off my fuzzy pink coat for most of the day as it was way too hot with it on! Crazy!

    Our first stop was Eschenheimer Tower, an old wall tower that is the oldest original building in the city! It is now a restaurant (most things are now restaurants or cafes we discovered today). Then it was a wander towards Hauptwache Square where there is a Christmas market that we wandered through last night. One of the small old buildings, the Hauptwache building, used to house police and military, but is now a cafe.

    Then we went into the big department store on the square where they have a cafe on the seventh floor with an outside patio with views of the city! And free! So that was fun. It was a gorgeous day and I loved seeing everything from a bit higher.

    Then we wandered towards the Kleinmarkthalle (small market) which was really nice inside. Lots of good stands with foods and flowers and all the things! It was around noon when we got there and a lot of people were eating lunch outside that they bought inside. If not for the Christmas markets we might have too! We did find a bakery in there that had a ton of vegan cakes so of course we got some - a pistachio cheesecake and a peanut butter brownie. We tried the cheesecake and it was pretty good, almost too cheesecake like for me (I am not a fan of cream cheese or yogurt or anything tangy dairy, but I liked the raspberry one we got the other day and I love pistachio so thought why not?). Really nice market and again I wish we had something like this near me in Berlin!

    Since it was lunchtime when we were done there we headed over to the one Christmas market that had a vegan soup stand for lunch. I got the red lentil curry soup and Raymond got the chili. Both were very good! I make a lentil curry soup and there’s was very similar which is what I wanted so I was happy. Then we headed to the kartoffelpuffer (potato pancake) place and got some of them with vegan krautersauce such was really good! Normally if I can eat them I can only get applesauce with them so I had wanted to try them with the other sauce and I’m glad we did. Though they are huge and there is no way I could eat one serving all by myself! When we were wandering yesterday as we were passing one of the kartoffelpuffer stands a lady was telling her friend “they are somehow cooked in oil?” With a very confused sound to her voice and I was like had she never heard of frying things?? So we were joking about that while we were there.

    Then on to Paulskirche where there was another Christmas market (the round brick building). This is where the first freely elected parliament in Germany met and where the first constitution was written! It is now a museum (by this point in the day I was expecting another restaurant!). There was a really cool old buildings and bridges across the road at the one end of the square there. I know I posted that yesterday in the dark, but we spied a bit closer today.    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Frankfurt Day 2.2

    November 27, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Our tour continued to Romerberg Square where probably the main Christmas market was. It was really busy last night so we didn’t explore that much, but much less crowded this afternoon so we could see all the things. The Rathaus is on the one side of the square and half timbered houses on the other with a church on the far side. It is a very nice area of town!

    Then on to the new old town - an area that was destroyed in WWII, but was rebuilt trying to use original materials and make it look like it did, but also new. It was interesting because it does look old and new at the same time. Really pretty and not many people were wandering there. There is also an old archeological ruin of a church in the area and then the cathedral (which apparently isn’t really a cathedral, but everyone calls it that). It is where Holy Roman Empire coronations took place! 10 Kings were crowded there! If not for that walking tour blog I would never have known as it didn’t say anything about that inside. It wasn’t the most ornate inside, but still enjoyed having a peek.

    Then we went down one of the most interesting streets I never would have turned down without the tour - Saalgasse. So these houses are also destroyed in the war, but in the 80’s when they were rebuilding they hired a bunch of postmodern architects to build the buildings so each of them is very different and fun. It was really fun walking down the street and looking at all the fun buildings! It was a tiny street between two we had walked down yesterday and close to the water so I probably would have walked right by it without noticing it had it not been pointed out. This was probably my favorite stop of the day as I loved all the interesting architecture!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Frankfurt Day 2.3

    November 27, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    After spying on all the fun buildings it was off to the pedestrian bridge across the river. We had dinner right by there last night, but didn’t go across so today we did! Really nice views of the city and such a gorgeous day! It was cold with the wind obviously, but I bundled back up in preparation and was nice and toasty.

    On the other side of the bridge is the Sachsenhausen area, which my guide was kind of disparaging about as it is all bars now, but was like it’s still worth a wander (and yes the Main Street is just bar after bar). It was fine, but not as nice as the other parts of the city are wandered, though on the ground there were apple stones I think because there is an apple wine that was originally made there.

    Then it was off across the Alte Brucke (old bridge) which was also really nice. Might have liked the views better from that bridge, but it was also a car bridge so can’t just go back and forth to either side (though I did when it was clear!). Then on to the old Jewish cemetery and memorial. The outside wall had the names of people killed in the Holocaust. Most of it was also destroyed by the nazis with only some headstones remaining that were lining the edges. The Jewish museum is right there too in a wavy building.    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Frankfurt Day 2.4

    November 27, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Finally it was off to our last stops on the way home. A walk down Zeil (a pedestrian shopping street with a fun mall) then on to the stock exchange building (it is being worked on so couldn’t actually see the building only the statues outside).

    Then one last stop - a patisserie with some vegan treats! A pumpkin chocolate tart and a passion fruit raspberry tart. We tried the pumpkin one and it had cranberry on it too so it was like a little bit of thanksgiving for us :) on the way there we walked through a park with a faucet down low and a sign that said “only Sonoran toads” which I have no idea what that means! I tried to do a quick search on the internet to see if it was some thing here, or some German phrase that I don’t know, but nothing. But a cute sign!

    Then we got Ethiopian food for dinner (a plate of all their vegan options) which was good, but not the best we have had.

    All in all today was a great day! I never really had Frankfurt on my to go to list as I didn’t think there was much here if you are not working, but I really enjoyed today! Really I was thinking I wish we had another day as there are lots of parks and other things to see a bit farther out (but still pretty close to where we are staying) that we didn’t have time for. It is actually a really nice city, though it does feel richer than other cities which makes sense. Like the people are and all the expensive stores and restaurants (there is one shopping road that is all high end places like gucci and stuff). Really enjoyed today and will definitely have to come back and explore more!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Bonn

    November 28, 2025 in Germany ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    Today we got up and headed off to our next stop, Bonn. Yesterday I had looked at how long it would take to get there and then on to our overnight in Köln and…The traffic was crazy at 4pm! Like it would have taken 40 minutes more to get to Bonn and an extra hour to get from there to Köln so I was like let’s see what the traffic is like in the morning as we can skip it if it is still crazy. Cause don’t want to stuck in the car for that much extra time! Luckily when we got up the traffic was back to normal and we had no issues all day getting from place to place. I don’t know what was going on yesterday!

    Bonn is a small town and the birthplace of Beethoven (the last picture is his birthplace!). We got super lucky with parking as there was a cheap garage that everyone was going to and when we got there there were spaces, but by the time we got back outside to walk into town it was full! So I was super glad we got there just in time!

    Then it had been raining on the drive in, but it had basically stopped while we were there! Super lucky again! It sprinkled a little while we were eating lunch, but we had our umbrellas and it had stopped by the time we were walking around again. The market was bigger than I thought it would be and was pretty nice. There were a lot of really nice stands with things I haven’t seen other places. It was a lot of fun.

    We did go into the cathedral and the organ was playing when we went in and I don’t know if it was out of tune or something but it sounded awful!! So so so bad I could hardly stand it. And so loud too! So we just took a quick spy, the stained glass windows were really nice, and then I went out the side door to get away from the music and ended up in the inner courtyard! I didn’t even know you could go in there! So that was a fun surprise.

    Then wandered through town down to the river and then back to the car (and we found another farmers market in the main square!) and back to the car to head on our way. When we got to Bonn I thought we have about 2 hours to explore, or at least 2 hours so we will get to Köln and can check-in right away, and and we got back to the car 2 hours later. It was perfect timing :)

    I really liked the Bonn market even though it didn’t have many treats for me (though I think I am getting treated out! I am not used to being able to find so many sweet treats everywhere we go!! I’m used to only occasionally finding a cake or something and we did find some in Bonn, but they did not look amazing enough for me to say okay to. If it had been earlier in the trip I might have gotten them!). Overall a great stop!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Köln

    November 28, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    After our Bonn adventure we headed off to Köln where we are staying. I’ve been here before with a friend and remembered it was not the prettiest city, but Raymond had never been and the Christmas market is supposed to be really nice so I wanted to come check it out. We got settled in our place then headed out to the cathedral for the main market!

    The market at the cathedral was pretty nice and we found a few options for lunch tomorrow, but it was already getting crowded so we didn’t explore it all. I’m hoping tomorrow early it will be less crowded!

    Then there is a market on the harbor so I was like let’s walk over there as it is close…and we didn’t end up making it as we found other markets instead! Heinzel’s market was really nice and really big and it had a nice old timey feel with I loved. All the booths were decorated nicely and the lights were great! I was like this is the prettiest market we have been to so far for sure!

    And then we started to head towards home and found the Angel market and of I loved that one so much!! It was gorgeous! The blue and white lights are so so pretty!! One of the prettiest markets we have been to for sure! We even found some cookies that were delicious that we brought home (Raymond was like treats we don’t have to eat right away!! Which yes, we can save them and have them later!). I loved it so much I wanted to just hang out there all night!

    Then another market close to where we were staying (with a star light entrance!), but we didn’t spy too much there as it was so crowded and I hate not being able to walk because there are so many people. Plus it was almost dinner time so we had to head on for food.

    So we just headed back to our place where the LGBTQA+ market is (Heavenue) where they had vegan spätzle with an herb cream sauce, red cabbage, fried onions, and cranberry jelly! It was delicious! And made up for the no spatzle in Heidelberg! The one view from above is the view from our place of the market! We can hear the entertainment from the Christmas market and tonight it was drag queens which was fun. We also went down and got a matcha crepe for a treat which was so good! And not very sweet! I don’t know why matcha is such a thing now (we have seen at least one matcha themed store/resraurant everywhere we have been), but I’m not complaining. I love matcha so it is great for me when they have things I can get!

    So that was our day. Pretty great and I was hesitant about staying in Köln as I didn’t love it the first time I was here, but I am glad we are! The markets are really nice and I can’t wait to explore them more (and actually look at all the things for sale) tomorrow! It sprinkled off and on on us this evening, but wasn’t bad. And warmer than it has been! I had to take off another layer today as it was too hot otherwise! I think it was 9 the whole time we were wandering so not cold enough for all the layers. Tomorrow should be warm again so it should be perfect for exploring!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Köln Day 2

    November 29, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Today we got up to a beautiful day! A bit of clouds, but for the most part sunny and gorgeous! I think it was 11 degrees today which is pretty warm for cold weather! Didn’t need all the layers again even down by the water where it was windy so that was nice. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm again and then start to get colder.

    Today we pretty much just wandered from Christmas market to Christmas market and saw what we saw along the way. First was the star entrance market from last night which was probably the least good market here in a Köln, but even that one wasn’t bad! I get why these markets are so popular as they have all been really great!

    I was glad we went to the Angel market last night at it was not as magical in the day! Still nice, I like the both designs, but without the lights it was missing something.

    We went to the main market at the cathedral for lunch of pasta with smoked tofu, veggies, and flammekuchen sauce and some vegan momos (dumplings) with a spicy Nepalese sauce - both of these were super good! Then we wandered through the other nice market from last night and spied on the ice rink there (it was really big! One of the biggest we have seen at a market!) then on to the market at the harbor. When we were walking up it looked like a ton of people and like you wouldn’t be able to move, but when we got up there it was fine. It wasn’t that big, but there were a lot of nice things (and we got some kinderpunsch as I really like the mugs! All the mugs at the markets you pay a deposit on and then can either keep them or return them for the deposit back. I kept this one as I really liked it, though I couldn’t get a good photo of it. I do have a small collection of Christmas market mugs, but only ones that bring me joy and we use them for hot chocolate at home :)

    We also found an empanada place that had two Vegan ones - a spicy seitan one and a spinach one so we tried one of each (luckily they were tiny) and they were really good! We also found some printen cookies which I love! We are stopping in Dusseldorf tomorrow basically just so we can get some of them as I knew they had them (they are from Aachen and are only available at a few markets! And they are naturally vegan!). They are spiced cookies with anis and they are the best! We got one covered in chocolate, yum!

    Then on the way back to our place we stopped by some treat places to see if they had anything we needed and the one place had so many things!! We ended up getting a matcha cheesecake and a poppyseed streusel - both were just okay. The poppy seed thing I had made before and didn’t like it at all and this one was better than what I made but still not amazing. And the cheesecake was not really for me. Oh well. We also got a gingerbread tart which was pretty good (we just tasted everything when we got home).

    After a short rest we headed out to another small market close to where we are staying and that one was also really nice. Lots of crafts which I love and lots of vegan foods! For how small it was I was surprised by how much food I could get there! We only ended up getting a cinnamon roll as it looked too good to pass up (it was still hot so we had a taste and it was delicious!).

    Then for dinner at got some bang bang noodles - spicy hand made noodles with gyoza and a free cucumber salad! These were good, but German spicy aka not spicy. I was expecting super hot, but oh well. We keep some hot sauce with us and we added that and then it was perfect!

    Overall this was a really great day. The weather was perfect and we were at the markets early enough that they weren’t crazy busy, though by the time we were leaving the cathedral one and the other one they were getting packed. All of the markets were really nice, had lots of nice things and fun foods and treats for us! Köln itself isn’t my favorite, it’s not that pretty and just meh to wander around, but I would definitely come back again for the Christmas markets! Especially at night - they were all magical!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Dusseldorf

    November 30, 2025 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Today we got up and headed to Dusseldorf to explore their markets. We had come here two years ago and we stayed in Dusseldorf then and I really enjoyed it. I loved wandering the town, the riverfront was really nice to walk along, there is a lake with lots of birds to watch right by the one market, it was great. I was curious to see if I would enjoy it as much after the amazing markets in Köln…and I did! Really I just enjoy the city so much more it is hard not to enjoy the markets too. It is so nice and I really like the vibe there. Much nicer than Köln. So much fun art all over the place and yeah we should come back again not at Christmas time and explore more (or stay there again next time!).

    It was only a degrees colder in Dusseldorf than when we left Köln, but it felt much colder! I had left my fuzzy jacket in the car as I thought it would be too warm, and I did have another layer that was just warm enough, but I could have used the fuzzy jacket again!

    We had packed sandwiches for lunch, but then we found all the things to eat so we saved them for dinner. We found some bun bao with tofu, cabbages, cucumber, carrots, onions, and a sriracha sauce - super good! Then we got some vegan curry wurst and a hot beverage and sat by the lake with the birds for a bit. I had found holunderpunsch and was like yes!! But they fooled me. It was just kinderpunsch, way too sweet and tasted nothing of holunder! I had seen a cranberry one earlier and thought I probably should have gotten that one…At least the cranberry one should be tart instead of overly sweet! Oh well.

    We also got some potato pancakes with lingonberry and that was super good. The sweet helped cut the greasy feel too!

    Then it was shopping Sunday today (stores are normal closed on Sundays, but I think 4 times a year there are Sundays where everything is open, or can be open) so we went to spy on the patisserie where we got treats from last time to see if they were open (normally they are not) and they were! We got a pistachio mousse tart and a mixed berry tart! Should be good!

    I had told Raymond when we got there that we had at least 3 hours till we could leave for our overnight stop (so we would get there at check-in time) and I thought that was going to be way too long, but we didn’t take much of a break and ended up back at the car over 3 hours later!

    Oh there was a fun adventure trying to park today. I had the cheap garage on my map and we were headed there behind a van and we go to turn into the garage and this big van decided they wanted to go in too after they went mostly by it. Raymond had looked up how high the ceilings were to make sure we would fit and they were pretty low, but we were small enough so no worries. But van? No way. Maybe on the top floor as they just made it inside, but that was full so you had to go down a level and that had another sign with a lower height limit…and van just decided to try and go down even though there was no way they were short enough and scraped up the top of their van and got stuck and then traffic was backing up behind me and I was trying to back up so they could back up and get out and it was a mess. But we were both like why did they think they would fit?!?! They were definitely too tall! Though the ceiling right there was pretty scraped up so they were definitely not the first too tall car to try and go down there!

    And I just realized that was the second parking garage thing that happened today! The first was when we were leaving Köln (we had parked in a garage) the car in front of us tried to leave before they paid which I was like have they never parked in a parking garage before? Cause pay before you go to your car is standard (at least over here)…and Raymond was like well they are not from Germany, but I was like I’m pretty sure it works the same way in France! So two people today not knowing what they were doing in the parking garage that I had to back up for to let them get out. Weird!

    But Dusseldorf was a great stop and I loved it. I was wishing we were staying overnight there as it’s just a city I love!    Read more

  • Jen RitcheyChristmas Market Trip 2025!Traveler

    Münster Day 1

    November 30, 2025 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    We got to Münster just at sunset and we had reserved a parking space at the place we are staying, which I was glad we did! The parking situation is kind of crazy and cars were parked willy nilly on the street and that would have stressed me out trying to find a place to park and trying to figure out if we could actually park there…

    Once we got settled we headed out to spy on the Christmas markets. There are 6 in town and the first one we went to was so busy you couldn’t move, and that was one of the smaller outside of downtown ones so I thought we might not be able to wander any of them if they are that busy. We can just come back tomorrow…but lucky the rest of them weren’t bad! The city was weirdly dark trying to walk around except for the Main Street which was lined with white buildings (though they might have helped make it lighter!). So not a ton of photos as it was to dark to see most things, but we did have a nice spy at the markets and found some things we are going to go back for for lunch tomorrow (and found some vegan schmalzkuchen - fried dough with cinnamon sugar which we have never seen ones we could eat before so we had to try them. Pretty tasty!)

    It was a nice wander and tomorrow we will explore the city more when we can actually see things! Should be fun!    Read more

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