Heidelberg Weihnachtsmarkt

If I didn't make it clear enough from my August post, Heidelberg is a great German city. While in the city for a military ball (always a great time!), we had the opportunity to see the city in a different light - figuratively and literally since daylight is now limited to 8 hours compared to 15 hours in August!
Heidelberg covered in snow is beautiful.  Unlike the other Christmas markets we have been to so far, Heidelberg had several small markets spread across the city. There is one long pedestrian-only street spanning the Altstadt, which was the perfect setup for a Glühwein (or three) in between the Christmas stands and the other great stores that line the Hauptstraße.
We had a great Saturday afternoon strolling through Heidelberg - the perfect setting for serious Christmas shopping of all kinds!

Paris in Pictures

Spending a week in Paris without the pressure of seeing all of the sights was wonderful. The city truly is amazing! Below are the things I was most thankful for during our Thanksgiving trip:

Eating at the wonderful cafe at the
Musee D'Orsay - isn't that clock beautiful?

Spotting the statues with Rudolph noses across the city

Macaroons!

Beautiful Metro stations - this is not just decorated for Christmas...

Eating at Le Grand Colbert where Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Keanu Reeves filmed Somethings Gotta Give

The beautiful ceiling on the top floor of Printemps

Watching the traffic (and the view, of course) from the
top of the Arc de Triumph - note that you have to walk up!

Schloss Guteneck Weihnachtsmarkt

Though I know Nuremberg holds the title of "biggest Christkindlesmarkt" in Germany, I think the Weihnachtsmarkt (another word for Christkindlesmarkt or Christmas market) at the Schloss Guteneck, which our friends thankfully took us to on Sunday, should have the title of "most enchanting." Here is why:

1. There was a small entrance fee, which seemed to have warded off the masses
2. The market was situated around a privately-owned castle with no modern structures or stores to be seen, making it seem as though you were walking through history
3. The castle actually had booths and restaurants inside - and they were heated!
4. There was a bugle, trumpet, and trombone concert from the windows of the castle at 6:00
5. It was snowing
6. The Glühwein was cheaper (€3 compared to €5.50 in Nuremberg!)
7. There were two camels offering 5 minute camel rides. Yes, I admit this is touristy, but the camels were so peaceful (drastically different from those you can ride in Egypt) and their trail was lit by Christmas lights! Plus they looked like they popped out of a Christmas movie - check out the picture above!

Maybe it's just me, but this is what I really wanted to see from an authentic German Christmas market. If you have the opportunity to make it out to Schloss Guteneck (about 45 km east of Amberg, 35 km south of Weiden), you will not be disappointed!

Hours for this Christkindlesmarkt below, and be sure to check out the program of events beforehand!
Saturday, December 8th: 14.00 - 22.00
Sunday, December 9th: 11.00 - 21.00
Friday, December 14th: 17.00 - 22.00
Saturday, December 15th: 14.00 - 22.00
Sunday, December 16th: 11.00 - 21.00
Friday, December 21st: 17.00 - 22.00
Saturday, December 22nd: 14.00 - 22.00
Sunday, December 23rd: 11.00 - 21.00
Admission: €3 Fridays, €4 Saturdays, €5 Sundays

Nuremberg Christmas Market

Lights marking Nuremberg's Christkindlesmarkt!

Our back yard covered in snow.
How do you like that Christmas tree?

One of the things Germany is best known for is their Christmas markets (aka Christkindlesmarkt). The most famous of these markets happens to be just 45 minutes away from us in Nuremberg!

After buying our first Christmas tree and decorating the apartment, we took the train into Nuremberg and scoped out the market on its opening weekend. Sprinkle in the snow that we've had all week and we were feeling the Christmas spirit.

Even the sidewalk musicians
(and their pets) were in the spirit

There were hundreds of quaint huts in the main city square. We saw fabulous glass ornaments, nutcrackers, and textiles along with plenty of brats, chocolate covered fruit, and of course, Glühwein. This was our first time trying the famous hot wine - it was delicious (somewhat like cider) and for only €2 you could keep the souvenir mug!
But that brings me to my main point - the Nuremberg Christmas market is so famous, and therefore touristy, that we estimate we were in the small city square with about 10,000 other Christmas shoppers (over two million people visit a year!). 

Bottom line: If you are serious about buying some Christmas items, this might not be the best market for you during the peak weekend hours. It was difficult to get close to the stands and see the items, plus there were lines for most food and Glühwein vendors. If you are looking for a wonderful Christmas atmosphere with Christmas bands, sidewalk musicians dressed in Santa costumes, and plenty of Christmas cheer, then it is worth the trip! Times are below either way you decide!

November 30th - December 24th

Monday - Thursday: 9:30 - 20:00

Friday & Saturday: 9:30 - 22:00

Sunday: 10:30 - 20:00

Christmas Eve: 9:30 - 14:00

What I love about Barcelona: History

Those of you who know me are probably thinking I made a typo, but I am serious. The history of Barcelona is truly interesting. Though this cuts out a significant amount of what my 7th grade history teacher would like me to know, below is a little of what I learned on our trip.

15 BC: Barcelona was a Roman colony. We went inside the Museu d'Història de la Ciutat to see the ancient ruins and learn about life as a citizen at this time. The city was surprisingly advanced (city-wide sewage system, laundry rooms bigger than mine, and large wine-making facilities to name a few) and the museum does a good job of laying them out so you actually know what you are looking at unlike many European ruins sites. 

3rd Century: Saint Eulalia. During the Roman times in Barcelona, a 13 year old girl named Eulalia was murdered by the Romans for being a Christian. She was tortured thirteen times, but never recanted her Christianity. Her body is buried in the crypt of the beautiful, Gothic Catedral de Barcelona (also known as the Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia). Thank goodness our friend Caitlin had a guide book, or we would have overlooked the cathedral's cloister, which houses 13 white geese that represent Eulalia's age when she was killed and also served as an alarm system when the cathedral was first built. 

15th Century: Christopher Columbus and Barcelona. Patrick and I enjoyed the Monument a Colom  that honors Columbus' return to Barcelona from his first voyage to the new world, but found the legend of the baptism of natives from the new world in Catedral de Barcelona to be even more interesting.

19th Century: Gaudi. I honestly enjoyed learning about each of Gaudi's works of art around Barcelona (see previous post)

20th Century: Picasso. At the tender age of 14, Pablo Picasso moved to Barcelona with his family. He continued to spend a significant amount of his time in the city throughout his later years. The Picasso Museum in Barcelona was an unexpected hit for 3 reasons: 1) The Picasso Museum is free on Sundays after 3:00. We got in line around 2:45 and waited for about 20 minutes - well worth it! 2) The museum divided their extensive collection between his many periods and focused more heavily on his earlier works. For those that doubt his talent, this is a must see. 3) There were fabulous explanations of each period of Picasso's life and art in multiple languages, enhancing the free art history lesson!

1992: the beach! It is hard to believe that the beautiful Barcelona beach was just recently a heavily industrial port. When the city won the 1992 Olympics, they decided to literally change the face of their shoreline. Not only did they create the beach, but they built the Olympic sites around it, providing an instant injection of money from the city, private developers, and tourists. It is very well laid out and beautiful, and true to Barcelona style, they even have some art lining the coast! 

What I love about Barcelona: Gaudi

Though I am not a fancy architect like Dianne, it does not take much training to be in awe of the Gaudi architecture sprinkled around Barcelona. We had the pleasure of hitting the highlights below:

Sagrada Família

My jaw literally dropped when I laid eyes on this magnificent church. I can only pray that it will be done sometime in my lifetime, and before I am too old to hobble out there and see it, but I'm sure that is what people thought in the 1880s when they started building it. There is so much history in every nook and cranny, and the details are absolutely amazing. 

Park Güell

It's almost heartbreaking to enjoy the park so much and think that it was considered a failure during Gaudi's lifetime. Originally built to be a housing development, only two houses were built, and Gaudi bought one! We loved the wall designed to look like a surfing wave and the sculptures everywhere, though I had to explain to Patrick that the dragon spitting out water was not, in fact, a public water fountain. If you have time, this is a relaxing break from the city - Gaudi even designed the benches to be exceptionally comfortable. I can only imagine what the houses would cost if they redeveloped it today... 

Casa Batlló

Along with purchasing a big house in Park Güell, I would love to go back in time and be the middle class family for whom Gaudi designed this house! I can't decide if I liked the mosaics covering the front or the skull balconies better. Either way, this is worth gazing at for a good while! 

La Pedrera

At the advice of our friend Caitlin, we actually paid the steep entrance fee to see the inside of La Perera (also known as Casa Milà). The apartment furnished in early 1900s style showed just how painfully meticulous Gaudi was. He even designed the door handles to fit your hand as you opened the door or window. The attic houses a small museum of Gaudi's works. The real gem; however, was at the top. Not only were the rooftop views fabulous, but the architecture of the roof showed, yet again, how Gaudi thought his projects all the way through. The chimneys were even beautiful and looked like women looking over the city in a cluster. In the picture above, Patrick and I are standing next to one such chimney that was decorated in a broken wine bottle mosaic. The rooftop alone was definitely worth the entrance fee! 

What I love about Barcelona: Culture

I fell in love during our recent trip to Barcelona - and not with a beautiful Catalan dancer, but with the amazing city! We saw so much during our four day weekend in the warm, gorgeous city that I had a hard time dissecting the best pieces. First and foremost: the culture.

The pride of Barcelona runs deep. As a Texan, I thought I would understand that, but I feel as though Texas has met its European match, and I'm pretty sure the Catalan people have us beat. Yes, some Texan mustered up enough signatures for an official petition to gain independence from the USA, but our Governor quickly shot it down. Catalonia, on the other-hand, is dead serious. Just a couple days ago, their regional president actually had the people of Catalonia vote on whether or not they want to seek independence (though it did not pass). They have their own Catalan language and even their own Catalan sign language. Their soccer team, FC Barcelona, is even perhaps more loved than our new favorite FC Bayern Munich.

Their culture has some interesting history as well. When Francisco Franco took over Spain in 1939, he was threatened by the Catalan pride. He tried to destroy parts of their culture to secure his position of power, which included banning the language and their traditional dance, the Sardana. Though he was in power for over 30 years, the Catalan culture prevailed.

All of this leads to my hands-down favorite part of our Barcelona trip. On Saturday nights and Sunday mornings in front of the amazing Catedral de Barcelona, a band sets up and hundreds of people, teenagers to deep-80s, gather in circles to dance the traditional Catalan folk dance, the Sardana. This video does not do it justice. This is a must-see in Barcelona, and an amazing demonstration of what makes Barcelona so fabulous!