European Christmas Markets

EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS MARKETS

29 November – 14 December 2012

This was our third trip to visit European Christmas Markets. Ironically, the trips happened five years apart and were all on the same riverboat line, Uniworld. Traditionally, Christmas Markets do not begin until Advent. We flew from DFW through Frankfurt to Munich and checked into the Kempenski Hotel at the airport. We saw snow, like a sprinkling of powdered sugar, on trees and rooftops as we neared the airport and the pilot announced a temperature of 2C. 

Germany: Munich –The TV said the temperature was -2C or 27F so we bundled up really well before leaving the hotel. We asked at the desk for directions to the train station where we boarded the train for Marinplatz in Munich’s city center. There are two trains that make the run and we took the long route which took us through a little bit of countryside. More snow must have fallen overnight and the overcast skies held the promise of more. The cold temperatures froze snow on bare tree branches and even on the wire fences. The ride took around three-quarters of an hour and we arrived around 11:00. Once in Marinplatz, we spent several hours wandering around and looking at the stalls. Crowds of people made walking somewhat difficult but we managed to see everything. One area of the market was devoted to “Christmas Cribs,” and contained everything needed to begin, add to, or to complete a nativity set. Many Germans add one figure---sheep, angel, animal, etc.---every year. Most were wooden and reminded us of Oberammergau. We rode the train back to the hotel. We reversed the morning’s route and noted that even though there was no snow in the city center, there was still some in the outlying areas although it appeared to have melted a little.

 The coach of Ludwig II was on display at the airport. 

 River Beatrice Cruise Begins:  The TV said the temperature was 0C and it was snowing. We checked out of the hotel around 12:45 and met the person in Terminal 2. Shortly after 2:00, we boarded a bus for the hour and forty-five minute drive to Passau. Snow fell on a landscape already partially covered with white. The way snow stuck to some trees in only a few spots provided an interesting view in some areas. We drove through flat, fertile farming country with crops of corn/wheat and sugar beets. In some fields we saw arrangements of solar panels called “solar farms” and many roof sported arrays of them, too. We passed one BMW factory, a nuclear power plant and a couple of other manufacturing plants. The bus windows were partially fogged over, it was snowing and the entire drive appeared like some sort of an impressionist landscape movie. When we arrived at the River Beatrice, we boarded and were shown to stateroom 317; our luggage soon followed.

Germany: Passau - The temperature was around 31F and snow was falling. We returned to the cabin and organized things for our walking tour of Passau. We left the ship at 9:00 with Daniel as our guide. The tour was much the same as last time with a slow walk through the baroque town and a stop at Stephensdom where Daniel gave a good explanation as we sat in pews. 

 From there we made our way through town to the Simon shop for an explanation of gingerbread making, tasting and advent wreath making. The tour continued with a brief walk back to the Rathuas where it ended shortly before 11:00. We walked back uphill to the Dom and through the Christmas Market before returning to the ship. It was cold and snow was pelting down but we were well bundled and kept warm.

We attended the “Captain’s Welcome Reception and Dinner.” At the Reception, all 55 crew members were introduced. Exceptionally delicious food and attentive service combined for a great meal.

Austria: Linz & Salzberg - We sailed after midnight and arrived in Linz around 8:00. At 8:30, we left Linz aboard a bus with Helmut as guide. During the two-hour-drive to Salzburg he gave a history of the city, area and spoke of the “Sound of Music.” We made a brief pit stop at Montsee on the way. Upon arrival in Salzburg, we began our tour by walking through the Mirabella Gardens before crossing the river and heading into the old town. Helmut presented a concise history of sights as we made our way to the Dom and other areas and provided commentaries on vantage points. After the tour, we had free time to explore. 

 

 We first walked the Christmas Markets set up in Residence Square and an adjacent one. We ate lunch at Café Tomaselli, the oldest in Austria and perhaps the world. After lunch, we wandered through the town.

When we rejoined the tour at 3:00, we walked to the bus and left Salzburg; we retraced our route to Linz and arrived in that city around 4:45. It was dark and we enjoyed the drive through the city center on our way to the ship; the lights at the market were very attractive. The temperature hovered between 2C & 4C all day. Morning drizzle dissipated and nothing fell. Snow was everywhere in the landscape except for roads and paved services. The snow-covered landscape was stereotypical winter and beautiful. 

Austria: Cruising the Wachau Valley; Krems All morning we cruised the Danube between Linz and Krems but the overcast day and cold temperatures dulled the landscape. There was an onboard Christmas Market with gluwein and a gingerbread demonstration. We tied up on the south bank of the Danube near Krems around noon. After lunch, we got ready for the afternoon tour of Gottweig Abbey perched atop a hill north of the Danube. 

 

We left the ship at 1:30 for the tour making the mistake of taking bus #2; Walter, the guide, was terrible and the driver Joe a smartass. Once at the Abbey, 

 

we entered and saw the Imperial Staircase and learned a brief history. 

 

Then we walked a hall and saw figures portraying the life of Jesus 

 

 

and the room where Napoleon stayed

 before heading across a courtyard and into the church for what was to be a twenty-minute organ concert. Instead we were subjected to a choir of old ladies who sang for an hour. The church was very cold with cold air moving through so strongly that the chandelier swayed. 

 

When we finally exited the church, it was snowing/sleeting as we made our way back to the Abbey. There we went to an Advent Market filled with handcrafted items. We left Gottweig Abbey around 4:30 and drove back to the pier; we chose not to go into the town of Krems proper as it was dark.

Austria: Vienna – We must have been good children because St. Nicholas left chocolate candy in our shoes which we placed outside our door last night. ‘Twas a cold day in Vienna. It was -1C when we left the ship at 8:30. We got the usual “Ring Road” talk as we drove into town. As it is “St. Nicholas’ Day,” we saw a few people in costume and some were also dressed as devils. On St. Nicholas Eve, he appears to learn if children have been good and his companion, the devil, carries a switch to inflict some pain on bad children. We rode the bus for the tour to Stephensdom, but didn’t do the tour. We left and walked up and down the shopping area. Then we slowly made our way across the old town until we reached the Christmas Market in front of the Ratthaus, around 10:45. This large market contained many interesting stands surrounding a huge Christmas tree. We decided to walk the market and check out many of the stalls. As we began to retrace our steps and look for items we wished to purchase, it began to snow. It was a wet snow which changed from drops of rain to snowflakes and back many times per minute. At noon we boarded the bus for the ship and ate lunch aboard. At 1:30 we took the complimentary Amex tour to Shonbrunn Palace but didn’t go inside for the tour. We enjoyed the market on the square in front. Here it really snowed hard and we took shelter in a cranny of the palace and enjoyed hot chocolate. Then we looked for the bus, but it wasn’t there. We found a place to wait out of the pelting snow and waited quite a while for the others. Some finally came and we all waited together for the buses which arrived later than the scheduled 4:05. 

 

Still, with all the traffic, we were back aboard shortly before 5:00.After dinner, we boarded busses for the Kursalon where we enjoyed a musical evening.

Slovakia: Bratislava – We sailed to Bratislava, Slovakia in the early morning hours and docked about 8:00. After breakfast, we bundled us as it was 27F this morning under sunny skies. We enjoyed an hour-and-a-half walking tour of the old town with a guide who explained the sights. We enjoyed learning about this small country. 

 

 Dom

 Statue of the Nosy Neighbor Sitting on the Toilet and Peering at his Neighbors

 Sculputure of City Worker Idling and Looking Up Skirts

 After the tour, we wandered the Christmas Market in the main square. Then we walked back to the Dom where we looked at the interior.

 We returned to the ship for lunch. After lunch, we walked back into town; the sun disappeared and it turned colder so we returned to the ship around 2:30.

Hungary: Budapest – BRRR! It was COLD! The temperature was around 23F this morning as we sailed into Budapest. I went topside and made some photos as commentary was broadcast over the ship’s PA system. 

 We left the ship at 9:00 for the tour and boarded buses. We enjoyed the warm ride which did a standard tour through the city highlighting the Parliament; Palace; Opera; Heroes’ Square; St. Stephen’s Basilica; Fishermen’s Bastion: St. Mattias Church. 

Then about 11:30 we stopped near the Intercontinental Hotel where we got off the bus and walked to the Christmas Market in Vorosmarty Square. We were to return to the bus at 12:20 and the market was fairly large, so we rushed. It was also too cold to linger. Everyone seemed bundled up against the cold. After reboarding the bus, we returned near the ship and reboarded the vessel. This was the coldest day of the entire trip.

Post Cruise On Our Own:  If travel is an adventure, then today was definitely an exponential ADVENTURE. All seemed well when we left the ship at 7:00, boarded a warm bus, and drove to the airport in Budapest.  Other than still being cold with a very cold wind, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Flight check-in and security were no problem, and we went to the Lufthansa Lounge to await the departure of LH 1395 to Frankfurt at 10:00. The flight was delayed because of weather conditions in Frankfurt but the gate agent assured me that we could take a later flight to Prague if we missed our connection at 1:00 because all flight were delayed in Frankfurt. We finally boarded shortly before 11:00. Then we had to wait for a time for a landing slot in Frankfurt before taking off. Once airborne, we noted quite a bit of snow on the ground. As time neared for landing, we realized that the plane was circling and in a holding pattern. Before long the captain announced that the Frankfurt Airport was closed and we would land in Cologne. It was after 3:00 when we reached Cologne and parked on the very end of the runway. The Captain announced that the plane would be refueled; they have to open the doors to do this. After refueling, someone somewhere made the decision that we would leave the plane in Cologne and return to Frankfurt by train---a 45 minute ride. We called “Starwood Preferred Guest” and booked a club level room using points at the hotel in Frankfurt. They finally brought stairs and buses and we were taken to the terminal where we learned that we would have a two-hour-bus-ride instead of a one-hour-train-ride. Luggage did not arrive for around an hour and then we had to transport it via a convoluted route outside baggage claim, through the ticketing area and shops, down an elevator and across a slushy parking lot. There a driver loaded it into the storage bay of the bus. It was 4:55 and pitch black dark when we left Cologne. The drive might be a pretty one in the daytime. There was little “light pollution” and many areas were just black but there seemed to be towns and/or villages in some areas. We also saw a few floodlit churches and castles. We arrived at the Frankfurt Airport Terminal at 6:45. As we had the last seats, we were also last off the bus. The driver had left our two bags sitting on the sidewalk; fortunately, a young man who sat beside us on the bus and his traveling companion watched them until we could retrieve them. We made our way into the terminal and across the skybridge to the Sheraton Hotel and the club level. We felt so fortunate to have the reservation as the line to check-in in the lobby stretched out into the hallway. We called “American Express Platinum Travel Service” and arranged seats for us on LH 1394 leaving Frankfurt for Prague at 9:15 on Monday morning. Via email, we contacted “Prague Airport Transfers” and reserved a ride into town tomorrow. It had been a hectic and frustrating day.

Czech Republic: Prague – We got up at 6:00 and ate breakfast in the lounge. We checked out and headed across to the airport shortly before 7:00. “Hectic Chaos” would be an understatement to describe the airport scene with everyone who couldn’t go anywhere yesterday trying to get somewhere today. We stood in the check-in line for “Business Class” for about 15 minutes but the reservation was there and we were assigned seats 1A & 1C. Then we went to “Security” where it took at least 30 minutes to run the line, and they were working as rapidly as they could. We were so far from the gate that we decided to just wait for the flight in the gate area and not try to find a “Business Class Lounge.” We had to go down steps and board a bus to be driven to the plane parked on the apron; as we passed beside it, we saw our bags being loaded. LH 1394 scheduled for 9:15 took off at 9:45. As we looked down, we could see that everything below was snow-covered; it was beautiful. As we landed in Prague at 10:30, they gave the outside temperature as 1C and a heavy snow was falling. Upon leaving the plane via a jet bridge, we made our way to baggage claim; our bags were the first two on the belt. We walked through “Customs – Nothing to Declare” and met our driver from “Prague Airport Transfers.” Deep snow covered the landscape piling up on the ground; clinging to tree branches; frosting roofs and vehicles. Prague Castle looked positively “fairy tale” with snow atop its green roof. We arrived at the Hotel Palace around 11:35 and made a reservation to be picked up at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Upon entering the hotel, there was confusion over our not arriving yesterday, but that was soon resolved and we were given a room. We added a few layers of clothing and headed out to locate the “Christmas Markets.” By this time, the snow had turned to an occasional sprinkle of rain. We walked to Wenceslas Square and looked at the stalls in the “Christmas Market” there; we were disappointed as almost every stall sold either food and drink or commercially produced items. 

  We walked down the square and made our way over to Old Town stopping at another market selling fruits, vegetables and utilitarian items as we passed. The “Christmas Market” in Old Town was much better. Here we decided to have some Trdelnik which is pronounced somewhat like “turd.” It is a sweet pastry made from dough wrapped around a stick like a rolling pin, ready for spinning on an open fire. Brushed in a sugar and walnut mix, and then grilled until crispy on the outside and slightly gooey on the inside.

 We continued to walk the market and bought some delicious homemade potato chips which were served in a paper cone. As we headed back toward the hotel, we stopped several times and made photos; two were of large carved wooden nativity scenes set against a Christmas tree backdrop. While it was definitely wintertime, there was no wind and it didn’t feel nearly as cold; there was a brief period of sunshine. It was around 3:30 when we returned to the hotel and had already begun to get dark by 4:00.

At the hotel, the café/bar was decorated for Christmas. Gingerbread and cookies had been attached to one of the walls with icing.

More Adventurous Travel: Today was another day of ADVENTURE travel. We noticed that it had snowed overnight in Prague when we went to breakfast around 6:30. Promptly at 8:00 the driver from “Prague Airport Transfers” arrived, loaded our bags, and we were off. Traffic was terrible. We enjoyed the beautiful snow-covered landscape, especially the way it clung to trees and shrubs. The thermometer in the car showed -4.5C. The driver knew several alternate routes and we drove through lots of neighborhoods attempting to avoid snarled traffic. Even with his expertise, the half-hour drive took forty-five minutes. We entered the airport and went to the Lufthansa check-in counter where we learned that LH 1395 to Frankfurt had just been canceled. We went to an agent who changed our flights. We were booked on LH 1689 to Munich scheduled to leave at 9:30. We had to return to the check-in counter for boarding passes and to check the luggage. Then we made a mad dash through “Security” and the “Fast Track” lane to get to the gate. Today the people at Security were very slow and it seemed to take forever---they even checked the pockets of our coats after they were scanned and ran one bag through twice. Of course, the people directly in front of us had to be checked multiple times, too. We made it to the gate about 9:20 and were somewhat frazzled. We didn’t board until 9:45 and took off even later. Once in Munich, we made our way to the “Business Class Lounge” to await the departure of LH 2126 to Dresden at 3:20. We simply “made a nest” in two chairs in a corner until time to leave. Luckily, food and restrooms were available. Around 2:30, we left the lounge and walked to the gate where we learned that the plane had not arrived. By this time, we knew that Frankfurt Airport was closed. Our plane arrived and we boarded about 3:45; then the plane had to be de-iced. After that, the Captain announced that if we didn’t take off fairly soon, we would have to wait another half hour for them to remove nonexistent snow from the runway. We made it, but the plane behind us did not. We had a smooth hour’s flight to Dresden which had lots of snow on the ground and more falling with a temperature of about -5C. After finally claiming the bags, we went outside and waited at least 30 minutes for a taxi into town. It was probably 7:30 by the time we arrived in room 3105 of the Hilton. Another exhausting day of travel; all in all, the two flights totaled less than 2 hours but we spent almost twelve hours getting from Prague to Dresden.

Germany: Dresden –The view from our window showed deep snow on roofs and the ground; we heard someone cleaning sidewalks/streets around 5:30. The sun was shining and the temperature was somewhere around 19F. Our materials stated that most of the markets opened at 11:00 and we left the room around 10:30. The Traditional Christmas Market at the Frauenkirche next to the hotel was already open, and we walked through it. 

 After leaving that market, we found a couple more markets but they were either too commercial or food. We returned to the market beside the hotel and climbed steps for a cold and wintry view of the Elbe River.  We made our way back to the hotel to warm up. Around 5:00, we decided to go back out and see the markets after dark. Dresden was definitely worth all the hassle and frustration involved in yesterday’s flights. Walking where everything is frozen seemed to pose less problems and slush.

 We walked in front of the Frauenkirche and went through Advent on Neumarket that wasn’t open until we reached Dresden Striezelmarkt at the Altmarkt. This large market features a huge pyramid which turns and many stalls. It took us quite a while to wend our way through the crowds and around the food vendor booths. We enjoyed this market a lot.

 From there we returned to Advent on Neumarket but found it to be mostly food booths. We decided it was time to return to the hotel to warm up and eat lunch. The sun had disappeared but there was very little wind; still, it was cold. After lunch, we visited the interior of the Frauenkirche, a huge domed structure all blue, white and gold rococo style; it’s billed as the “Protestant’s St. Peter’s” and has a huge statue of Martin Luther outside.

 Then we used directions from the Hotel Concierge and visited Advent Spectacular in the Stall Courtyard, which bills itself as a medieval market. We weren’t impressed even though most of the vendors were in costume; it was interesting to see the man work the foot lathe.

  After leaving that market, we found a couple more markets but they were either too commercial or food. We returned to the market beside the hotel and climbed steps for a cold and wintry view of the Elbe River.  We made our way back to the hotel to warm up.

 We made our way back to the hotel to warm up. Around 5:00, we decided to go back out and see the markets after dark. Dresden was definitely worth all the hassle and frustration involved in yesterday’s flights. Walking where everything is frozen seemed to pose less problems and slush.

 

Dresden to Frankfurt:  It was still below freezing but didn’t look as if any snow fell during the night. Around 11:00, we checked out and then took a taxi to the airport; it only took about 20 minutes today. Everything looks like a “winter wonderland” and the snow looks to be at least 6 inches deep; the taxi driver told us it was -2C. He also said that a thaw is forecast for the next day or so; it’s much better to be here when everything is frozen solid; slush would be really messy. Check-in for LH 215 scheduled to leave at 2:45 was easy and we even got boarding passes for tomorrow’s flight to DFW. After Security, we went to the Lufthansa Lounge and waited until about 2:00. We walked to the gate and found the flight to be delayed for about 10 minutes. Once aboard, the 45-minute-flight went smoothly. After landing on the outer edge of the Frankfurt Airport, we taxied for at least 10 minutes before parking on the apron; we rode a bus to the terminal and walked to baggage claim. Then we made our way through the terminal to the “Sheraton Hotel.”

Flight HomeWe walked into the terminal and checked our luggage to DFW on LH 438. After passing through Passport Control, we went through Security. It was very slow and we were glad it wasn’t crowded. Then we headed toward the Z gates. Then we went to the lounge to wait until time to board the flight at 9:15. The lounge was a new one for us and was nice and comfortable. When we boarded the flight, we had to ride a bus. The boarding passes were scanned at the gate and the passports checked at the bottom of the stairs just before boarding the bus. We enjoyed the flight and the crew worked well together. We slept only sporadically during the 10 ½ hours and it was an exceptionally bumpy ride. We must have gone through/around several storms.