Cologne Cathedral

On the twenty-sixth of December I made a day-trip to Cologne. I visited Cologne Cathedral. Cologne Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Also, it was the tallest building in the world from 1880 to 1890.
Cologne Cathedral is built in the Gothic style. Therefore it has very ceilings and pointed arches.
It also has many beautiful works of art. You can see some examples of the art work below.

The Crucifix of Bishop Gero is in the picture above. It was made in the 10th century CE.





The picture above is a nativity scene that was made specially for Christmas. The picture below is a close-up of the baby Jesus with his mother and a shepherd.


I climbed to the top of the bell tower. It was very a very difficult climb. I made me very tired.

The picture below is the view from the top of the bell tower. You can see the Rhine river.

Christmas Day in Frankfurt

Almost all the shops and restaurants were closed in Frankfurt on Christmas Day. Fortunately, one restaurant in the Hotel Steigenberger Frankfurter was open. The restaurant was Oscar's.
I ate Weiner Schnitzel for dinner. It was served with potatoes and cranberry sauce. Weiner Schnitzel is not a part of a traditional German Christmas dinner. However, cranberry sauce is a part of a traditional Canadian Christmas dinner.

The Christmas Market in Nuremberg

The Christmas market in Nuremberg is the most famous German Christmas market. It is called Christkindlesmarkt. Christkindlesmarkt means Christ child market. The picture above is the symbol of the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt. It looks like an angel but it is not an angel. It is the Christ child. It is the baby Jesus. You can see this symbol  of the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt everywhere at the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt.





One of the most famous attractions of the Nuremberg Christmas market is the clock of Frauenkirche (Our Lady's Church).

Every day at noon the clock's chimes ring and the figures move around in an circle.

Another attraction of the Christmas market in Nuremberg is a ride in a horse-drawn carriage.

There were many beautiful crafts on sale at the Christmas market. One of the most interesting were the Christmas pyramids. The heat from the candles rises up and makes the propeller spin and the propeller spinning makes the figures below spin too.

There were also hand-made Christmas tree ornaments and Christmas wreathes for sale.





The Nuremberg Christmas market was very beautiful at night.

After the Christmas market closed at two o'clock on Christmas Eve I went to Nuremberg Castle. The view from the castle is great!



This is Albrecht Durer House. Durer was a famous artist who lived in Nuremberg.

This is a statue of Durer

I was really tired after walking all over Nuremberg on Christmas Eve. Fortunately, the hotel I stayed in was very comfortable. The pillow and the quilt were the best! Filled with Canada Goose down. Warm and Cozy!!!

Early Christmas Day I went back to Frankfurt.

The Christmas Market in Stuttgart

On my second day in Germany I bought a first-class twin German Rail Pass. This pass was called "twin" because two people could use it. I could use the pass on four days in one month. It cost three hundred and fifty Euros. We decided to pay extra and get a first-class pass because the trains were very crowded. Many people were taking the trains to come home for Christmas. We could reserve a seat easily because we had a first-class pass.

The train we used was the ICE (Intercity Express). It's a high speed train like the shinkansen in Japan. The ICE isn't as fast as the shinkansen but it is MUCH more comfortable. Some ICE carriages have video, music and internet access.


The first place we went to was Stuttgart. The Stuttgart Christmas market is the biggest.
The Stuttgart Christmas market is in the centre of the city. Most of it is in the old part of the city but some of it is in the new part too. It's very big!


This is St. Eberhard's Cathedral. The main cathedral is often the centre of an old European city.





There were many crafts and sweets for sale at the Christmas market including nutcracker figures and lebkuchen.
There were also very delicious sweets like this bun filled with a sugar and cinnamon paste and covered in vanilla sauce.




The Christmas market was very beautiful at night. It closed at nine o'clock.


The next day I got on the train again. I had a semi-private compartment. It was very comfortable.