Christmas markets in Germany

On a cold November morning we set off for Germany; it's 4 a.m. and the whole world is asleep. There are lots of people on the coach; I take my usual little seat and, given the hour, I settle in for a nice long nap. The journey from Val Pellice to Nuremberg will take about 11-12 hours. That's not a little.. in fact... This will also give me the chance to get to know some of the people with whom I'll be spending these four days, in particular my new friends: Rinalda, Maura and Angela, with whom I spent these four fantastic days.

We arrive in Nuremberg towards evening, a bit later than planned in the itinerary, but the rush-hour traffic entering the city made us lose quite a lot of time, in a long and extremely boring queue.

We wake up to a light sleet.. the forecast I had seen on the internet wasn't wrong. Snow! It's true that everything looks more Christmassy with snow, but a nice warm winter sun wouldn't have been bad at all, in fact... especially since we'll be out and about all day! Right after breakfast we set off for Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which is about 80 kilometres from Nuremberg. As soon as we arrive we head to the town centre, where two guides are waiting for us to take us to discover this fantastic little town.

The Christmas atmosphere has already arrived in the town. The shopkeepers are making the last preparations for the market, which will officially open at 11. On the market square there is the Rathaus, the town hall, in Gothic style. We start right here for our visit, which will take us along the streets of the town. Splendid is the view from the Burggarten (Castle Garden), from where, despite the grey sky, you enjoy wonderful panoramas over the valley.

Between historical facts and curiosities, we stroll for a good part of the morning along the little streets of this town, savouring its corners, getting to know its secrets and also its curiosities. It's cold but the desire to know, discover and admire helps us overcome even this small discomfort of the cold. What can I say, Rothenburg ob der Tauber has a charm all of its own. Beautiful. It is said to be one of the best-preserved medieval towns not only in Bavaria but in the entire world.

Its history, or the part of it that has come down to us, begins in the 10th century with the construction of the castle. The town is still surrounded today by intact and uninterrupted walls (3.5 km) that can be walked along. Thanks to an American general who had seen Rothenburg ob der Tauber and fallen in love with it, the town managed to avoid heavy bombing during World War II, and to preserve intact most of its buildings and monuments.

Once the cultural visit is over, with Maura, Rinalda and Angela we move straight on to what we also came here for: a visit to the Christmas markets and plenty of healthy shopping. I really can't understand how some people manage to buy absolutely nothing. Everything is so beautiful, so inviting, that the temptations are so many that sometimes you end up giving in.. but then... don't we want to bring home some little souvenir of this trip? Some little gift for the family and friends who stayed at home? Oh yes.. my new friends and I have complied well with this principle and, as they say, we got the German economy going a bit. Ha ha ha ha!

We spend a good hour in the Christmas shop. On the upper floor there is also a museum dedicated to Christmas, but when we decide to go and see it, there is such a long queue at the till that the prospect is to be stuck there until Epiphany, so we give up. The shop alone is a hymn to Christmas and almost looks like a museum. The arrangement of the objects, the rooms, the furnishings.. everything is perfect and idyllic. There are countless decorations for trees, nativity scenes, figurines, dolls... in short, there is more than you could ever imagine... and all exclusively for Christmas. We went in intending just to look but we each come out with our own bag of purchases... there is so much lovely stuff that coming out empty-handed is practically impossible. Except for someone... hmm...

We continue our shopping along the streets of the town, where the market stalls follow one after another. For lunch we treat ourselves to a nice sandwich with a huge sausage. In Rothenburg ob der Tauber there are also Italian restaurants, but after all, immersing yourself in the local culinary delicacies is also part of the trip and of getting to know a place. So... no made-in-Italy food, but a very tasty sandwich with sausage bought directly at one of the many market stalls, and to drink? Mulled wine for my friends and Kinderpunch for me, since I don't like alcoholic things! Thank goodness they thought of the children! And so we collect our first mug of this trip.

Later, after wandering around the market, visiting quite a few shops and making lots of purchases, we treat ourselves to a break for a tea, and meanwhile we warm up a bit! We choose a nice pastry shop, where in addition to tea we intend to taste the famous Schneeballen (snowball), that is, the typical sweet of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It's a nice ball made of strips of shortcrust pastry, fried and covered in icing sugar. There are also variations with chocolate, coconut, etc.... in short, there's nothing but the agony of choice. It's good, it's good, but.... it's too heavy... in fact we even struggle to finish it, even though it's not bad... well.. if only it were smaller!

At 5 p.m. the bus is waiting for us to return to the hotel; the first evening lights have already fallen, and in no time darkness takes over. The Christmas lights make the town even more charming. We leave the car park when it is now dark, even though it's just after 5:30 p.m.

For dinner, the famous Nuremberg sausages await us. They are small whitish sausages. Legend has it that they were so small because they had to pass under prison doors. Since in prison you didn't eat quite like at the Grand Hotel, the prisoners' relatives would bring these little sausages to the prisoner. They're not bad at all... tomorrow I'll try to buy some to take home so Marco, my husband, can taste them.

Since we hadn't had enough of today's cold, after dinner, Rinalda, Maura, Angela and I set off in search of the Nuremberg Christmas markets. Our hotel is just outside the walls so they're not very far. It's cold and there aren't many people around, and no wonder, seeing as it's not warm at all... The markets close at 10 p.m. and since we're in Germany they really do close at 10 p.m., not a minute more or a minute less! There are still a lot of people, especially around the food stalls and the mulled wine! There are also little groups singing.. maybe they've overdone it a bit with the mulled wine.

On the way back we take a different route from the way there, so we discover a few more corners of the city to see tomorrow in the sunlight. We also pass by the station, where inside there is a large shopping centre, and by the theatre, where some performance has just ended because you can see the audience coming out, in an orderly fashion, down the grand staircase.

And today it's Nuremberg's turn. After breakfast we set off by coach and go to pick up our guide for this morning. The first part of the visit we do by bus and we go to see some interesting places located outside the walls.

Nuremberg played no small role in the history linked to the Second World War. It was first one of the headquarters of the Nazi regime, and the place where the terrible Nuremberg racial laws (Nurnberger Gesetze) were pronounced, and later the seat of the trials of the Nazis. We pass in front of the building that was chosen as the seat of the international military tribunals where, for a whole year, the trials of the Nazi war criminals took place. During the war the city was, of course, given what it represented, bombed. Around 6,000 people were killed and 90% of the city was destroyed. What we see is a careful reconstruction. Man builds, the war decided and waged by man destroys, and in the end.. victors and vanquished rebuild what they destroyed.. Does all this make sense?

The Middle Ages coincide with the period of greatest splendour of this city (its medieval historic centre is indeed the evidence of this). We begin the city visit from the castle; from here, walking through the streets of Nuremberg, we will reach the square of the Christmas market.

The Kaiserburg, or imperial fortress, is the symbol of Nuremberg. It towers from the top of the hill and dominates the whole city. Beautiful is the view of the city from this hilltop. The complex is made up of three parts: the Emperor's palace, the city fortress and the Count's residence.

From this point we head, still in the company of our guide who describes this fascinating city to us, towards the square of the Christmas markets. We pause in front of the oldest church in the city, the Sankt Sebalduskirche (Saint Sebald), and as if on purpose an old carriage drawn by two horses is passing right in front of it. An image from another time in the cold of this winter.

A little further on is the Alter Rathaus, or old town hall, where the old prisons can be visited. And just a stone's throw from here is the madness of the Christmas market. On the square overlooks a majestic Gothic-style church (the Frauenkirche); every day as noon strikes, seven little figures representing the Elector Princes parade three times before Emperor Charles IV. Our visit ends near the Beautiful Fountain (Schoner Brunnen), completely rebuilt and very beautiful, but our guide doesn't leave us without first revealing that the Christkind of Nuremberg is neither a child nor even a boy. Tradition has it that it is a beautiful girl living in Nuremberg, and indeed the face of a young blonde girl towers over all the posters advertising the city's Christmas markets.

It's almost half past, so, once the visit is over, we grab something for lunch at one of the stalls and, together with many other tourists, we wait for the hour when the Elector Princes parade before the emperor.

The Nuremberg market is very large; we spend the rest of the day wandering around, among the super-crowded market stalls and the streets of the town, which are also full of stalls and people. We also take a wander among the stalls of the craftsmen's market. The day is grey and it's not very warm; when the cold gets the better of us, like so many others we flock to the countless shopping centres of Nuremberg. And for the children there is a market all of their own.

It was a lovely day, the city is very beautiful and so are the markets, but there were really a lot of people.. and to think they told us that on the next weekends it will be even worse.. hmm...

So as not to miss a single thing of this trip, after dinner we plunge again into the cold of Nuremberg for a last farewell to its market and its splendid streets.

Once breakfast is over, all that remains is to load all the luggage and the purchases (they always seem few but then..) onto the coach and take the long road home again. The day is grey but the returns are always sad.. the holidays are about to end and tomorrow it's back to the office.

The journey was long, as expected, but watching three films and chatting a bit with Maura, Rinalda and Angela made the trip feel shorter.

I set off alone, it's true.. but I never was alone.. I got to know two splendid places, I walked the streets of these cities, I learned their history, I was enchanted by their streets, I browsed among the market stalls: among Christmas baubles, handicrafts and lots of sweets; I met many new people but above all I met Rinalda, Maura and Angela, with whom I had so much fun, with whom I never felt alone.