There is no place like home for the holidays, but thankfully my family brought some home to us this year. And, few places have as much hygge and Christmas lights as Germany. Ever since we started discussing our year of travel we knew we wanted to check out the Christmas markets.
Frankfurt
Frankfurt has a bad reputation for being a boring city, but we had a fun time. The airport is incredibly convenient and the city is quite a lovely place to spend a day or two. A couple of fun facts about Frankfurt –
The largest Christmas market in Germany takes over almost the entire city center every holiday season. It is wonderful, massive, festive, and busy. We saw at least 10 different types of mugs, local crafts, delicious food, and more.
They specialize in apple wine, not a particular beer like most German cities. It was fun to try! Tastes nothing like cider and they assume all tourists will hate it so they offer to add sparkling water to make it more enjoyable. While it is a little bitter, if you like beer, you’ll likely enjoy Frankfurt’s apple wine.
They are the financial capital of Germany and, as a result, are home to the few skyscrapers in the country.
They are home to some delicious food, my favorite being the pastries from the Zeit Fur Brot bakery.
Rothenburg eb der Tauber
Rothenburg is one of the only medieval German towns to remain intact through WWII. It is an adorable city to wander and is filled with Christmas every year.
Their Christmas market takes over the city center, surrounded by the medieval city walls. We took an evening tour led by a man dressed as a medieval night watchman. He walked us through living in Rothenburg during medieval times and explained why the city is so well preserved.
Nuremberg
The city of Nuremberg was almost entirely destroyed during WWII, but has been rebuilt over the years. We visited the castle, the Bratwurst Museum, and many of the churches. It is another lovely city to wander.
Nuremberg is also home to the oldest Christmas market in Germany. One particularly interesting section was full of stalls from their sister cities around the world. Each stall had something related to celebrating the holidays in their own country which was fun to see.
One of the main treats from Nuremberg are the lebkuchen cookies. They are an amazing form of gingerbread cookies that Carey adored. If anyone knows of a good recipe, please send it our way! We’ll be trying to recreate them next Christmas.
Munich
It rained much of the time we were in Munich, but we got to explore a few of their markets. They have a lot! The classic market takes over the main square. We also found a Renaissance Market, a Pink Market, and a market within the castle.
To escape the rain, we visited the main castle.
We also checked out some German beer halls, with German food and Augustiner beer (one of my personal favorites).
We loved exploring the markets around Germany. One of my favorite things was the differences between the markets. They all have gluhwein, hot chocolate, and chestnuts, but each region specializes in other treats and different crafts. We were by no means bored wandering market after market.
Milan
Harrison and Anna left from Munich, but Mom, Dad, Carey and I caught the train down to Milan. It is a beautiful train ride through the Alps. Carey and I studied abroad in Italy and have explored a lot of the country, but one thing I love about Italy is that it is impossible to get bored. There is always something new to see.
On the way to Milan we stopped in Verona for a short layover. While there we grabbed lunch and were reminded of the deliciousness of legit Italian food. And, that nowhere makes as good of a cappuccino as an Italian cafe.
Once we got to Milan, we got to explore their Christmas Market. It takes over the area surrounding the main duomo and was totally different from the German markets. It was full of cheese, cannolis, and items for nativities but lacked glühwein stalls around every corner like in Germany since it wasn’t actually that cold. Nativities are to Italians as Christmas trees are to Americans. Italians started using Christmas trees in the 1990s, but they still aren’t the norm and many people set up incredibly elaborate nativities instead.
On Christmas Eve, we attended mass at the Duomo which was absolutely beautiful.
Then we headed out to pick up our rental car and make a grocery run. We thought we could handle driving in Italy after driving in Greece. That was a terrible assumption. Driving in Italy is not for the faint of heart. If ever visiting this beautiful country, stick to the wonderful train system if at all possible.
Lake Como
Lake Como has been on my list for a while. We never made it up there when studying abroad and it seemed like the perfect place to relax over Christmas. Turns out I was right. We found a lovely airbnb with a hot tub overlooking the lake and relaxed for a few days.
My favorite thing about Lake Como was that it isn’t an arrogant place. It has a reputation for being uppity (which may be fair – George Clooney does have a home there), but it was way more down to earth than places like Mykonos, Nantucket, and Aspen.
Rome
I love Rome. In my very biased opinion, it is one of the best cities in the world to visit. “All roads lead to Rome” for good reason (and, in fact, at one point in history the majority of roads did lead to Rome).
The area of Rome is one of the longest continually occupied areas in the world. People have lived here for over 5000 years and it has been “Rome” since the 700s BC. Every corner you turn and building you enter is full of history, from Egyptian artifacts to Renaissance art.
The Trevi Fountain has done its job and both Carey and I have returned to Rome a few times, but my folks had never visited the Eternal City. A few highlights –
The Vatican
We toured the Vatican, seeing the iconic sites and my personal favorite – Raphael’s School of Athens. I love hearing the crazy details of the Renaissance paintings. In Michaelangelo’s The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, he painted the Pope’s assistant who annoyed him being tortured in Hell and painted himself as a martyr’s skin. In Raphael’s School of Athens, he painted himself as one of two figures looking at the viewer. He also added Michaelangelo out of respect after seeing the Sistene Chapel, even though initially the two were rivals.
I remember the first time I saw St. Peter’s Basilica. I was 18 and in complete and total awe. All but one of the images in the building are mosiacs, which is mind-blowing when looking at the images. I’ve visited the Basilica four times and still can’t fathom how they are mosaics instead of paintings. The Basilica also always reminds me of my loving, wonderful, and kind maternal grandmother. She was a devout Catholic and I wish she had seen the Basilica in her lifetime. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.
The Colosseum
Any guesses as to why St. Peter’s is so gorgeous and full of marble? The marble had already been gathered for the Colosseum and the church took it once the Colosseum was no longer in use.
But, even without the marble, the Colosseum is still an amazing site. We went on a night tour which was fantastic. We were some of the only people in there and we got to go into the underground section. Both Carey and I had visited the Colosseum before, but neither of us had gotten to see the underground sections. We saw the trapdoors, where they stored the animals, and the end of the tunnel between the Gladiator School and the Colosseum.
The Pantheon
The Pantheon is the best-kept Roman building in the world. It used to be a Pagan temple, meant for people to worship whichever god they wanted. When the Vatican took over Rome it was turned into a Catholic Church and remains one to this day.
Trevi Fountain & the Aquaducts
The Trevi used to be my favorite place in Rome. 18-year-old me got to peacefully throw in a coin, grab some gelato, and sit by the fountain to enjoy the beautiful artwork and people watching. With the crazy rise of tourism in Italy the Trevi is now painfully busy, but it was still fun to visit with my folks and toss in our coins. Gotta make sure we’ll be returning to Rome for gelato sometime in the future.
Near the Trevi, we were able to tour an archeological site of a residential complex which contains a water reservoir fed by the same source that now feeds the Trevi fountain. It dates back to the 1st century, but wasn’t discovered until the 1990s. It isn’t well-known and is much less touristy than the Trevi.
New Year’s Eve
While we were sad to miss our annual NYE board game tournament, we had an awesome time in Rome. The entire city is out on the streets. We grabbed a delicious meal at the famous Luciano (their chef is known as the “King of Carbonara”) and then wandered the streets. The city put on a free concert at the Circus Maximus. At midnight, random people set off lots of fireworks in all the squares. We were near the Pantheon and it was definitely a sight to see. The fireworks were technically illegal, but it seemed like everyone with authority to stop them was turning a blind eye.
Piazza Navonna Christmas Market
Rome is also home to a fun Christmas market in one of the most famous squares.
Spanish Steps
While I’ve never been partial to the Spanish Steps or the crazy expensive stores surrounding them, the crowds during our visit this time solidified the Steps as my least recommended iconic spot in Rome. Lovely art to be enjoyed (if you can see it), but it felt like we were going to be crushed.
Gelato
Now, the most important element of our time in Rome – gelato. I think Tuscany has the best pasta in Italy, but Rome has the best gelato. My dad has quite the sweet tooth and even he thought I was trying too many gelato shops with my desire to try all the recommended flavors. Gelato shops listed below in order of preference (best first) –
- Fatamorgana – fun, creative flavors and I’ll dream about their banana lime for years.
- Gelateria del Teatro – delicious, creative flavors like cheese & cherry, pear & caramel, and apple & cinnamon.
- Gelateria La Romana – flavors are only slightly creative, but they fill the cone with melted chocolate that is heavenly.
- San Crispino’s – I’ve been visiting this place every visit to Rome. The combo of their honey and lemon is amazing. It’s near the Trevi.
- Fior di Luna – straight up delicious, more classic flavors and in Trastevere so can be enjoyed after some reasonably-priced (and amazing) pasta
- Gioletti’s – the ever-reliable classic by the Pantheon. Always go for the chocolate flavors.
- Gelateria dei Gracchi – delicious and known for bon-bons, but all of their locations are slightly inconvenient for tourists. Better off to enjoy more banana lime or basil, walnuts, and honey from Fatamorgana.
- Della Palma – over 150 flavors, which is fun, but the gelato is mediocre since they stretch themselves too thin.
Last Day in Rome
My folks caught their flight, but Carey and I had one more day to explore the city. We found some delicious pizza, got one more serving of gelato from Fatamorgana, toured a famous pharmacy that has been around since the 1600s, and wandered the city at night. Few cities are as lovely after dark as Rome. I hope the Trevi does its job and we’ll be back soon.
