Tag: Christmas

Ljubljana 🇸🇮

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A super early flight landed us in our fifth new country of the year, descending through thick fog that didn’t lift even as we boarded the bus into Ljubljana. The city stayed wrapped in mist when we arrived at the hotel, where an extremely enthusiastic receptionist welcomed us with a map, a full city explanation, and—most importantly—a much needed coffee and a croissant.

Once in the room, we discovered the shower was housed in a giant glass box right in the middle, which we thought was an interesting choice! Luckily the toilet was behind a door. 

After settling in, we headed out to explore. We strolled along the river, crossing several of Ljubljana’s many bridges before reaching the iconic Dragon Bridge, its statues looming out of the fog. The castle remained almost hidden from view, swallowed by the mist.

Ljubljana is often described as a fairytale city, and at first we were a little confused by this. To us, “fairytale” looks more like Tallinn from our February trip. Ljubljana initially felt a bit run-down, with what seemed like every building covered in graffiti. By the end of the trip, though, its character and charm had won us over, and we found ourselves genuinely loving the city despite those first impressions.

We always like to seek out a local brewery, so a visit to Loo-Blah-Nah felt essential. It did smell unmistakably like a toilet at first, but we quickly became nose-blind. Unfortunately, a group of lads lads lads soon arrived, and before long one of them vomited on the floor. What followed was a spectacular outburst from a very unhappy bar lady—five solid minutes of shouting, table-kicking, door-slamming, and even throwing the culprit’s scarf in it! Honestly, I felt so sorry for her. Nobody deserves to end their shift cleaning up someone else’s puke. Due to the location and size of the bar, the toilet was in a shared space under one of the bridges. As I sat down to empty my bladder, I noticed a poo in the bin…

We recovered from the recent chaos with a Christmas market sausage by the tree, its lights glowing faintly through the fog—a much calmer and more fitting end to the evening.

The second day dawned just as foggy as the first, the city once again wrapped in a soft grey haze. We started the morning with a peaceful walk through Tivoli Park, the trees fading into the mist and the paths quiet and calm. This would definitely be the place to be in the summer.

From there, we headed towards Metelkova. The area was bursting with colour—vibrant street art, alternative sculptures, and works made from recycled materials everywhere you looked. It was very obvious what deals and activities occur.. We even witnessed it. The vibe was undeniably sketchy, but never threatening. We just let people get on with whatever they were doing, and as long as you don’t bother or photograph them, they don’t bother you. Although Mark did capture the moment I realised man had dropped his trousers and injected his groin.. It reminded us a lot of Christiania in Copenhagen.

We took the funicular up to the castle hoping for views over the city, but the fog had other plans. With nothing to see beyond a wall of white, we opted for mulled wine instead, which felt like the correct decision. After heading back down, we wandered more of the streets, stopping frequently for Christmas market food. There are also 100s of vintage shops, which I dragged Mark around, and they were actually very reasonable. 

As always when we travel, Newcastle happened to have a game on, and with it being against Sunderland, Mark absolutely couldn’t miss it—although by the end, he probably wished he had. I endured the first half, but while there was still some daylight left, I left Mark with his pint and headed off to explore more of Ljubljana on my own. I headed the opposite way down the river, and it was this way that led me to the ‘cute’ streets we had read about.

I managed to sniff out a craft beer bar serving burgers, where we had a delicious meal. A special shout-out also goes to Skrbovin’ca, a lovely shop where every item is handmade by individuals with intellectual disabilities and other challenges. Naturally, I couldn’t leave without treating myself to a few more tree decorations.

Innsbruck 🇦🇹

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We woke up to thick fog, which is obviously perfect weather conditions when the plan is to go up a mountain 🙄 a quick Google suggested that this would be cleared by midday, so we decided to spend the morning on ground level. We headed for one of Innsbruck’s best known viewpoints – the river, the colourful houses, and the mountains as a backdrop. Along with the autumal trees, it’s an absolutely stunning location in the city. As we love good panoramic view we climbed the City tower (Stadtturm) and as promised by Google, the fog was starting to clear, meaning we got gorgeous views over the roof tops, the snow capped mountains and the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Market below.

It was time for a change of scenery to what we had been used to, so we boarded the cable car, and in just 20 minutes, you’re away from the crowds and enjoying the snow. It’s been far too long since I was somewhere like this, and it really made me miss skiing (although after everything I’ve eaten, there’s no way any of my ski gear would fit now!) Having neglected to pack my walking boots, I was hoping my Docs would have enough grip to get me to the top of the mountain. This was not the case, and I had to cling on for dear life to Mark as I was slipping all over the place. Not once but twice I went flying, the second time pulling Mark down with me 🤣 we kept getting little glimmers of the land below through occasional breaks in the cloud, but it wasn’t going to be our day to see for miles and miles. This didn’t matter as it was still magical to be up there and feel the cold wind biting at your face.

It then dawned on us that we hadn’t eaten for about 3 hours! Luckily, there was a cafe near the Hungerburg Christmas Market we had visited the day before, and we ordered a massive plate of meat and cheese and a basket of warm fresh bread. This and a glass of white wine was the treat we needed. We got the funicular back down and decided to head back into the markets to see what we had missed; however, it was absolutely heaving and by far the busiest market we have been to so far. It was very difficult trying to get anywhere with people dawdling and just stopping in front of you to take photos. As we know, I’m all for photos! But have some photo etiquette and step to the side where people aren’t walking at you with hot mugs of Glühwein. Punch seems to be the thing in Austria so we sampled one apricot and one apple, with all sorts of alcohol shoved in for added flavour. I’m glad we tried them, but it’s certainly not something we would rush back to have.

We were sad to be leaving Innsbruck as there is so much to do here and in the surrounding area, but the beauty of these flying visits is you know the places to return to for longer (bring on Austria rail adventure) and those not so much. We learnt from our previous day’s mistake and booked seats for the EC train back to Munich for our last city of the trip. Obviously someone was sat in Mark’s seat 🙄 luckily the one next to me was free, so he was stuck with me for another few hours 🤣 this train was also delayed and also changed platform, but this was relatively simple as it was only changed to the platform next door.

We arrived late into Munich – too late to pick up any market food. So we did what the locals seem to do and picked up a big, dirty döner and sat in the room with a few beverages, ready to plan what on earth we can cram into massive Munich in just 24hrs.

Nuremberg 🇩🇪 to Innsbruck 🇦🇹

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We had originally planned to do Nuremberg to Stuttgart, however when we realised how close we were to Austria (believe it or not.. my geography is terrible!) we decided to change things up a bit and tick a new country off for Mark. Due to travel time that meant we had a shorter morning in Nuremberg, so it was all about cramming in as much as possible in 3hrs!

We started the day by looking at all the pretty historical bridges located around the town. The blue sky and still water meant perfect reflection photos. The American in the pub the night before recommend we walked the city walls – unfortunately, they are now closed for the season.. but we still got to see more of the medieval buildings so the walk was still worth it.

As it was now the 25th it meant the markets were open! It’s not the same in the daytime, but we still wanted a quick explore before heading to our next train. As we had only had a croissant for breakfast, it only seemed right we had more local cuisine to top us up – 3 sausages and sauerkraut in a roll. Delicious! Every other stand was selling a fruit bread called Hutzelbrot so this was our breakfast pudding. Advertised as deliciously dense, chewy, moist and flavorful. I’ll give them dense…. but everything else about it was absolutely foul, and for the first time we had to bin a market treat 😭

You won’t be surprised to hear that the first leg of our journey train (to Munich) was delayed. This gave us super twitchy arse as the original time only gave us 15 minutes to change – however it turns out German trains communicate with each other, and our connecting train to Innsbruck would be waiting for us! The trains in and around Germany (ICE) have been relatively quiet and we’ve been able to get a seat. The trains to Europe (EC) were the total opposite, and because we hadn’t booked a seat we spent the whole journey wedged by the toilet with a constant stench of fishy piss 🤢

We arrived in Innsbruck with about 2hrs daylight left and were keen to get to the Hungerburg Christmas Market half way up the mountain. Although small it was definitely worth it for the views, the Glühwein and Kiachl (deep fried in boiling lard.. yummy!) As if we hadn’t eaten enough, we got back to ground level and sniffed out a few more treats before heading to a pub to watch the England game. One thing I will say is the price of everything seems a lot more expensive here! Unfortunately the main sports pub was full, so we found another sports bar just on the outskirts. This was a much more ‘manly’ place with the scent of Lynx Africa in the air 🤣 but we got a seat, they had beer for Mark so that’s all that’s needed. A win would have been nice though…

Nuremberg 🇩🇪

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We had a few hours left to kill in Frankfurt before heading to Nuremberg, so we went back through skid row and to the love lock bridge across the river. Although nowhere near as impressive as the one in Cologne, it’s still worth visiting to see the skyline and the pretty Autumn colours on the other side. We grabbed a much quicker breakfast in one of their coffee shops – Mark thought his bagel was delicious, but I thought it tasted like sweaty armpits 🤢

Onto the train and the dodgy characters continued. I’m all for doing whatever to make yourself feel fabulous, but when you look like Pete Burns and Katie Price’s love child I really feel it’s time to stop… Behind us there was a big arguement going on. I would love to know what it was about because I’m a nosey cow but unfortunately it was all in a different language (definitely not German) I did however understand the part where he called her a stupid bitch 😬

No picture of Pete.. so here we are supporting a local German business 😬

We arrived in Nuremberg and instantly fell in love with the place. No more dodgy characters for a start! We dropped our cases off at the hotel and headed out to find the markets. Turns out we hadn’t researched the dates as thoroughly as we thought, and the markets actually started the following day! There is so much to see and do in Nuremberg that it didn’t matter, and we would still get to see them the following morning when they opened.

One of the very few streets starting the markets early!

Nuremberg is such a pretty place and just what you would expect a Bavarian town to look like. It’s famous for it’s imperial castle, half timbered houses, cobblestoned squares and bridges. We walked up the giant hill to the castle and were really lucky to pretty much have the whole place to ourselves. There’s some gorgeous views up there and a great place to watch the sunset. It was here that we had our first taste of Lebkuchen – the German spiced treat traditionally eaten at Christmas. We also found a German bar selling beer tasters, which Mark loved (and I hated because beer is foul 🤣) but they also sold wine so all was good!

On our walk to another watering hole we grabbed another snack – Mandeln. Crunchy, warm, sweet nuts.. what more could you want! We fell into yet another Irish bar because it looked like it had good atmosphere. It was here that we met a group of blokes, one of whom lives in Birmingham.. and even knows a paramedic Mark used to work with. The conversation with him was beyond fascinating, but certainly not suitable for the blog 🤣 we also got chatting to an American who shared our views of Frankfurt. Trying to explain the difference between Birmingham and the Black Country was particularly challenging and he was incredibly animated about the whole thing!

What we’ve seen of Nuremberg so far has been great as its such a charming place – we cannot wait to explore again in the morning.

Cologne 🇩🇪

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The morning started with another big breakfast; a classy European feast in Funk Haus. Multiple plates of meats, cheeses, breads and fruit – what more could you want! The OJ was even served in wine glasses.

The first place you have to visit in Cologne is its magnificent cathedral; said to be Germany’s most visited attraction and the tallest twin spired church in the world. It’s free to enter so a walk around the inside is definitely worth it to see the impressive interior and stained glass windows.

The next must do in Cologne is walk across the Hohenzollern Bridge – the busiest railway and pedestrian bridge in Germany. Also famous for the ridiculous amount of padlocks attached to it! The views of the cathedral on the other side are fantastic. Whilst on this side of the bridge it is definitely worth heading up the Cologne triangle for 360° views of the city.

Due to no cafe at the top of the triangle, and us always being hungry, we headed to the Lindt cafe for a hot chocolate and cake. There is an option to go around the chocolate museum, however once you’ve done Cadbury World.. you’ve basically done them all 😉

It was then time to check out the markets, and Cologne has loads to offer as they are dotted all around the city. All of them offer something slightly different and there are plenty of activities to enjoy, such as ice skating and curling. This market experience was all about cheese – we had raclette and cheese and mushroom panini topped with sour cream. We were treated to a brass band playing Christmas music and it was just a lovely atmosphere.

As we were walking back to the hotel we heard some interesting music coming from a pub, so decided to head in to see what it was all about. It certainly was interesting! Papa Joe’s Jazz Lokal was full of bizarre pictures of naked women, quirky antiques and musical marionnetes that will play a tune for some cheeky Euros. We had no idea what was being played half the time, but the German’s were singing along and having the best time. Mark got his first stein of the trip, which was half froth! The perfect way to finish today was a trip to Maccies to add to our World Tour – shrimps and peppered chips. Absolutely delish.

We’ve really enjoyed Cologne! There’s enough tourist attractions to keep you going for a few days, loads of bars and restaurants, 100s of shops and the Christmas markets were just magical.

Düsseldorf 🇩🇪

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In December 2020 we had planned a festive mini break to Frankfurt – but covid had other ideas. We then planned the trip again for December 2021, but Frankfurt decided to massively scale back their market due to covid. So this year came, and we thought sod it – let’s do a trip around Germany and visit multiple markets! Over the next 8 days we will be starting in Düsseldorf and finishing in Munich, with a cheeky nip over the border into Austria.

As our flight was a late one from Manchester, we decided to kill time by going to the Trafford Centre first. We had totally forgotten that the Black Friday sales were on, so parking was an absolute nightmare! It was a treat however to see Troy from ‘The Greeters Guild’ getting everyone into the festive spirit. We arrived at Manchester Airport far too early (see Steve.. I’m learning!) but being an evening flight the check in area and security was absolutely dead. That was until we got into the pub on the other side where all the fans from Wales were sat having a drink before their flight to Doha.

The flight to Düsseldorf was super speedy, and from landing to getting bags was only 20 minutes! It was far too late to explore so it was straight to bed ready to see the city the following day.

We are both lovers of a good breakfast and online recommendations suggested 7 Sundays – a recommendation we will also now give as it was absolutely delicious. It became apparent that Düsseldorf is a very quiet city as there was hardly anybody about! We also very quickly learnt the etiquette of waiting for the green man at a crossing, even if there is no traffic at all.

Towering above the city is the Rhine Tower, which gives fantastic views for miles. We could clearly make out the skyline of Cologne- our next destination. Another bonus is the cafe at the top, so it would be rude to not try one of the cakes on offer. Mark being the big football fan he is meant we had to make time for the England game, so we found an Irish pub (we’ve found that they’re usually the best atmosphere for sporting events) and settled in with a beer, gin and watched the boys win. Lovely assist from Callum Wilson 😉

It was then time to try out what we had come for – the markets! At the end of all the blogs we will rate the markets in order. Like the rest of the city, the markets were really quiet, but this meant no queues! Every cloud.. The plan is to try as much different foods as possible, so we started with reibekuchen with apple sauce. It was absolutely delicious 😋 and I 100% recommend getting one of these at a German market. We also had that German classic, Thai chicken soup 🤣 washed down with Glühwein (which we plan on drinking plenty of this trip). After watching the ice skaters and a few more beers it was time for the next course – crepes, smothered in Nutella obvs.

After a ridiculously long day it was time to catch the train to Cologne. Armed with our valid tickets we were confident that there was no reason for a telling off as we travelled on the U-Bahn.. wrong! A very angry policeman banged on the window with an aggressive finger wag as we hadn’t even noted that the rest of the train were all wearing masks 😷Research suggested that German trains are easy to navigate and always on time.. also wrong! After delays and platform changes we eventually got on the right train to Cologne.

Berlin – Day 1 🇩🇪

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A very early start this morning (2am!) for an easy run to the airport. Oh no! Stuck on the delightful M5 for what felt like forever, and we hadn’t even got to Droitwich!

After a few technical issues with the plane (why can’t our trips ever run smoothly) we arrived in Berlin. We dumped our cases at the hotel and headed off for our first tourist attraction; Charlottenburg Palace. After reading the reviews on Trip Advisor we expected the gardens to be empty shells of trees and dried up water fountains, however we were pleasantly surprised. There was still lots of Autumn colours and beautiful reflection shots.

Following this we had an unexpected detour to the Olympic Stadium, built for the 1936 Summer Olympics. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time here as it was about to close, but it was amazing to have the stadium all to ourselves, even though we did get a bollocking for being in the wrong bit.

On our way back to the hotel for our first wee of the day we went through our first experience of a proper German market, and it was beautiful. So many people enjoying all the delicious food and drink on offer. We also stopped off at the Ritter Sports shop; a chocolate lovers haven and so so cheap! I have already scoffed a whole bar. Definitely worth a visit.

After a cheeky charge we headed back out to experience the markets at night. After doing some research we started at the Potsdamer Platz Market; however there wasn’t actually much atmosphere here and decided to quickly move on to the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market. This will set you back a whole Euro, but is definitely worth it. Carol singers, Glühwein and Langos (which I discovered in Budapest and is one of the best things to put in your mouth) perfect end to a long but lovely day.