December 2022
During mid-December, Germany had a (more intense than their typical climate) cold snap with more snow and significantly lower than normal temperatures. We did not let this stop us from having a good time; however, it did end up some of our days because it was just too cold to be out and about.
But also, Christian got some gorgeous photos of the castle and deer out the window of the Airbnb we stayed at. In the castle, there is a restaurant that serves local foods including the deer they raise on property. When we were clearing the car in the morning the deer would come down by the fence to investigate us (and I suspect were looking for a snack).
Nürnberg
Christian and I took an ICE (Intercity Express- the high speed trains in Germany) to Nürnberg from Köln to meet with Mom and Dad Oliver. We arrived toward the end of the afternoon but still had a little bit of light to go to the Christmas Markets. Despite the cold, there were plenty of people shopping, eating, and drinking at the Christmas Market.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
For our second day, we went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber which has a mideval wall surrounding the old town and preserved half-timber houses. While we were there, the historic style Rothenburg Christmas market was in full swing. Rothenburg is also the home of Käthe Wohlfahrt- so of course we had to go look at the ornaments in the store.
Würzburg
On our last day in Bavaria we went back to Rothenburg ob der Tauber to take some day time pictures (above) and then went Würzburg. Which had another fairly large Christmas market.
