Hallo! A Köln Christmas Weekend
I cannot think of a more festive place to visit during the Christmas season than Germany. And, after this weekend, I can fully assure you that Köln is the perfect city for the full winter experience. The combination of chilly weather, piping hot comfort food, and Christmas markets encapsulates the word "merry" like nothing else I have ever seen. My friends and I felt like we were living in a Hallmark movie for three days, and we all want to return to Germany ASAP!
But first, back to Spain. This week we only had two days of class thanks a long weekend to celebrate el Día de la Constitución (Spanish Constitution Day). 2023 marks 45 years since the current constitution was approved, and there were lots of festivies to recognize this holiday. At my school we were supposed to have flag raising ceremonies on both Monday and Tuesday, but some drizzly weather squashed those plans.
For our movie night this week we watched Mystic Pizza! My pick to show off the adorable place I call my hometown. I made a berry pie to share with everyone since it was the most pizzaesq dessert I could think of.
On Wednesday I took a stroll through downtown Motril to see the progress they were making on setting up the Christmas decorations. Spain really does not mess around with the December holiday season. Almost every street has multiple festive light fixtures and there is a massive Christmas tree made entirely of lights in the main square! It definitely makes our tropical home feel a bit more wintery.
Renne, Skye, and I caught an afternoon bus to Málaga since we had an 8 pm flight from there to Germany. I had been looking forward to this trip to Köln for SO long I could barely wait for the cold weather and Christmas markets.
Right before boarding we met up with our final group member, Abigail, an aux friend from Granada! With everything in order and everyone in the right place, our adventure was ready to begin.
Stepping out of the plane into the 30 degree weather was so exhilarating and made me feel so rejuvenated. I didn’t realize I missed the cold this much… seeing my breath when I spoke made me feel like I was right at home in CT or NY <3
We caught a train from the airport to the city center after a short, funny conversation in very broken English and German with the conductor. When we got outside the station we were confronted with the magnificent sight of the cathedral (Köln Dom) and we were all floored. It is HUGE!
After ogling at the cathedral for a couple minutes, we hiked the short distance to our hostel, checked in, and went right to bed.
Well, we tried to go to bed…3/4 of us barely slept between our snoring roommate, the city lights, and extremely creaky beds. I was honestly very relieved when it was finally time for us to get up and start our day.
We began our Thursday with a lovely breakfast and a tour of the cathedral, which is just as impressive inside as it is outside. The Köln Dom is the largest gothic style chuch in Northern Europe and was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1996. The striking double spire outline of the building is a trademark for the city and synonymous with the name "Köln". We saw lots of souvenirs, Christmas ornaments, and even waffles mimicking this signature shape.
After some chilly pictures in front of the Köln Dom, we headed to our first Christmas market of the weekend! There are seven markets in Köln and we were able to visit five of them, some of them multiple times, which was amazing. Each market has a different theme, unique offering of food/drink/craft vendors, and a speciality mug. These Christmas markets were the absolute best way to get into the holiday spirit and I could have spent a full week enjoying everything they had to offer.
After Renne, Skye, and Gail sampled some Glühwein (hot mulled wine) and Kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes), we checked into our Airbnb (really just a slightly elevated hostel), added some clothing layers to our outfits, and headed just down the street to another Christmas market.
The Heumarkt market is woodland gnome themed and I knew instantly it would be my favorite of weekend. The decorations were all centered around this theme and they so intricate and adorable. There was even a gnome ski lift to a “ski slope” on the roof of one of the buildings.
After a loop to see our options, we settled for some Glühwein and spiked hot coco, curryworst for the omnivores, and a jam raclette to share. All of our mugs had different gnome characters on them and we agreed Gerhard was the group favorite.
Everytime you purchase a drink at the markets, you pay an extra three euro fee for the mug. If you return the mug you get the deposit back, but you can also keep them as momentos. The mugs are different from year to year, so they really are the perfect way to memorialize your Christmas market experience. I ended up bringing three home with me and I'm happy to report that they all survived the trip to Spain!
There is an ice rink and curling area at this market so after our little lunch, we rented skates and took to the ice. I had done a lot of research for this trip and from the second I discovered you could skate at a Christmas market, it became my nonnegotiable activity for the weekend. I was at peak happiness gliding around the ice with ex-hockey girl Skye, admiring the charm of the Heumarkt.
We luckily had no skating mishaps despite there being a group of risky teenage boys who treated the rink like the Autobahn. I wasn't anticipating how sore ice skating would make me, but the rest of the weekend my hamstrings paid dearly for this 45 minutes of fun.
Before leaving the market we got a hot wine refill and a pretzel. I really couldn’t go a whole day in Germany without trying one and it hit the spot!
There is a bridge in Köln that is covered in locks that we wanted to see before nightfall, so once we were done with our snack, we headed that way. We walked from Heumarkt along the Rhine, the river that runs through the city, and enjoyed the golden hour glow even though it felt ridiculously early for the sun to be setting.
Hohenzollern bridge is the only bridge in the city that was not destroyed during World War II and the only one in Europe where the locks are not removed. There are said to be 40,000 locks on the bridge and thus 40,000 keys at the bottom on the Rhine. The sheer number of locks was astounding and provided a very interesting backdrop as we crossed the river by foot.
We headed north in hopes of catching a cable car ride across the Rhine. Unfortunately, when we arrived to the take off point, we discovered that the cable cars only run from April through October.
Since we were quite a walk from home at this point, we decided to Uber back and, boy, was that an adventure of its own. Our driver was from the country of Georgia and spoke very basic English. Our attempts to get some restaurant recs ended with him offering us some viskey. We’re still unsure if he had whisky just hanging out in his center console, but our interactions with him gave us a lot to laugh about after.
Another friend and aux from Granada, Lydia, met us at the Airbnb and after warming up for a bit, we went in search of a proper German dinner.
We ended up at a place near the cathedral called Peters Brauhaus and we were greeted by a cozy, welcoming atmosphere. Everyone minus me got typical German food because being vegetarian in Germany isn’t always the most straightforawrd thing. My shakshouka was delicious however and I was very grateful to be eating some veggies.
To round out the evening, we spent some time back in Heumarkt drinking mulled wine and speaking Spanish to some people from Barcelona! The amount of Spanish we heard and spoke on this trip was completely unexpected. I guess we weren't the only ones jumping at the chance to go to Germany for the long weekend.
Friday morning I woke up feeling completely refreshed after sleeping like a rock for a full 8 hours. We grabbed some coffee in the Belgian quarter and had a very quick brunch at a highly rated place called St. Louis. It was one of the most asethetically pleasing restuarants I had ever been in, and I wholeheartedly understand why it gets such great reviews. My yogurt bowl was delicious and their menu deserves awards for the insanely creative dishes they offer!
We met up with Lydia and her friend Anna at one of the Christmas markets on that side of town in a square called Rudolfplatz. I think the theme of this one was also woodland creatures of some sort with a heavy influence of reindeer.
This was my least favorite of the markets we visited, but we got some cute pictures in front of the main entrance before leaving.
I had read about an angel themed market while I was doing my trip research, and we decided to walk there after we were done in Rudolfplatz. This market, called Neumarkt, was huge, higher scale, and beautifully decorated. They really took the theme seriously with "angels" walking around, angel statues in all of the barhouses, and of course, angels appearing on all of the mugs. Lydia and gang were freaking out about the hot aperol drinks, but I opted for a classic mulled wine so I could get a mug.
It was drizzling a little bit at this point but we were plently warm enough huddling around a table with our hot drinks. The inclimate weather also made it feel like a more authentic German experience so I didn't mind the rain one bit.
Our original four left the market mid afternoon to stop home before walking to the Lindt Chocolate Museum that is located along the Rhine. We toured the different exhibits that explained the process of making chocolate, the socioeconomic issues within the chocolate trade, and the innerworkings of the Lindt chocolate lab. Overall it was underwhelming, but interesting to see the different chocolate machines in action.
Renne and I took a spin around the Christmas market located outside the museum on a pier. There was a pirate boat that functioned as a bar and a lot of fish options for snacks. We tried a hot cider spiked with gin and also a little empanada. Another excuse to speak Spanish in this country :)
After we regrouped, the four of us walked up the Rhine to meet Lydia and Anna for a boat river cruise. This was a magical way to spend some time inside and off of our feet. There was live Christmas music and tons of fairy lights, creating the perfect festive atmosphere.
Since we didn’t eat dinner on the boat, we walked back to the cathedral and Heurmarkt markets to get some food. I tried some vegan curry dumplings, and Gail and I split a cheesy mushroom bread. I think the later was my favorite food of the trip.
The markets were extremely crowded since it was a Friday night so we did not stay as long we expected to. They are definitely less enjoyable when you are constantly being jostled around.
We refreshed and warmed up at home before heading out again to see what the Köln nightlife had to offer. Our first option turned us away since they were hosting a private party, but they gave a recommendation for another spot.
This place, Weiner Steffie, was truly another world and the basement bar felt like we were in an episode of Game of Thrones. The median age of the crowd was about 40 and since we were very clearly outsiders, we got a LOT of unwanted attention.
However, we really made our own fun dancing to remixes of the Cotton Eye Joe and Macarena. We met this eccentric Polish man who became our “protector” for the evening and kept some of the creepier guys away. I was taught how to do the German foxtrot by a giant man wearing a Rick and Morty Christmas sweater, and when we finally made friends with guys around our age, they could not get over how funny it was that we ended up in such a random, German bar.
We called it a night before it got super late and I happily braved a scalding/freezing shower to get the basement grime off my body. It was definitely a relief to fall asleep clean after such a long day.
The last day of our trip was a start-to-finish travel day since we booked cheap flights out of Weeze airport before knowing how much of a hassle it is to get there. We had to sprint to catch our first train but after that almost mishap, the rest of our travels went smoothly
The four of us absolutely loved our time in Köln and are itching to travel outside of Spain again very soon. It was a blast to sample so much great food and drink while getting properly festive for the Christmas season. I will definitely be looking to return for more trips to the Christmas markets in the future.
This upcoming week is my last full week of work before I fly home for Christmas next Tuesday! I know the time is going to absolutely zoom by and I have a cookieswap house party to look forward to this weekend. I can’t believe that my fall in Spain is coming to a close so soon. I have learned so much in my time here so far, and I am looking forward to many more adventures in the spring :)
Thanks for following along <3
Cuando oyes "Cotton Eye Joe" ~versión alemana~ en el club con los boys
Jessica becoming a champion of the champiñones 👀 🍄 no me digas