A year ago Robin and I went to Cologne for a weekend getaway. We had a great time but missed the Christmas Markets there by a week or so. We’ve both been feeling that another getaway would be a good idea, so we decided to return and see if we could get some Christmas spirit going.
We took the Friday late afternoon ICE train, putting us in Cologne around 7:30 pm. We checked into our hotel, the Sheraton Four Points, just north of the main train station. It was a great location for the weekend’s activities.
First priority was something to eat. We ended up having a functional if not spectacular dinner at the Chicago Steakhouse. What was a lot more fun was diving into the Christmas markets afterward. We discovered the joys of drinking gluhwein in the cold fresh air while watching the crowds move up and down the little market streets. We visited the market out front of the Dom and the one in the Alt Markt.
On Saturday, we had only one thing planned: a day at the Claudius Therme. We had a great time there last year. This time, I braved the “au naturel” saunas a couple of times; Robin stayed reading her book by the pool.
We jumped back into the Christmas markets in the evening and went kind of bonkers eating our way through the many food stands. We had Thuringer sausage, sugar-coated almonds and cashews, potato pancakes and more gluhwein.
On Sunday morning, we rose, had breakfast and hit the last of the three major markets, this one in the Neumarkt area. In the afternoon, we visited the Roman-German Museum and enjoyed the various exhibits on display. We grabbed the train back to Amsterdam around 6:00 pm and were back home in the house by 9:30 pm.
Another good weekend trip.
Oh wow!!! That sounds like some excellent Christmas fun! I’m a teensy bit jealous cause I haven’t really got to do any Christmas things yet – but now that I have more time at home I’m hoping to remedy that. Nothing like a Christmas market in Cologne – that’s more of a “someday” plan! Glad you guys had a good time :)