Christopher Rowe

What Cologne lacks in tourist attractions it more than makes up for with Christmas markets. After a lengthy sleep in, having decided to take things a little slower in Cologne, catching our breath from Paris and Amsterdam, we decided today (or what was left of it) would be spent touring through the various Christmas markets.

After a twelve hour sleep in (seriously, I cannot remember the last time I did this, even before the trip), I slowly began to get ready to go out. It was now 11.30am, we had already missed breakfast, so there was no real urgency in rushing. Taking my time doing my teeth, still in the typical pre-coffee morning daze, where all of a sudden Michelle yells out that it is snowing outside.

Like a child at Christmas waking up at the crack of dawn to open presents, I had completed my teeth, gotten dressed and was racing down the stairs after Michelle who was already on her way out into the streets.

You would barely class what was falling as snow, it was more-so what you would call ‘trying to snow’. The flakes were very icy, melting on impact – something between rain and snow. More like frozen rain droplets that rather than coming down vertically like ordinary rain or hail, danced their way down in a gentle breeze in the fashion that snow does. Needless to say, this was the closest thing we had seen to snow so far, and this far south in Europe, we were quite excited – for if it was ‘trying’ to snow in Cologne, it must be really snowing in Amsterdam, Hamburg and Berlin (the latter two of which are our next destinations).

The Christmas markets are incredible. By the time we had reached the first Christmas market, what was ‘almost snow’ had now changed to ‘actual snow’, and it was coming down thick and fast. With a live choir singing hymns outside the old cathedral, Christmas lights on trees, angels in windows and snow coming down all around us, the markets could not become more authentic. It was brilliant.

The Christmas markets featured a variety of stalls featuring glass ornaments, figurines and decorations hand crafted from wood, leather items including belts and book bounds, a collection of scarfs, mittens and winter attire.

Walking around today, I couldn’t help but think how much my Mum and Dad would love this; I could just see mum darting across from stall to stall, calling out to Dad to check out something new she had discovered – guys you really need to check out these markets – they are nothing like anything you have seen – whether it is France, Germany, make sure you see them!

The Christmas markets also feature a great abundance of Christmas food and drinks, from hot chocolates and coffees with nips of Rum, chocolate and shortbread treats to traditional kebab sticks and meat in buns – the perfect hot meal for a wintery day.

Adhering to my diet whilst on holiday has just proven to be a lot more difficult than I had initially anticipated – I just hope all the walking we are doing will counteract it, even just a bit. But the way I see it, to really appreciate and experience the Christmas markets to their fullest, part of the fun is trying new things, including food.

With such a late start today, we only had just under five hours of daylight. The day though was more than long enough, with Michelle and I limping back to our hotel, having walked several kilometers going from Christmas market to Christmas market, in the snow and cold. I really shouldn’t complain about the cold though, since our Max temperatures are still in the positives.. from the looks of things, this could change in the next few days with forecast maximums of -2, and minuses of -5! chilly!