The End of an Era

We kind of know for sure now that we will be moving away from our lovely German home this summer.  So, barring some sort of military miracle, this has been our last Christmas season in Deutschland.  Something we especially look forward to and love at Christmastime in Germany is Christmas Markets.  Two days before Christmas we took advantage of our last chance to enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas in Germany by traveling to Wiesbaden to visit the Christmas Market there.  Our previous experiences in the town of Wiesbaden had all been centered around the Army base there and well, lets just say we weren't impressed. It seemed as if it was a dirty and run down sort of town.  Given those low expectations, you might be surprised we even chose to go there, but it was pretty much Wiesbaden or nothing within ninety minutes of our house as many of the markets had closed for the season the previous day.

Luckily, we couldn't have been more wrong about Wiesbaden.  It turns out that it's one of the oldest spa towns in Germany (duh, the baden in the town name should have tipped me off) and it's a really beautiful city.  There are some amazing old houses, a beautiful theater and cathedral, marvelous fountains, and little rivers and streams running between and through everything.  Seriously, we should have driven past the base and into the city before this.

The market itself was set in the Schlossplatz, a main square surrounded by the Hessian Parliament building, the town hall, and the Market Church.  We wish we had been there in the evening so we could have seen all the lights turned on.  It was a beautiful setting during the day, but it would have been spectacular at night.

Okay time for a run down of the day's activities.  We started out by searching for good parking, which we eventually found on the very top level of a parking garage.  I was happy with it though because there was an elevator so we could be lazy, there was a great view of the city from up there, and the spaces were diagonal so it was easier to pull in and out of our space.  After a short walk across a pretty park we were at the Christmas market and ready to explore.  The girls were excited to see both a carousel - with two levels! - and a train.  


Okay, so maybe Natalie wasn't super excited about the train, but she did love the carousel!
Of course, everyone wanted to ride on the "upstairs" of the carousel

Sometimes when you go to a Christmas Market there is an abundance of beautiful things to see and at other markets there is lots of delicious food to eat but at Wiesbaden we found both.  Jared and I both commented during the day that every stall we stopped at was good.  There were artisanal mustards, beeswax candles, and so many things in between, so there was a lot to see and enjoy at the market.  Jared tried a pork sandwich that he quickly declared to be the best ever.  He even went back to grab another one before we headed home.

Can you imagine how beautiful one of these would look hanging in a window at night?
This stall was honey central with candles, candy, lip gloss, lotion, and even liquors made from honey.
I think everyone wanted to take a bear or two home
Nutcrackers, smokers, Christmas pryamids, and nativity sets.  There was so much packed into such a tiny little space!
Once we were sure we'd seen and tried everything it was time to head home.  We didn't actually realize that this would be our last Christmas Market for a long while until later that evening.  It was actually pretty sad to think that our time in Germany is winding down.  I think we are all grateful for the chance we've had to live the German life a little bit and are hoping that the next six months don't move too fast!


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