Köln Christmas Market

Köln Christmas Market

We woke up Sunday morning, finished loading the last bag or two and headed off to Köln. We arrived in the afternoon, got a map and started wandering. Köln is a big city with lots to see and seven different Christmas markets scattered around the city. Each one has its own theme and the first one we came to was an Angel Market. It was very pretty and rustic with lots of white lights and a hand carved Christmas crib (nativity scene). Colin found a carousel to ride and we got a smoked salmon sandwich from a booth there that was delicious. The salmon was smoked on planks right up next to an open fire and you could watch it being cooked. We all three ate it up pretty fast and I couldn’t shovel it into Colin’s mouth fast enough! Every Christmas market you go to has its own ceramic mug with a unique design and the name of the town. Whenever you buy a glass of glühwein (hot mulled wine) it always comes in the mug and you can either keep the mug, or return it for the deposit you paid on it when you got it. We have a tradition of collecting these mugs from each market that we go to, but I discovered that each of the seven markets in Köln has its own mug design. I didn’t need to get seven mugs, so I had to decide which market’s mugs were the best and I ended up with just two. It started snowing while we were there, which made it even more beautiful. There is just something magical about strolling through a Christmas market, booths all decorated with evergreen branches and lights, musicians playing carols, and snow falling. One of the markets was right on the Rhine and had a nautical theme. Docked there in the water was a giant ark and you could pay to go inside and tour the art exhibit on the ship which housed thousands of wood carved animals. We decided not to go in but it sure looked awesome.

Colin decided to start singing Christmas carols on Shelby's shoulders as we were walking around. His movie of choice lately has been How the Grinch Stole Christmas and as Colin would say "the nice Grinch, not the scary Grinch" (meaning the cartoon, not the Jim Carey version). He started singing "welcome welcome Christmas is here" over and over (from the cartoon Grinch movie) and I had to take video. He was doing it much better until I whipped out the camera, of course, but you get the idea.


After closing down the markets and a stop at Starbucks we walked back to our hotel to relax and get some rest. About 1:45am Colin decided to get out of bed and walk around in the dark. Shelby heard him and was just about to tell him to get back in bed when we heard a “thump” and then cries. I flew out of bed to check him over and he had fallen into an end table/nightstand and taken it right to his eye. The skin was not broken and his eyesight appeared to be ok, so after some cuddling he went back to bed. Momma however was too worried to sleep and spent the next two hours lying in bed listening to him breathing to make sure there was no concussion or injury. The next morning poor kiddo awoke with a nice black eye, just as I expected. We ate breakfast at the hotel, stopped in for one last cup of Starbucks and then hit the road for our next stop.