Germany and Denmark

My second stop after arriving in Europe in September was Frankfurt am Main or just Frankfurt. I have to admit, when I first arrived I was disappointed. This huge modern city with it's towering skyline, noisy traffic and streets that aren't so fun to get lost on was not my idea of Europe. I wanted everything to be old and charming. Of course that isn't how it really is. Once I let go of what was in my head and found a good direction to walk everything transformed. The days were still beautiful and warm so I could take my time to find "the good stuff." I did. Historic buildings from year 794, tourist shops, boat rides on the river and of course, good food.

As much as it would have been really nice to have taken this whole trip in summer time when it's warm and sunny and the days are long, it was really lovely to see these places with twinkling lights and markets. Some snow would have been nice too, but no such luck there.

Germany at Christmas time was great. The food, the markets and the old town charm were comforting and welcoming to me after being away from home for so long, and especially since it was my first Christmas without my family. Nuremberg boasts one of the biggest and most famous of all European Christmas markets. The delicious smells of gingerbread, glühwein and smoke from wurst stalls fill the air, lights twinkle everywhere you look and there is no shortage of things to browse through. Some stalls have 'Gold plum people," figures made of prunes, figs and walnuts, other stalls have cookies, cakes and candy.. Simply put, it's magical. Apart from the market a few main attractions are the castle and the Nazi history.

A very long train ride led us to beautiful Denmark. More specifically to Kolding. Some family friends live there and were the reason we stopped. The cute little city offered us nice walks, a little accidental adventure and some much needed down time to relax. Very near to our hotel was a recreation centre with an excellent pool and hot tub.

Copenhagen was exciting right from the get-go. As with most places, we got a bit turned around when we arrived and it took us a good long while to find our hostel. From that point everything was pretty great, unless you ask Chad about it, he never wants to hear fireworks ever again. Copenhagen overflows with history. The 2 oldest theme parks in the world there, one (Tivoli gardens) even inspired Walt's Disneyland. Churches, palaces, museums, streets and squares tell stories, the harbour holds The Little Mermaid for Hans Christian Anderson and one of Europe's largest pedestrian shopping streets holds a delicious Irish pub that we enjoyed.. several times..
Spending NYE here was a bit crazy. Fireworks were exploding literally all around us, thousands of people gathered anywhere and everywhere they could and everyone has a good time.
One of the most stand out parts of this city was Christiania, a Freetown within Copenhagen. All I can really say about it is wow. I can't explain it well because I don't understand it entirely, but it is essentially a town with it's own rules, flag, people and walls. Everything about it blew my mind.
Look it up.

Here is a little something I found in that delicious delicious Irish pub.

The drinkers prayer


The horse and mare live 30 years,
And do not know of wines and beers;
The goat and sheep at 20 die,
And never taste scotch or rye;
The cow drinks water by the ton,
At 15 life is almost done;
The dog at 14 years packs in,
Without the aid of rum or gin;
The modest sober bone-dry hen,
Lays eggs for years and dies at 10;
But sinful ginful rum-soaked men,
Survive 'til 3 score years and 10;
And some of us, the mighty few,
Stay pickled 'til we're 92