Today we woke up and we were docked about 30 miles outside the small town of Freiberg, Germany. Our "included" excursion today was to travel by coach to this quaint town, get a short walking tour and then enjoy the Christmas Market for about an hour. We could continue with "free time" or at 11 am we could go to the cathedral for an organ concert. First inclination was to skip the concert, but honestly by 11 we really had little else to do so we went and it was great. So glad we went. Here are the highlights of a great morning....and just a word about our guide, Jack - who was from Wales (with a very thick accent) .... he was the best guide of the trip. Very informative, very funny, and always kept everyone entertained from start to finish.
Freiberg City Hall
The massive cathedral constructed in the 1300's
The cathedral door / main entrance. Just LOOK at the detail - all carved by hand.
And note how symmetrical the two sides are. Just amazing.
Gargoyles were all over the outside of the cathedral....but check out the highlighted one...
YES, he has his rear end turned towards the town, and the legend says the architect who was designing this was not paid by the businessman funding this particular part of the cathedral so the rear end faces THAT guy's home across the square LOL
Freiberg Christmas Market scene
Another Christmas Market stall
SOOOO excited today - been looking for socks (it's my new "thing" to get socks that are themed to the trip for every adventure over the last many years) and could never find them. Then lo and behold as we walked into the Christmas Market (see banner above) one of the first stalls sold socks! These are themed to the Black Forest which is right outside town - and we were there in 2018 when I got my hand-made cuckoo clock there.
Christmas Market Stall Selling SOCKS!
The massive cathedral organ (and we found out later there are FOUR organs in the cathedral!)
Cheers to Mulled Wine
Freiberg Highlights
We returned to the ship just in time for lunch at 12:30 and at 2 pm Khloe and I were off to a distillery tour to discover how schnapps is made - and a tasting! The trip there was relatively uneventful and when we got there the Quiet Vox sound system didn't work. The "guided tour" was only about 20 minutes without anything of significance. The tour of the distillery was interesting and the schnapps was very tasty. But then we had over an hour to walk around the very small town, with no Christmas Market where most shops were closed. Was NOT the highlight excursion of the trip :)
Welcome to the schnapps distillery
PRETTY tasty my friends!
Schnapps ALL The Way Around!
Not only do I have the memories & photos....but picked up a couple of cups & trinkets :)
Well, we were told last night it would T-E-N degrees today as we walked around Strasbourg. When we woke up this morning EVERYTHING was covered in a blanket of several inches of snow....AND the tree branches were coated with frost and/or snow. You simply could not have created a more picturesque setting and for the most fairy-tale like city on the itinerary. Just really set the Christmas mood and was EXACTLY why you come on a Christmas Markets adventure! It was cold, and we did walk through snow. But, fortunately the first 45 minutes of the excursion was a panoramic bus tour of the suburbs. We walked for about an hour and a half through the old town and then had free time. We had asked at the Guest Services desk last night for Mike & LuAnn to be in the same tour group as we were, knowing there would be free time. So we found a quaint little French cafe - how appropriate - and the girls had Irish coffee while Mike had hot chocolate & French Cheesecake while I had an éclair. We had about a half hour left before meeting our guide - who was excellent by the way - and so we strolled the Christmas Market. Unlike yesterday there were many stalls to purchase Christmas items and we all did a little shopping and guess what else I purchased......oh, you know me too well - Gluhwein in a souvenir glass! So here are the M-A-N-Y photos from the day......so many idealic Christmas scenes; the Christmas Market; and the TALLEST cathedral in all of Europe. Check out our day in photos........
Step off the ship and into a "Winter Wonderland!"
Can you tell we are on a Christmas Markets cruise? So postcard, picture perfect!
NOT just a dusting of snow to walk through today.....no, REAL snow-covered walks!
Sites From Strasbourg
One of the more interesting buildings on the panoramic bus tour - the Hall of Justice which is constructed to look like a cruise ship!
"La Petite France" facing this way......
"La Petite France facing that way.....
"La Petite Selfie" :)))
An example of a home built hundreds of years ago in the "gingerbread style"
The windows on this 700-year-old home has THE ORIGINAL glass (like soda bottle bottoms) windows still intact!
The narrow streets of the Old Town lined with the fairy-tale, gingerbread wooden homes
Christmas Markets
TOWERING over the main Christmas Market - and noteworthy that the OLDEST Christmas Market in Europe was right here - is the massive cathedral of Strasbourg
THAT is where you get it (the gluhwein of course)
And so I DID! That's seven unique Gluhwein glasses/mugs to display as part of our Christmas decorations at home :) - one more Christmas Market tomorrow!
The "Fearsome Foursome" framed by the unbelievably HUGE cathedral
One final "snow shot selfie" to commemorate a great day!
At this evening's "Port Talk" not only will we find out more about our final stop tomorrow in Breisach, Germany but sadly, we will be given details about our imminent disembarkation procedure in Basel, Switzerland the following day. And this will be MOST interesting to Khloe and I because our first flight LEAVES Basel at 6:30 am - so just HOW early are we going to have to be up and off the ship? YIKES!
Despite the fact that we really didn't do alot today, it was a wonderful day. We opted - because the temperatures were in the low 20's and to go on the morning excursion you HAD to stay in town for 2 1/2 hours - not to go to see the closed Christmas Market. Khloe took advantage of the long, leisurely morning to catch up on sleep and I spent the morning in the lounge with Mike & LuAnn. We shared lunch together and then at watched the countryside sail by in the afternoon. Arrived in Speyer, Germany around 3:30 and we were off the ship at 4 pm for a brief walking tour of the town and the Christmas Market. To be honest, even though it was in the low 20's none of us were that cold. We enjoyed the brief tour and when given the opportunity to browse the Christmas Market we quickly found that E-V-E-R-Y stall was either Ghluwein, food, or both. Not a single stall with any Christmas ornaments or decorations. So it didn't take us long before we headed back to the ship - a 20 minute walk. Kudos to Khloe for the directions back without a single wrong tour. We had a wonderful dinner again, the four of us and then when dinner was over it was time for what we assumed was a Christmas Tree Decoration program where we'd be able to personalize an ornament and add it to the tree. OH but it was so much more - a son and DANCE competition where the three of us (Khloe opted not to participate - talking with her Mom) finished third. But it was a good team effort. A great day. And the scenery - as you'll see in the photos - truly a winter wonderland. Tomorrow supposed to be a chilly TEN degrees when we tour Strasbourg, France - and the all the way to nearly 50 when we land the next day!
Scenes from cruising along the Rhine - ALL day long like this
Cruising this afternoon - love the "winter wonderland" snow-covered scenery
View of our docking area out our window - WOW - for a Florida guy, that's really magical at this time of the year
Could you have painted a more "winter wonderland/Christmas theme" scene for our walk into the quaint town of Speyer, Gerymany?
Speyer Beer Garden Restaurant on the waterfront
First view of the Speyer Cathedral
Medieval city gate tower
Speyer Cathedral Inside view
Speyer Cathedral outside
Speyer Christmas Market Merry-Go-Round
The Christmas Market
Literally E-V-E-R-Y Christmas Market stall was either mulled wine, food, or both - NOTHING to buy that was a Christmas trinket/ornament, etc.
Well, duh....yes, of course I got MY mulled wine & souvenir cup
