Rewind: Regensburg Christmas Market

I'm obviously in catch up mode, you guys.  I'm bringing you back to the holidays and to the Christmas Market in Regensburg.  We'd visited Regensburg last Fourth of July weekend and had a blast.  What a wonderful city!  We couldn't wait to go back.  Our friends, the infamous Finch Family, live about 25 minutes (by train) from Regensburg.  The train station is literally minutes away from their house, so it was so convenient to hop on the train with strollers and Sina in a Kelty backpack and instantly be in one of the most beautiful backdrops for a Christmas market. 

Ruckin' it!

Train Ride!

It wasn't as big as Stuttgart or Strasbourg, but I think that's what we loved most about it. No outrageous crowds, not too spread out. But the setting was lovely, cozy, and oh, the food was dee-licious!

Here's a disclaimer before I go any further:  The pictures aren't the greatest.  We went to this market at night and I take horrible pictures at night time.

The market is held annually in the Palace of the Saint Emmeram--a former Benedictine monastery dating back to the 11th century, turned royal palace to the House of Thurn and Taxis in 1748.  The Thurn and Taxis family is evidently one of the wealthiest families in Germany.  Why not?  This family was responsible for establishing the imperial postal system in Europe (starting in Italy), which paved the way for the creation of an international postal system at the turn of the 16th century.  I wish we'd had a chance to tour the palace during normal hours because even at night, you can see the place in all its splendor.

This was just outside the palace entryway, where there were booths mostly selling jewelry, ornaments, liquor, and other fine local wares.

When we got there, there was already a crowd gathered in the courtyard.  Notice all the people looking upward...there was a choir singing Christmas carols from a balcony overlooking the courtyard.  And the crowd was singing along...so were we, only in English.  Also notice the gorgeous, giant Christmas tree in the center of the courtyard.  Sina was in complete awe.  It was all so surreal.

As I said earlier, the food was fantastic.  There were so many things to choose from, which is absolutely ideal when you are completely famished from not having eaten hours prior to arriving in downtown Regensburg.  Of course, we had to have some brats.  But I found a booth selling this...

I need to make a note to scribble down the names for the things we eat because I want to call this goulash, but am not 100% sure.  This was a mixture of sauteed vegetables, sauerkraut, German noodles (I want to say this is dampfnudle) and some beef.  Interestingly, they served this up in waffle bowls with garlic cream sauce.  OMG...heaven!

Needless to say...we spent a good part of the night standing and walking around, snacking on whatever we could find.  Everyone always claims that I get them mid-bite in photos.  Guess they're right.

After eating, we took a walk around the grounds and scanned some booths.  We were mostly on the look-out for ornaments, but didn't really find any that we liked.  However, we did get our hands on some good schnapps liqueur.  I think we got some in raspberry.

After about two hours, we were back on the train with our exhausted little ones.  Sina just sat in her seat in a daze until she finally decided she couldn't keep her adorable little eyes open anymore.

My two darlings.

The Christmas lights around post finally came down sometime last week.  Until then, Sina would always yell "Christmas tree!" ("Tee tis tee") everytime we passed by one.  I miss the holidays and can't wait until next year.  My mom is thinking about joining us, and I am beyond thrilled about that.  Speaking of next Christmas...I've been taking advantage of all the sales on Christmas stuff for the past month or so.  Everything is slowly trickling in through snail mail and now, I've got a new Santa cookie plate and mug set and The Elf of the Shelf book and elf set for Sina, with more stuff to come!

But ugh..11 more months to go!

Hope you guys enjoyed this flashback with me.  I'm going to try to post about our MLK weekend trip to Bavaria next.

Happy Tuesday!

Edit: One of my German readers (I know!  I can't believe I have a German reader!  How exciting!) was kind enough to email me to let me know that the noodle dish that I had that night is called schupfnudel, which are thick, pan-fried noodles.  Now I know exactly what to look and ask for the next time I go out for fest food!  Thanks, Simone!

Regensburg {Pt 2}: Good Friends, Good Eats

Finishing up on our trip to Regensburg with the Finch Family over the 4th of July weekend....the city sits along the Danube River (in German, it's Donau), Europe's second longest river.  One of the first things we saw as we entered the city, was the Old Stone Bridge (or Steinerne Brucke), which was built from 1135-1146.  This medieval bridge crosses the Danube and is said to have been crossed by knights during the Crusades on their way to the Holy Land.  Interestingly (and kinda creepy), most ancient bridges have devil-related myths or folktales applied to them and are termed "Devil's Bridges".  Click here if you're interested in the tale associated with Regensburg's Old Stone Bridge.

The Danube is also known for its whirlpools, but I forget why.  I think it also has to do with the devil folktale.  We saw the whirlpools too!  Can you see them behind me?

Kinda nervous about falling into the water behind me!

Right next to the Old Stone Bridge is the historical Wurstkuchl, the oldest sausage tavern in the world--500 years old!  You can't really see the sign on top of the building (which isn't all that big either) that's behind Malu, but that place serves up the most delicious wurst (with sauerkraut) that I've ever had.  They even a specialty mustard that is out of this world!

Love the sneek peek of the cathedral behind Malu.

Look at all that wurst (sausage)!

Gettin' our grub on! Love the look on Sina's face. (Me & Sina with Mattie, Eric & little Madisen)

Malu and Mattie.  Delicious!

In the vicinity of the cathedral are tons of shops and restaurants.  Right across the street are these colorful buildings. 

There's an ice cream parlor (or eis cafe) that we just had to stop at.  I mean, what's wurst without dessert, right?  Check these out.  I think I was the most excited about this.  I mean, I. was. in. heaven.

Obviously this one is mine.  It was a whole bunch of chocolatey, hazelnutty goodness.



 Mattie and her Spaghetti Eis...noodle like ice cream with strawberry sauce.  Yum!



The boys and their goodies!

Aside from enjoying the sights, tastes and sounds of Regensburg...we just had a fantastic time catching up with our good friends. 





 Sisters for the weekend!



Thanks to Eric, Mattie and little Madisen Jewel for being such gracious hosts.  We can't wait to go on another trip with you guys!  Where to next?

Another weekend again!  What are you going to be doing?

The Churches of Regensburg

On the 4th of July, we didn't get to see any fireworks, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely in the company of our friends, the Finch Family, on a visit to the city of Regensburg.  The Finches are stationed not too far away from Regensburg, which is in southeast Germany in the state of Bavaria.  The last time we were in Bavaria was when Malu went to drill for the first time two months ago.  I love Bavaria.  I've heard Germans refer to Bavaria, jokingly, as the back country; as if it's a bad thing.  The truth is that Bavaria really is farm country.  It is soooooo beautiful!  It's much more open and green.  And let's face it, Bavarians are much more friendly than Swabisch Germans.  People welcome you with open arms and warm smiles in Bavaria. 

I'll be honest...I'm much to tired at the moment to go into details about Regensburg, so I'll let you guys Google it (or click on the big, bolded Regensburg above).  What a great city!  We saw so much in a such a small amount of time.  A lot of people we've met here say that once you've seen one church or castle in Europe, you've seen them all.  I've seen loads of churches and castles already and I never tire of them.  Each and every one is unique.  The churches of Regensburg are no different.  They were so fascinating and take-your-breath-away amazing.  We went to three churches.  There are probably more, but we didn't have time.  Check these out.  I took tons of pictures, but had to narrow them down to a few favorites here...

This is actually a cathedral, built in the Gothic style of the 11th century.  The Regensburg Cathedral, or Dom, which is dedicated to Saint Peter and is the most important and landmark church of the city.  Inside the cathedral are magnificent stained glass windows as well as a crypt that is the burial place for some prominent bishops.  A wall in the crypt bears the names of bishops of the Regensburg diocese.

The Finches told us that just about every city/town in Germany has a church or chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary (they are obviously more well-read on Germany than we are).  We did know that you could find churches in the oddest places.  This chapel dedicated to Mary was literally on street corner, amidst a shopping area and is about the size of our living and dining rooms (although this church has vaulted ceilings).  If we were on our own in that city, we probably would have zoomed right past this church and thought nothing of it.  Apparently, the statue of Mary in the middle of the chapel is a life-sized version of her(if this is true, she was really petite).  There was a wall at the back of the small chapel where people posted letters to the Virgin Mary with fervent prayer requests and praises.  Some people hung pictures of loved ones.

 The Collegiate Church of Our Lady, or the Alte Kapelle (Old Chapel), is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.  The entire place is gold plated.  I stared at the frescoes the way I did when I visited the Vatican years ago. It was that beautiful.  While we were there, there was a service going on.

I dare you to tell me that you're not completely blown away by these churches.  Even these pictures don't do the churches justice.  I wish all of you could see them in person.

I still have more pictures of Regensburg that I'll be sharing tomorrow, so stay tuned!

One more work day, then the weekend!