German Christmas Markets - 2009

I spent last weekend with friends in Cologne, Germany, to once again experience the magic of the Christmas markets. We had a blast, and drank mulled wine, and shopped till we dropped. In Cologne, the major (and nearly only) attraction is the Dom Cathedral when the Christmas markets aren't going. We had seven markets to choose from, and we made it to four of them. We made several trips to a couple of them. All of them were so pretty, and lots of fun, with shopping and culinary temptations a plenty. Unfortunately, we had some rainy weather for the first two out of our three days in Cologne. We pulled our hoods and hats on and got through it, though. Mulled wine helped lift our spirits. The highlights of the trip for me were 1) walking over the Hohenzollern bridge at night toward the beautiful cathedral, dramatically lit and looming larger and larger as we approached and 2) watching my buddies ice skating. I didn't even attempt, because I had the strangest feeling I'd end up in the hospital, stranded for Christmas. It was probably more fun watching, anyway. Here are some photos: