KB planned a day trip to the Christmas Markets in Cologne, Germany, on Monday, so a friend and I tagged along for the ride. Cologne, or Koln, has been on my list of places that I've wanted to see in Europe for a long time. Besides, who can resist a Christmas Market? We got there pretty early, so we were some of the first customers when Markets opened. Cologne is such a huge city that it doesn't have just one Christmas Market. It has 5! This one is near the center of town. 
What? A castle in the middle of the city? This is the Hahnentorburg, and it's one of the three medieval gatehouses to the city that remain standing. It dates back to somewhere between 1180 to 1220. This entrance was once used by Royal visitors to the city. 
On to the second Christmas Market. It's only a few blocks from the first one, and the crouds were starting to pick up. After shopping for a bit, we decided to walk over to the Christmas Market at the foot of the Cathedral.
The pride of Cologne is the Cathedral, or as the locals call it, The Dom. We meandered through the city streets, patiently looking for her, until finally...she peeked out at us from behind a building.
She's quite the beauty, isn't she? As impressive as she looks in pictures, she is much bigger in real life.
The pride of Cologne is the Cathedral, or as the locals call it, The Dom. We meandered through the city streets, patiently looking for her, until finally...she peeked out at us from behind a building. 
She's quite the beauty, isn't she? As impressive as she looks in pictures, she is much bigger in real life.
Time for more holiday shopping. Market #3 awaits...
Yep. That's roasted wild boar. I didn't eat any of this, but isn't it interesting? It actually smelled really good. 
Yep. That's roasted wild boar. I didn't eat any of this, but isn't it interesting? It actually smelled really good. 
Another view of the Cathedral... This is the right side.
From the front, you can really get an idea of how enormous this building really is.
The two towers are just over 157 meters tall. Did you know that the North tower is actually 7 cm taller than the South one? I'm sure that will come in handy one day when you are playing Trivial Pursuit. Or maybe Jeopardy. The base of the Cathedral is bigger than a football field!
The area in front of the Dom is a popular hang out place.
We walked around the side of the Cathedral looking for...you guessed it....another Christmas Market. Our goal was to see all of them.
The architecture is amazing. There was even a gold cross on the top.
Soon, we were on the back side of the Dom and walking down to the water front.
We found it...Market #4! How many people can say they've been to a floating Christmas Market? This one had lots of interesting things, including some antiques. 
Pretty soon, it was time to head back to the bus. We did spot the last Christmas Market (#5) on the way back, but we didn't have time to check it out. In all, it was a very successful trip, and I finished up most of my Christmas shopping. I picked up some goodies for Grandma and Nana there, too, but they will just have to wait until their boxes arrive to see what their surprises are. I'm not telling.
From the front, you can really get an idea of how enormous this building really is. 
The two towers are just over 157 meters tall. Did you know that the North tower is actually 7 cm taller than the South one? I'm sure that will come in handy one day when you are playing Trivial Pursuit. Or maybe Jeopardy. The base of the Cathedral is bigger than a football field!
The area in front of the Dom is a popular hang out place. 
We walked around the side of the Cathedral looking for...you guessed it....another Christmas Market. Our goal was to see all of them. 
The architecture is amazing. There was even a gold cross on the top.
Soon, we were on the back side of the Dom and walking down to the water front. We found it...Market #4! How many people can say they've been to a floating Christmas Market? This one had lots of interesting things, including some antiques. 
Pretty soon, it was time to head back to the bus. We did spot the last Christmas Market (#5) on the way back, but we didn't have time to check it out. In all, it was a very successful trip, and I finished up most of my Christmas shopping. I picked up some goodies for Grandma and Nana there, too, but they will just have to wait until their boxes arrive to see what their surprises are. I'm not telling.
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