Christmas markets!

Last weekend, December 1st-2nd, my friends and I had a double date christmas market weekend! Christmas markets are a huge deal here in Germany and last the whole month of December. They have stalls offering hand made ornaments and things like that, awesome food, and gluhwein- which is "mulled wine" or hot wine - and its fantastic, and helps keep you warm! we went to Nurnberg christmas market on Saturday the 1st. It is the biggest in Germany and the most famous in the world, so it had to be done, but it was not a favorite. It was lovely, but extremely over-crowded. We couldn't see any of the stalls or enjoy any of it because the whole market was essentially a mosh pit of asians and over weight tourists. It was a nice day and i'm glad I checked it off the list but I wouldn't go back. 

The next day, Sunday, we decided to go to Guteneck christmas market - which I have heard wonderful things about from friends here. It was about an hour away from where we live and the drive was beautiful with all the snow on the trees- its a winter wonderland over here! This christmas market is mideval themed and at the base of a castle. Many people were dressed in Mideval attire, and It was not crowded at all. It was the best day ever. I want to live there. As you will see in these photos- we had way too much fun. The boys rode camels!

A Saturday ride.

Winter in Bavaria generally begins in early October so I am trying to squeeze in as much time on my bike outside as possible before it's too cold! I know of a few routes here that I generally use but I wanted to do something different today so i went in the opposite direction I normally go in. Normally, I go from Netzaberg toward Eschenbach and Speinshart. Today I went toward Graffenwohr and Pressath. It was a bit cold but nice enough. The trees are all turning and it smelled like fall. The trail was awesome, mom would have loved it. It was generally flat and gorgeous. The Germans are very good about having bike paths in place as alternatives to driving. I went all the way to Pressath and back. It was about 18.5 miles round trip and I really enjoyed it! I think i'll do it again!