7 New Year’s Resolutions for Experiencing Germany

7 New Year’s Resolutions for Experiencing Germany

1. Shop at German food stores. Perhaps try to shop for your groceries there for a full month. Strive to always try a new item not found in American food stores.  

2. Find and take a cheap flight somewhere! Check out our Tips on Booking a Cheap Ryanair Flight. Find a free long weekend and book a destination that has the best price! You will discover and explore a new place that you normally would have not chosen. Or for the more daring, go on a Blind Booking flight with Germanwings. Here you book your flight at random with one low fixed price, starting at 33 euro! You are able to select a category of what type of trip you would like to take, and then you find out your surprise destination at the end of the booking.  

3. Gather your flip flops and take a beach holiday next year! Beaches in Europe can be a different experience than the ones we are used to in the States. Catch some rays in mainland Spain, one of their many Islands, or even discover the beauty of German beaches! 

4. Feel the speed of an ICE train! Travel to a new city on a fast German ICE train while sitting back and relaxing. Have a croissant and sip some wine. They even have Saver-tickets with starting at 29 euro when you travel within Germany.

5. Plan an epic road trip! Pack the car with drinks, food and plan your gas stops with the Esso Fuel finder. Travel on famous routes such as the German Romantic Road or do it the old fashion way and just grab a map and go!   

6. Explore your own town. Small villages have amazing charm and history just waiting to be discovered. See where the locals go to, perhaps a park or lake. Join them in the local pub or family owned restaurant. Like they say, strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet! 

7. Learn new German words. Learn more than the basic vocabulary, or phrases like ‘Wo ist der Bahnhof’ but rather words that will help you be more a part of the conversation.

Here are some ideas:

Exactly – Genau

Maybe – Vielleicht

Nice – Schön

All right – Alles klar

Great! – Toll!

Fine – Prima

Fantastic – Fantastisch

Likewise – Gleichfalls

Doesn’t matter – Macht Nichts

No difference – Ganz Egal

All is well – Alles Gut

Fabulous – Fabelhaft 

Happy New Year from the Jersey Broad Abroad! 


Author’s Profile: Gemma is a mom, a veteran and an Army civilian living in Wiesbaden, Germany. With New Jersey roots, she is enjoying her extended European vacation.

 

Czeching out the Prague Christmas Market

Czeching out the Prague Christmas Market

Prague is an incredible, stunning delight for all those who come to visit the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. Located in the breathtaking Old Town Square, going to the Prague Christmas Market is an elegant and charming way to celebrate the Holiday Season!

Tourists from around the world and also locals come to this square to take in the beauty and see the bright lights in the market. If you feel that you have conquered your German Christmas Market bucket list, then visiting this market is a perfect idea and you will feel their version of the Christmas spirit. It is also open until the 3rd of January! 

Visiting Prague’s Old Town Square anytime of the year is an incredible site to see and now seeing the square dazzling in Christmas lights just takes the experience to the next level. Twinkling lights flicker on the illuminated stone buildings while hovering above is the dark skyline of Prague’s gothic architecture.

In the same square, on the wall of the Old Town Hall and one of the main attractions all year round is the Astronomical Clock. I’ve seen astronomical clocks before around Europe but this one is my favorite by far. It was installed in 1410 and it is the 3rd oldest in the world… and it is the oldest one that is still ticking! There are many moving pieces to the clock but my favorite is the skeleton (death or Grim Reaper) that comes out and strikes the time on each hour. Even though Mr. Reaper was not wearing a Santa hat when he came out, this clock is most definitely a part of the Christmas Market experience. You are also able to walk up the many steps of the Old Town Hall to get a bird’s-eye view of the market! 

 
There were many items for sale in the beautifully decorated, rustic looking wooden stalls. They had items like hand-carved wood, fine jewelry, lace cloth, puppets, colorful candles and Christmas tree ornaments. The stalls take Czech Koruna, so be sure to take out some money ahead of time. I bought an Astronomical Clock magnet for my fridge. (Score!)  

In the center of the market they have a platform with steps you can climb to view market and take a great photo! This is a very lively part of the market because many people were going up and they even had a band playing underneath.

Food and Drink

There was a separate area for drinks, which I thought worked out really well because it kept the flow of traffic around the shopping stalls moving well. You could quench your thirst with famous Czech beers like Pilsner Urquell but warmer drinks like mulled wine might be a better option for cold nights in the square.

Sausages and hot grilled food was available but the star of this market is the Trdelník! This is my favorite Christmas Market treat hands down. This traditional Slovak pastry is made from rolled dough that is then wrapped around a stick, grilled on open flames then topped with sugar and a walnut mix. They have many stands for Trdelník around the market. The one I had was right off the stick, warm soft and also came with a complimentary warm punch! It was so filling that I skipped dinner and didn’t eat for the next 6 hours. 

Try it yourself at home! Trdelník Recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/trdelnik-slovak-czech-sweet-pastry-165166


The Prague Christmas Market runs from 28 November 2015 - 03 January 2016.

Address: Staroměstské nám., 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic

Author’s Profile: Gemma is a mom, a veteran and an Army civilian living in Wiesbaden, Germany. With New Jersey roots, she is enjoying her extended European vacation.

Along the cobblestone streets of the Idstein Christmas Market

Along the cobblestone streets of the Idstein Christmas Market 

Stepping into the beautiful old town of Idstein always feels like a mini-vacation or perhaps that I am walking into a movie set. The Christmas Market is held for only 3 days, so I knew that I could not miss to see what this picturesque town looks like with a splash of Christmas on it!

Last time I was in Idstein, it was shortly after Halloween and I went up the Witches Tower alone! Now the pumpkins have been swapped with Christmas trees and the hanging ghosts are now red shiny balls.

The market is located in the old town square and it spreads out on a few small cobble streets that surround the center. Every market has its’ own character and this one seemed to focus on enjoying comfort food while taking in the charm of the old town.

There were so many delicious options and everyone seemed to be eating! This is a small market but with the many vendor options there were no long lines for the food and drinks. The food that we saw was all very tempting warm Christmas fest food. They had thick stews, hot dogs, steaks and fresh baked breads.

I saw some great shopping stalls, while the stores were open and were very busy. The shopping stalls had mostly modern goods for sale compared to other markets I have recently been to. I think it is great to have this variety among the Christmas Markets because some might prefer modern gifts while others enjoy handmade ones. 

 

The Idstein Market had two big rides for kids to go on, which of course we went on both about 3 times each! Both were fast with fun music and of course every time she went by on the train we had to high-five!    

They had a living nativity scene set up! They encourage you to come into the manger and you can also touch the feathers on the wings of the beautiful angel. The shepherd even had real sheep and donkeys you can pet. 

We went on some fun rides, had a nice walk through the old town and also bought a few goodies to take home. So it was time to leave this enchanting town. I love how you actually enter and leave through the archway of a tower!

The sights and the smells of this yummy fest gave us a craving for some Christmas comfort food! So we went home and made gingerbread men, just like we saw at the market!

Granted, ours didn’t turn out as pretty as theirs, but they sure tasted good! Here is a link to the recipe we used: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1031634/german-gingerbread-lebkuchen

Author’s Profile: Gemma is a mom, a veteran and an Army civilian living in Wiesbaden, Germany. With New Jersey roots, she is enjoying her extended European vacation.

Eltville Christmas Market: Gluhwein on the banks of the Rhein

Eltville Christmas Market: Gluhwein on the banks of the Rhein

One thing I have learned from my time in Wiesbaden, is that the people in the Rheingau know how to throw a party! The Christmas Market in Eltville is no exception! The picturesque cobblestone streets surrounding the castle, turns into a very special Christmas market for only one weekend each year. With wine too of course!

In our 8 tips for the German Christmas Markets, we mentioned to look out for the markets that only are occurring one weekend in December. This is a perfect example! If you don’t mark your calendar, you could miss the weekend of one of your favorite towns. I have been to so many summer wine fests in this town, I was very determined to check out their Christmas Market. Boy was I glad I did!

Every market has it’s own character or specialty and what made this market special was the art! There were so many gorgeous stalls which all had handmade arts and crafts for sale!

Every table and stand was such a delight to discover and look at. I could have bought so many things that we saw…okay I wanted to buy everything!!

I loved the diversity of all different handmade crafts. They had everything from wood, clay and beeswax crafts. Also if you were feeling cold and you forgot your scarf, they had wonderful handmade pieces available!

The market wraps around the church on small streets then into a courtyard. Garage doors that are normally closed all year are now opened for the public to display local crafts.

This is the Rheingau so of course there is wine tasting!

By the time we made it into the courtyard, it was getting dark which made the stalls around the square look so beautiful.

The cash I took out was going fast! Next year I will bring more and perhaps a wagon for all my goods!

 I always love to support the local stalls that are at the markets. The money goes to local clubs and charities. We bought some bags of homemade cookies and they were delicious! I might even bring them into work and tell everyone that I baked them…

One very interesting vendor had various flavored mustard from honey, to pineapple to tomato! They had pieces of bread so you could sample the different mustards.

We were about to leave then I saw that a very cool wine cellar had their doors open. Since this is such a great opportunity go to inside and look around, I just had to go in.

A large room that normally stores wine and winery equipment was transformed into an art gallery of beautiful photographs from the Rhengau.

I really thought we were leaving the market until we saw a delightful Christmas village set up! It was decorated as an alpine ski lodge. So we went in to have a hot kinderpunch. 

Coming to the Eltville Christmas Market, I thought it would be a regular market and we would just have a bite to eat. However, it turned into a magical night and we had an absolute blast! This could be my favorite market that I have been to and next year I will come back again no doubt! 

About the author: Gemma is a mom, a veteran and an Army civilian living in Wiesbaden, Germany. With New Jersey roots, she is enjoying her extended European vacation.

Wiesbaden on Ice: Skating in the city

Wiesbaden on Ice: Skating in the city

The Eswe Ice Skating Rink is the Wiesbaden version of New York City's Rink at Rockefeller Center! Nestled between the Wiesbaden Kurhaus and Kurpark, this Ice Rink is the perfect place to go skating in the city!

Thinking of home

Growing up in the New York City area, when you first see that The Rink at Rockefeller Center is open, it really put you in the holiday spirit and you know that Christmas is just around the corner! I loved to watch the skaters getting lessons along the outside with a death grip on the railing, or the show-off's in the middle doing triple axel jumps. It is people watching at its best and also in its most graceful form. Then if you decide to hit the ice yourself, you feel the mixed emotions of pure exhilaration and terrifying nervousness of the possibility of flipping onto your back!

Time to try skating in beautiful Wiesbaden

When I saw the banners for the Eswe Ice Skating Rink hanging in Wiesbaden, I knew I had to check it out to fill the missing Rockefeller Center void in my holidays this year. Perhaps because of Hollywood movies influence, there is something romantic and cozy about ice skating in city parks. This rink offers the city ice skating feeling and also the inviting atmosphere of an Alpine ski lodge. What a wonderful combo!

The food and drink area is like a small Christmas Market. They have vendor stalls outside and also a sit down restaurant that is decorated like a ski lodge! It was so inviting and warm inside, I could sit there all night. However, there was skating outside and I was so excited to get on the ice!

How it works

The first ticket booth is where you pay for your wristband to enter the rink (4 euro) and also if you need, your skate rental tickets (4,50 euro). You can also give them a deposit for a locker key to store your belongings in. You are allowed to leave your shoes in an area, but if you brought a purse then you would want to lock it up for sure. So I had my tickets, then I went to the second booth to get our skates.

Time for the ice
Just like riding a bike! ..or um, an ice skate in this case. I haven’t ice skated in a year, but it all comes back to me like I do it every day. But really, this is such a great stress reliever and a great way to clear your mind. Here I was zipping around on the ice, bobbing and weaving through people and only an hour before that I was planted in my office chair staring a computer screen.

I was skating with my 4 ½ year old daughter as well and they have a great helper for kids available! They have a couple of very heavy penguins that slide along with your child and act as a walker on ice. This is a great way for kids to build their confidence and strength. We named him after the famous penguin cartoon, Pingu!

After my skating fun in Wiesbaden I definitely feel more in the holiday spirit! It may not be ‘home’, but after all they say, ‘home is where you hang your heart’. <3

About the author: Gemma is a mom, a veteran and an Army civilian living in Wiesbaden, Germany. With New Jersey roots, she is enjoying her extended European vacation.