Nov.26/27th, 2021
Finally after two years and tons of Covid paperwork, tests, shots and booster shots we’re heading back to Europe. We found out after we had booked our tickets and all our hotels that Austria totally closed down again. Lucky for us this trip was kind of just relaxing and mostly just excited to go back again. Most of the places we’ve been to already so we knocked off Austria and added a few other places in Germany we’d been to.
We decided to go back to Rothenburg which is a Christmas town year-round. The day before we left all Christmas markets throughout Europe were closing again this year because of Corvid. It’s still pretty Christmassy around here and we’re still in Europe so we’re just going to see a few things we haven’t seen and just enjoy and make the best of it we can! We’ve always thought snow at Christmas especially in Europe would be so cozy and romantic…well there’s snow in the forecast so we’ll see! We flew from Saint George Airport into Salt Lake City and then from Salt Lake we flew to Amsterdam about a 10-hour flight. From Amsterdam it was an about an hour flight into Munich. Flying business class and being able to actually lay down to sleep really made a difference! We picked up our rental car and decided to drive over to Therme Erding Spa just to make sure it was actually open. We heard it was but we thought we better check first. We had to get another Corvid test before going in which is a 15-minute wait after the test. You use the app to check in but it was in German. We finally figured it out but we were standing in the cold that took about half an hour. After all that we checked into our hotel and then headed back to the spa for the evening. It is the best thing to do after a long day of travel and standing in the cold! We came back to the hotel and went to bed after two days at 10:30pm and slept like a rock it felt really good!
Sunday Nov. 28, 2021
We ate breakfast at the hotel then headed to
Zurich Switzerland. There’s 80% chance of snow after 2pm. ❄️😃 We should be there by then and the only thing
on our itinerary is the Lindt Choc. factory so we are free to explore whatever.
On our way to Zurich we were pulled over in a small town by the Swiss police. They have a light bar with a banner that kept saying something like pull over!? (In German) We’d never seen that before!? I kept trying to read it from behind. Finally they put their lights on so we pulled over. They only spoke German. They wanted our passports, corvid ID, and our Swiss cards, and they looked in the trunk. Luckily for us we had all our stuff in order and on us. They left after that.
They kept saying something about why we didn’t stop? We figured out later while talking about it and driving. We thought we ran a stop sign but they...I think wanted to know why we didn’t stop with the banner light sign and only did once they turned their lights on. So our conclusion was if that was the reason what did we do to even get pulled over in the first place? Well…in Switzerland the police don’t need probable cause to pull you over. Probably just saw that we had German plates and wanted to make sure we had everything we were supposed to have?? Fun experience.🤪 At least we didn’t get a ticket. We got one in Italy once and what a pain that was trying to figure out how to pay it. We finally did but a few years later we got a notice saying we never paid it and there were fees added! We happen to be talking about it with our estate lawyer and he said I’ll take care of it for you. That was handy!
The Lindt Chocolate factory was really fun!
Monday Nov.29th 2021
It started to snow this morning. We ate breakfast then walked over to the train station to the Christmas Market there. We headed just outside of Interlaken about a 2 1/2 hr. drive. It’s so beautiful out. We got to our hotel, it’s right in the Alps and so beautiful! We ate dinner and went to the pool and Spa in the hotel.
Tuesday Nov. 30th 2021
We woke up early ate breakfast in the hotel then headed to the Matterhorn. We drove down the mountain then got onto a train ferry with our car. We didn’t know that’s what we were doing. I guess it takes you only 11 miles then you get off. Another adventure! After the ferry we drove a bit further and caught the train into Zermatt. It’s a walking city only, so you leave your car at the train station. We walked around the small town. It was kind of a cloudy day so the Matterhorn was in the clouds you could still see it but not as clear as on a clear sunny day. It’s a 2 hour drive back to the hotel and we didn’t want to drive in the snow in case it decided to start snowing again. We went to the spa and pool then ate dinner in the hotel. We’re right in the middle of the Alps and it’s absolutely beautiful!
Wednesday Dec. 1, 2021
We went down to the infinity pool outside with beautiful snowy Alpine views. We ate breakfast in the hotel and we decided to stay in the little town that we’re in so we walked around town for a bit everything was closed for lunch for an hour so we decided to take the gondola up to the ski resort. We went up there for a while it was absolutely beautiful sat down in the resort restaurant and had hot chocolate. We just sat and relaxed just to enjoy the view it’s so beautiful!
Thursday Dec.2, 2021
We ate breakfast in the hotel and
headed to Thun Switzerland which is only about 18 miles away.
It was raining and cloudy so it
was hard to get clear pictures. We kept saying “I bet this place is beautiful
in the spring and summer!” We stayed long enough to walk up to the church and
the castle. On the way to Basel there was an accident which delayed us for
about 45 min.
Once we got into Basel we had the hardest time getting to our hotel! The streets are intertwined with trolley buses and it’s a free for all!! It was horrible. We walked around the Christmas market and ate dinner.
Friday Dec. 3rd 2021
We had a great sleep and walked towards the Christmas markets again. We had pastries for breakfast and headed to Baden Baden Germany for two days!
Baden Baden is on the edge of the Black Forest in the southwest of Germany. It dates back over 2,000 years, this area was first discovered by the Romans because of the thermal waters running underground. It became know as the place to visit for all things luxurious. Kings and Queens came for the Thermal Spas. Today it's still the Thermal Spas, Michelin-star restaurants, and high end entertainment. Things aren't cheap here but it's sure fun to shop.
It was about an hour drive we stopped for lunch and arrived at our hotel. We walked around town and to the Christmas Market. It was all so lit up for Christmas and beautiful. Unfortunately all of the Christmas markets in Germany are being shut down because of Covid. Luckily for us this was the last night for the one in Baden Baden it was beautiful. We bought some ornaments for family and a Christmas pyramid for Chris. He asked us to get him some kind of Christmas decoration he could put on a table. It was 30% off because it was their last day so it was a great deal. We had hot chocolate in Baden Baden mugs. We have to get tested at a Covid booth every 24 hours to be able to get into the Christmas Market any stores and restaurants. It’s really kind of a pain. Especially when you don’t speak the language very well. I think we finally have it down though! We ate dinner at the Porter House Grill it was pretty good.
We slept in and it was felt good! We ate breakfast in the hotel and headed over towards the old town the Cathedral and shopping in Baden Baden.
We spent a lot of time walking around and shopping. We went into Tresor Rare and spent way to much money but I felt pretty spoiled! The girl that was working with us Chaya was super sweet. She’s lived all over the world. We now follow each other on Instagram. She was really fun to be around. Oh and by the way a great salesperson.
We walked back to our hotel and had to get tested for Covid again since it only lasts 24 hours and you need to show your Covid code to get into restaurants, shopping and pretty much everything else. We walked across the street to the same Italian restaurant we ate the last time we were in Baden-Baden. It was pretty good. We went to the Caracalle Therme Spa for four hours. Very relaxing and we slept great!
Sunday Dec. 5,2021
We ate breakfast at the hotel and headed to Trier Germany about a 3 hr. drive. It’s a new town we haven’t seen. Looks really cool from what I’ve researched but probably no Christmas Market this year. Christmas is very much still in the air in Germany though!
After lunch we arrived at our hotel. It’s a local hotel very cozy and cute! I bought a metal rustic reindeer candle tea light holder in the hotel lobby. They had a lot of things they were selling that were Christmas themed. We walked over to the Christmas market they have two we found out they were open. We were excited about that! We walked around then went back to rest back at the hotel. We walked back over to dinner then went to the hotel spa and saunas. It has a nice fire pit. Enough to make you fall asleep it was so relaxing!
Monday Dec. 6, 2021
Ate breakfast in the hotel then
headed to Stuttgart Germany. So far so good on Christmas Markets being open. I
know for a fact Nuremberg and Munich are closed this year.
Christmas starts early in Germany.
On the night of December 5th-6th, Nikolaustag, St. Nicholas Day,
children leave their shoes or boots outside the front door. That night, Santa
Claus, Nikolaus, visits and fills them with chocolates, oranges and nuts if
they've been good.
Dec. 5 is also when the “ Krampus”
come! We’ve only seen them once in Munich we happen to be there on the 5th. That
was the first time we’ve even heard of them or knew what they were. They are so
creepy.
Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure in Central and Eastern Alpine folklore who, during the Christmas season, scares children who have misbehaved. Assisting Saint Nicholas, the pair visit children on the night of the 5th of December, with Saint Nicholas rewarding the well-behaved children with modest gifts such as oranges, dried fruit, walnuts and chocolate, whilst the badly behaved ones only receive punishment from Krampus with birch rods.
We drove to Luxembourg since it was so close we’re going
to check it out. It’s a country on its own. It borders France, Germany and
Belgium. It was so foggy we decided to just head to Stuttgart. It took 3
and 1/2 hours.
We walked over towards the center
of town. The Front desk said that yes the Christmas markets were closed but
once we got down there, there were a lot of little stalls with Christmas stuff
they were selling and it was super Christmassy still. There was not as much as
we had seen before but it was still fun to walk around. It was cold and we had
walked a long way so we took a taxi back to the hotel. We ate dinner in the
hotel. Michael went to the sauna but I was so tired I went to bed. Good thing
the beds were amazing. I slept from about 8:30 pm till 8 am!
With covid, traveling is a pain we
had to have a covid test every 24 hours to enter shops and restaurants and any
tourist sites. In a few cities like Trier you were good with your passport,
vaccination shots and a booster. In Stuttgart we are good with the above but if
you don’t have the booster it’s a test every 24hrs again. It’s a little
different in each Canton in Switzerland, and State in Germany. We are heading
back full circle to Munich our last stop is Rothenburg.
Tuesday Dec. 7, 2021
Pearl Harbor day!
We ate breakfast in the hotel it was so good. I think they had everything you could eat for breakfast. The hotel was very nice our room was a suite and it was huge. The beds were so cozy. We are heading to Rothenburg, Germany today. It was only about an hour drive but then there was a huge delay on the autobahn because of an accident! All the trucks have to stay in the right lane and the cars in the left lane but way over to the left. Now it makes sense four ambulances and a couple police cars went flying up the center. We stayed dead stopped for 3 1/2 hours!!!!
We finally made it to Rothenburg and checked into our hotel. My FB memories reminded me 8 years ago on this exact date we checked into the same hotel! This town is Christmas all year round!! We went to dinner at “Ratsstube.” We walked around town just a little because most shops closed at around 6pm and it was cold.
Wednesday Dec 8, 2021
Woke up to a dusting of snow it was so pretty. It turned into rain so not the best weather but it’s such a beautiful place! We ate breakfast in the hotel then walked around Rothenburg for awhile then headed to Munich for four days. A 2 1/2 hr drive.
Checked into our hotel in Munich. We were
hungry so we went to dinner then the hotel pool and saunas. Tomorrow we’ll head
down to Marienplatz to walk around and shop.
Thursday Dec. 9, 2021
We slept in! It snowed last night. We headed to downtown Munich Marienplatz. We ate lunch at Zum Durnbrau. We love this place and always eat here when we’re in Munich. It’s cold and the snow turned into rain so we shopped all along Marienplatz.
My boots have seen their day and the heel came off. Michael bought me some new boots. They were a bit expense but should last me the rest of my life!😂🤣 We ate dinner at the Westin across the street.
Friday Dec. 10, 2021
Slept in and it felt great! It’s
cold but a sunny day in Munich so pretty. We headed into the town of Erding to
get brunch at a little cafe we’ve eaten at before. We walked around the town
for a bit then headed to Erding Therme Spa for the evening.
Saturday Dec. 11, 2021
We slept in again it’s cold and
snowing on and off. We sure got our wish of snow at Christmas time in Europe!
Loved it but glad to be heading home again. We went back to the spa in
Erding before heading to the Hilton at the airport in Munich Our flight leaves
at 7am so all we have to do is walk over to the terminal. We got another covid
test before we left the spa which should last another 24 hours.
Sunday Dec. 12, 2021
Left the Hilton at the airport in
Munich and walked over to the terminal. We left at 5am our flight left at 7am.
The hotel was super nice. It was an hour flight to Amsterdam then 19 hours to
Salt lake. I’m spoiled now flying business class its so nice! We had a 9 had
layover in SLC lucky for us we got on the 4pm flight instead of the the 10:45.
An hour flight home to St. George can’t wait I’m so tired and with all the
covid mess it made it such a pain. We still enjoyed Europe but it was a
challenge this time. Plus we’re sooo excited to see our sweet little puppy. We
thought of her constantly. I know we are so whipped by her!
Hilda at the airport! Do female cows have horns??
