Part three of our Christmas market adventures continued with Kevin’s arrival! He arrived on Thursday shortly after we said a bittersweet goodbye to Kaylee.
While Jeff finished his day at the office, Kevin and Amy set out to visit the castle ruins in Kaiserwerth. On our way, we caught a beautiful sunset over the Rhine and followed that with a view of the castle, a walk through the countryside, and Kevin’s first introduction to the Christmas markets at the teeny market in Kaiserswerth.
We made our way back to the apartment, met up with Jeff, and hit the town. We took Kevin on a quick market tour, which included a stop at the dancing Christmas tree, then met our friends at our favorite market in Altstadt. We enjoyed a fantastic night on the town, sipping hot glühwein, cracking jokes, wandering through the markets and crowds, and ending the night at a local brewery.
On Friday, we gave Kevin the official rainy-day Düsseldorf tour, which included a view of the Rhine, the twisted church and palace tower, the outdoor market, mustard tasting, and of course, a stop for hot chocolate to warm up. This time Amy tried the cinnamon and milk chocolate combo (which tasted just like Christmas), while Kevin sampled the milk chocolate, and Jeff stuck with his usual white chocolate. We continued our tour of Düsseldorf, eventually making our way to our delicious Raman joint for dinner (we’re going to miss this place!), followed by an evening of playing games and watching Jeff’s favorite Christmas movie, A White Christmas.
We woke early on Saturday, ready to catch the bus to the Netherlands to explore another set of Christmas markets. This time the markets would be in a cave! Against our better judgment, we tested our luck with FlixBus and thankfully it worked! The bus arrived both times and we didn’t have to take a train or stay the night in a random city! Phew!
We arrived in Valkenburg, excited to finally see the cave markets. How were they going to look? How big were the caves? What would be the same? What would be different? Does the Netherlands’ glühwein taste as good as the German’s? So many questions!
We started our journey at the Sand Sculptures in Winter Wonderland, where artists had carved out a variety of large sand sculptures based on Arab folktales, including Aladdin. We were third in line and had the cave to ourselves! It was the perfect way to admire the detailed structures!
Next up was the Municipal Cave (the largest and oldest cave at the market) followed by the Velvet Cave. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Romans began mining the ground for marl, which they used as building material. Over time, the caves continued to be mined and were eventually used as shelter for several individuals throughout history. They were a place of refuge for those fleeing during World War II, as well as a secret passage, a shelter against bombardments, and even a field hospital for those fighting against the Nazi party. The walls of the caves contain art from different generations, providing a story of its past, including an altar and pulpit that were used by Roman Catholics in the 1700s (during the French Revolution) as a place to worship in safety and secret.
We enjoyed the silly Christmas décor hidden in the nooks and crannies as well as the “carnival” style market stalls, and random goods for sale. Overall, we give this market the award for the most unique atmosphere, but the least exciting merchandise.
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| The "secret" church |
Following these two main caves, we hiked up the hill to the MergelRijk cave, the last market in Valkenburg. The MergelRijk cave is full of miniature figurines and houses, including a special miniature nativity exhibit, large sculptures carved from marl, including a life-sized scene of Rembrandt’s Night Watch, and a dinosaur adventure area (this one didn’t match the Christmas theme, but it was still fun). There was even a room where you could take a crack at carving your own sculpture in the marl. Do you like our Christmas trees?
With our underground adventure complete, we took one last stroll through the city and to our bus stop. While heading back to Maastricht (where FlixBus was picking us up), we realized we could check one more country off of Kevin’s list if we just stayed on the bus a little longer. So, of course, that’s what we did. We took a bus to the border of the Netherlands, hopped out and walked to Belgium. Why not visit three countries in one day?
We followed our trip to Belgium with a ride back into the city, where we wandered through yet another Christmas market. We found “Dickens' Village,” not at all what we were expecting, tasted glühwein in the Netherlands, and enjoyed tremendous people-watching at a local döner shop while eating our dinner. As our departing time approached, we made our way to the FlixBus stop, relieved when the bus actually arrived on time and that it got us home safely. Maybe FlixBus isn't so bad...
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| Because Dutch kids don't ride their bikes enough??... |
If you come to Düsseldorf at Christmas, your visit isn’t complete without a trip to Cologne, so naturally, that’s what we did on Kevin’s last day. We caught the train to Cologne and spent the afternoon and evening wandering the streets of the city, checking out the cathedral, brewery, and markets. We collected a few more gnome mugs (now we’re ready for a U.S. glühwein party!) and showed him the fiery feuerzangenbowle. We stopped to enjoy the live Christmas music and watched wide-eyed as a Santa Clause motorcade zoomed by. We savored one last German brat and flammkuchen for dinner and ended the evening at the apartment staying up too late, playing games and listening to Christmas music. Too much fun!
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| Santa parade! |
This Christmas season has flown by, but it was exactly what we wanted. Our goal for the season was to soak in the magic of the Christmas markets, and that’s precisely what we did. We enjoyed our visit to eight different markets (so far, there may be more in Italy!) and cherished the time we spent with family and friends. The simplicity of Christmas, the beauty of the markets, and the joy that comes with all of it will forever be one of our favorite memories from Germany!
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