A real Christmas Cracker: the hidden heart of Germany

Over the last few years, the European idea of the Christmas Market seems to have captured the imagination of the British public.  And yet some of their most beautiful markets, those in the Thüringen region of Germany, are often overlooked.  This wonderful hidden heart of Germany really does have much to offer the visitor, and particularly at Christmas time.

I was lucky enough to recently stay in Erfurt, which is an excellent base for exploring this region.  The Medieval old town centre is easily discovered on foot, but there’s also a great network of trams, busses and trains to other nearby towns if needed too.  In the run up to Christmas, Erfurt boasts a beautiful traditional Christmas market which is one of the largest in Germany, receiving approximately two million visitors a year.  Situated in Domplatz at the heart of the old town, the market is overlooked by the majestic St. Mary’s Cathedral and is stunningly illuminated of a night time, with a traditional big wheel affording great views over the lit-up market.  Traditional crafts and decorations are on offer, as are Bratwurst sausages, Langos fried bread and Heiße Maroni – or as we know them, roasted chestnuts!  What better way than to while away a sociable evening with a Glühwein or two around a blazing fire pit?!

The Erfurt Christmas Market awaits us!

The Cathedral looks down over the market

A spectacular view from the big wheel

Nearby Eisenach, which can claim Bach and Martin Luther among its famous past inhabitants, also has a lovely Christmas market.  Although smaller than that of Erfurt, the market has a wonderfully cosy atmosphere, and after a day spent exploring the cultural delights of the newly-extended Bach House, Martin Luther’s House or the Richard Wagner collection at the Reuter-Wagner Museum, it’s an excellent place to meet and relax with friends.  From Eisenach, it’s also just a ten-minute drive up to the stunning Wartburg Castle.  Perched high above the town, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is a beautifully preserved Castle dating back to 1068, and was once the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary!  As well as being a wonderfully interesting place to visit, during the advent weeks it’s also home to a gorgeous little Medieval Christmas market.  Here you’ll be able to buy traditional fruit wines, sample some great German baking and listen to medieval musicians!

The Eisenach Christmas Market

Wartburg Castle

Traditional market stall holders at Wartburg Castle

Apart from the wonderful Christmas markets in Thüringen, this region of Germany is also famous for glass blowing and blown-glass Christmas ornaments.  We were lucky enough to visit two glass producing concerns in Lauscha, a small town within the Thüringen forest: one was a large glass blowing factory, manufacturing everything from vases through to wine glasses, and the other was a small family run shop which specialised solely in beautiful Christmas ornaments and had been in the family for six generations of glass blowers.  We even got the chance to have a go at making our own baubles, and proudly toted our (slightly-wonky!) decorations home with us!

Proudly showing off my Christmas bauble!

Thüringen really is such an interesting, beautiful part of Germany and is slightly off the beaten track, too.  Having said that, it’s easily reached with Lufthansa flights directly from London Heathrow, Manchester and Dublin to Frankfurt, and is then just a train journey away.  Whether visiting during the run up to Christmas, or at any other time of the year, there really is something to please everyone, from Bratwursts to Bauhaus!  Put Thüringen, the hidden heart of Germany, at the top of your Christmas list next year!

Greet the hidden gems of New York City: your personal tour of the Big Apple

In April 2011, my (then very new) husband and I were lucky enough to visit New York City for the very first time.  The Big Apple was somewhere that both of us had wanted to visit for as long as we could remember, and what better time to take our first trip than on our honeymoon?!

When you mention to anyone that’s already been to New York that you’re going, you get a deluge of ideas for sightseeing, eating, viewing and enjoying.  While our friends and family all came up with various great suggestions, the one that stuck in our mind the most was applying for a Big Apple Greeter.  In Britain, this is a service which is unfortunately not so well known, which is a shame as it’s something completely different to the rest of the offerings available to tourists.  Friends of ours had used the service some years prior to our visit, and they couldn’t rate it highly enough. 

So what are the Big Apple Greeters all about, I hear you ask?  As their website, www.bigapplegreeter.org, states, with a Big Apple Greeter you see New York through the eyes of a New Yorker.  A volunteer service since 1992, native New Yorkers act as a tour guide of the city, showing visitors their neighbourhoods and giving them an insight into places they might not otherwise have found.  The tours are also ‘private’ in the sense that there is one guide per couple or small group that apply – no struggling to hear the tour guide above the rabble of a huge group!  Therefore, as our friends spoke so enthusiastically about the service, we decided to apply for a Greeter for our first trip to the city.

Unfortunately, the amount of Greeters is outstripped by the demand (which in itself shows how popular it is!).  We wouldn’t know if we’d received our Greeter until we got to our hotel, and so it was with much excitement that we read the fax waiting for us upon our arrival in our hotel’s reception.  We had our Greeter!

On the morning of the 19^th April 2011 we met with our Greeter, Clyde, in our hotel lobby.  Most Greeter tours are scheduled for the first couple of days of your trip, and with good reason: it’s a good way to orientate oneself, and Clyde also showed us how to use the Subway system on our trip over to his native Brooklyn.  For this we were most grateful, as it gave us the confidence and understanding to use the Subway to get about town for the rest of our trip.

Clyde showed us around Brooklyn Heights, and explained the different types of houses in the neighbourhood.  We also took in the magnificent Manhattan skyline for the first time from the promenade, a sight truly to behold!  Unfortunately, the skies were overcast and there was a light drizzle in the air, but this didn’t dampen our spirits as Clyde steered us to an umbrella shop and we continued on with the tour! 

Our first view of the famous NY skyline, umbrellas in hand!!

We saw some more of Brooklyn and also popped into a visitors’ centre before jumping back on the Subway to Manhattan.  Here we visited the trendy Meat Packing District and walked up to Washington Square Park, with delights such as the Magnolia Bakery, featured in Sex and the City, along the way.  As well as hearing the history of such sites first hand from a native New Yorker, it was really nice to exchange pleasantries and discuss the similarities and differences between the USA and UK with one of our friends from across the pond!

At the end of the tour, Clyde kindly pointed us in the right direction of a bus to take us to the New York Public Library and Grand Central Station; although we had always planned on visiting Grand Central Station, we may not have come across the New York Public Library and its grand interior without our Greeter’s help.  This was the end of our fantastic 3-hour tour – what a way to see parts of New York which are off the beaten track! 

Sadly, as the Big Apple Greeters is a not for profit organisation, it relies on public donations.  At the end of our tour, we were more than happy to send a donation to the organisation, and we hope that other visitors to the Big Apple that are lucky enough to use their services are also in a position to help them out.  Anyone that is fortunate enough to receive a Big Apple Greeter can guarantee that they will have one of the most interesting tours they could wish for, and all for nothing.  I hope that the organisation will be able to provide Greeters to other visitors of the city for many years to come.