Bremen Christmas Markets

My husband and I recently visited Bremen, Germany, for its charming Christmas markets.  Bremen is in northwest Germany, about 180 kilometers east of Groningen, and is very accessible by public transit.

This time of year, the town is popular for its Christmas markets (known as "weihnachtsmarkt") - one of which is in the city center (De Bremer Weihnachtsmarkt) and one of which is on the Schlachte Embankment along the Weser River (De Schlachte Zauber).  Bremen also has art museums, a lovely historic area, a gorgeous central square with a monumental town hall, and is also well-known as the intended destination of the traveling donkey, dog, cat, and rooster from the Brothers Grimm tale The Town Musicians of Bremen (for more information, see the Wikipedia article on the Town Musicians of Bremen).

It was very easy to get to Bremen from Groningen using the Public Express, which is a charter bus service that offers several rides per day between Groningen and various destinations in Germany, including Oldenburg and Bremen.  We took an early morning bus, so that we could have a full day in Bremen, and come back to Groningen at night, thus saving the expense of booking a hotel room.

After catching the bus at the Groningen Centraal Station, we had a relaxing bus ride (about 2.5 hours) to Bremen's Central Train Station.  Upon arrival, we perused the central Christmas market, where there were all sorts of Christmas gifts on offer - from ornaments to special German candies - and sampled some Glühwein (a German version of mulled wine).

After perusing for a bit, we stopped by the Bremen Tourist Information Center (Bremen Touristik Zentrale) to meet up with a tour guide for a 2-hour walking tour of the city.  Despite the cold and rainy weather, we still managed to enjoy our tour and we learned a lot about the city's history.

After our tour, we headed over to the Schlachte Zauber Christmas market, which has a more historical feel due to the old-fashioned wooden huts housing the Glühwein merchants and gift shops, traditional musical performances, and workers dressed in period costumes.

After a long day of walking, shopping, and drinking Glühwein in the cold winter weather, we boarded our bus ready for a nice long nap on the way back to Groningen.

Here are some photos from our day in Bremen:

The Hauftbanhof, Bremen's Central Station

One of the ubiquitous Glühwein stands

The central square, with Christmas market in foreground and the Rathuis (city hall) and St. Peter's Cathedral in background

Central Christmas Market

An aerial view, taken from the ferris wheel

Chocolates for sale

More candies for sale

Statue of Roland on the main square

Statue of Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten (the Town Musicians of Bremen)

While the above statue is the most famous, there were many other Stadtmusikanten statues to be seen throughout Bremen.

 

A charming neighborhood near the Schlachte Embankment -
this photo shows an extremely narrow alleyway,
through which everyone had to walk single-file

The Schlachte Embankment

One of the historically-themed huts at the Schlachte Zauber Christmas market. This one sold a variety of organic breads.

This one specialized in various meat products.  I opted for the more vegetarian-friendly falafels across the street.

Hut with vendor in historic costume

The specialty at this Glühwein hut was "Glühwein mit rum"

Mugs full of Glühwein mit rum

A Weekend Trip to Apeldoorn

My husband and I recently visited Apeldoorn, which is a Dutch city about 90 kilometers east of Amsterdam, and the Kröller-Müller Museum in De Hoge Veluwe (a national park near Apeldoorn).

We had a fantastic time staying at the very charming Hotel Abbekerk in Apeldoorn, seeing a symphony orchestra perform the Lord of the Rings soundtrack in Apeldoorn's Grote Kerk, and visiting the Kröller-Müller Museum with its large collection of works by Vincent van Gogh and extensive sculpture garden.

As usual, we found it very easy to get to and from Apeldoorn and to and from De Hoge Veluwe and Kröller-Müller Museum, thanks to the excellent transit system.  Apeldoorn is less than 2 hours by train from Groningen, and the city center is a very short walk from Apeldoorn's train station.  From the Apeldoorn station, one can take Bus Line 400 (direct on weekends) to the Kröller-Müller Museum in just under half an hour.

Here are some photos from our trip:

Hotel Abbekerk

Apeldoorn's Grote Kerk at night

The New Romanian Symphonic Orchestra in Apeldoorn's Grote Kerk

Visiting Oranjepark, one of Apeldoorn's beautiful parks

Meneer Jacques by Oswald Wenckebach, greets visitors at the entrance to the Kröller-Müller Museum

The entrance to the Kröller-Müller Museum

Before venturing out into the sculpture garden, we enjoyed a light lunch from the museum restaurant, Mr. Jacques,
which had several organic and vegetarian items on the menu.

Just a few photos from the museum's huge (25 hectare) sculpture garden. We could have spent an entire day in the sculpture garden, if not for the rain.

The Kröller-Müller Museum, as seen from its 25-hectare sculpture garden

Echo van de Veluwe by Chris Booth

Concetto spaziale "Natura" by Lucio Fontana

Jardin d'émail by Jean Dubuffet