We flew Condor from the Seychelles to Frankfurt because that’s the only direct flight to Germany and we really didn’t want to connect through either Istanbul or Dubai. The flights all leave Mahe late at night (10 PM or later), making the connections at 0 Dark 30.
After flying for 10 hours, the Condor flight landed on time and our body had a small weather shock. It was about 85 F when we left the Seychelles and it was 32 F when we landed in Germany. What was Mark wearing?? You guessed it – shorts! One flight attendant looked at him and said, “I hope you have pants packed someplace.” He did!
Our luggage with all our summer and safari clothes actually showed up and we managed to have some coffee before we met the Lufthansa shuttle to Heidelberg. The room was ready when we showed up at 10 AM and our suitcases with winter clothes (We’d left them in Heidelberg with friends.) were waiting for us! By the time we sorted out dirty clothes and found warm clothes, the snow started. The Christmas markets are pretty magical when everything is white, even if it was wet snow. When we wandered back to the markets in the evening for some more gluhwein (Susan’s favorite!), the snow stopped and was all melted!
Snowy Heidelberg shopping street
Snow at the Christmas Market in Heidelberg
Mark has melted snow flakes on his face from all the wet snow. Yes, we were having a dunkel beer to warm up! And he’s wearing the U. of Iowa scarf to stay warm.
It’s always nice to see familiar faces and this time we enjoyed meals with 2 different sets of German friends. The first night (after we managed to get our clothes washed!) we met Joachim at Heidelberger Kulturbrauerei for beer and dinner. The sauerbraten was really good, and the side dishes were enough for all to share. Their November beer was good even if we drank it in December!
Christmas wreath at Kulturei Brauerei
The second night after a day of shopping for supplies, we met Bettina, Michelle, and Hermann for gluhwein at the Christmas market and dinner at the Zum Güldenen Schaf. It was a fun night with the gang who’s being so kind to store our suitcases and clothes so we don’t have to take them all with us everywhere!
This Christmas pyramid was on the main square in Heidelberg. There were at least 5 different market locations in the city, including one with an ice rink.
We were all trying some Gluhwein. It’s pretty hard to hold the cup with mittens on.