Winter Wonderland… and SNOW!
The last week or two has only been about one thing – Christmas markets!  Well 2 things actually, the other is heading south to find some warmer weather.  If your author likes rugby and tank museums, his lovely travelling companion is a Christmas junkie, she just can’t get enough of it!  Europe has been in the grip of an unseasonably cold snap with temperatures more than 6deg lower than usual at this time of the year so we’ve had to accelerate our southward journey however more on that shortly, let me start where we last left off…

We only had one night in Liverpool plus a few hours the following morning and didn’t arrive until after the sun had well & truly set – which is actually not all that late, we’re approaching the shortest day of the year and it’s daylight here from only around 8am to 4pm each day.  Few people will argue that Liverpool’s most famous export is The Beatles so off we went to see what we could learn.  The venue most synonymous with these 4 lads from Liverpool is The Cavern Club where they played 292 times over 2.5 years from Feb 1961 (yep, that’s once every 3 days on average!).  These days it’s been rebuilt following an earlier closure and partial demolition however the famous brick archways are still there and it’s a wonderful little venue for listening to live music… which we did for a couple of hours or so 😊.

As winter approached the lovely Anita began telling me about the silly Christmas jumpers people wear in this part of the world.
“there’s no way you’ll get me wearing one of those ridiculous things!” I politely explained.  But I did have to admit you see quite a few of them around.
Following the Cavern Club we got chatting with a group of Birmingham police officers in town for their Christmas party… and one of them was wearing a Christmas jumper.  This particular garment contained a very grumpy looking Grinch, the famous Dr Seuss character that some say I have a certain affinity with (your author will point out that such comparisons are, in his opinion, unkind and spurious, nevertheless…).  A short time later and with an emboldening drink or 2 on board, I spy Anita chatting with the nice man and asking where he got his jumper, and a moment after that he and I are swapping jumpers right there in the pub.  So now we each have a Christmas jumper, Anita’s is red with a reindeer and mine is green with the Grinch.  Happy days!

The cold snap had well & truly hit by this stage but the next morning dawned fine, crisp and clear.  We were parked around a ten-minute walk from the Albert Dock, the beautifully rebuilt waterfront containing a bunch of museums, food vendors, apartments etc.  The one stop we had time to make was at the Slavery Museum which explained how Liverpool was at the hub of the slave trade for around 400 years.  Vessels would depart the docks full of products for export into Africa, once the cargo was delivered the ships would be refilled with slaves which had already been rounded up ready for transportation.  The ships would then deliver the slaves to USA or the Caribbean before completing the triangular journey with goods exported from USA back to Europe.  It was a hugely profitable enterprise. and the city and its merchants built considerable wealth literally off the backs of African slaves.  The museum was a little muddled and hard to know which direction one ought walk, however the story was told well enough and we came away with a much better understanding of this most shameful chapter in the history of the western world.

Our two-day haul back across England was punctuated by a lovely catch up with the friends we had made in Warwick.  The Cape pub was as cosy and friendly as we remember it and it was a treat to stay the night again with Sean and Gill.  Next morning Sean was kind enough to play uber driver while we got a few last-minute supplies of things which are difficult to obtain over on the continent.  The drive between there and Dover was long and slow, the M25 loop road around London has a reputation as a parking lot and it didn’t disappoint!  We arrived in Dover close to 2 hours later than estimated and meant your author missed the first 20 minutes of the football world cup which he has enjoyed following.  Nonetheless it was still nice to spend the last evening in England having a pint, watching some footy and making new friends who’s first language is the same as one’s own!

The next morning was a pleasant sailing to Calais followed by a drive of 200km or so back to Schilde, just on the outskirts of Antwerp.  The kindness of our friends, both old and new, has been an amazing part of this trip and Tom, Caroline and family are top of the list of many good examples.  We are always warmly welcomed and have a great time catching up and hanging out.  We head away each time fed and watered with clean laundry and Harvey vacuumed.  Antwerp was also the venue for our first European Christmas market (although we had already been to 3 over in the UK and Ireland).  The Travelling Woodies had visited central Antwerp once before, during a heatwave in July (in fact the day before the infamous bicycle accident in the same town).  It was an absolute treat to see the same town square and CBD again but this time clad in all its winter finery – the markets and Christmas lights were just beautiful, and we lost track of the time wandering and exploring.

At this point your author feels it is appropriate to hand the quill over – although he has very much enjoyed the Christmas Markets, the real passion for such activities lies in the pink corner…

Hi it’s Anita here.  I have resisted writing up until now as it is Dave’s passion and I’m just as happy in the editor seat.
As many of you who have followed our travels so far will be aware, this trip has involved a large number of visits to the following:
-      WW1 sites and museums
-      WW2 sites and museums
-      Tank museums
-      Sporting events – rugby and football, live and televised
Now I will say that I have enjoyed all of the above, and particularly the WW1 history and the live rugby games.  I love learning about a place and seeing how the events occurring there have shaped and influenced its people.  And I also love the buzz of being at a live event, especially when the All Blacks are winning!
However the quid pro quo was always that I would get to spend a couple of weeks visiting Christmas markets.  Although I was born in NZ, I’ve always felt there is a small part of me that belongs in the northern hemisphere, and a cold wintery Christmas certainly feels right.  And so the last few stops have been focused on wrapping up warm and venturing out to enjoy the Christmas lights and the festive spirit! 

We have now been to five markets in five countries and each of them has been absolutely delightful.  I will try and summarise the differences and my favourite things about each. 

1.   Antwerp, Belgium.  As Dave mentioned above, it was lovely to be back in Antwerp and to see it in winter after having enjoyed it in 30+ degrees in summer.  The Christmas lights were gorgeous here – all the buildings were properly decked out and the main town square was just spectacular.  The food stalls were a treat and we had our first proper taste of gluhwein.  This is a warm spiced red wine with orange where you can choose to add a shot of rum, Cointreau or other liquor.  It warms you right through which has definitely been necessary!  The craft stalls here were a little disappointing, a lot of mass manufactured goods rather than the little artisan sellers I was hoping for.  There were several areas of the markets, our favourite being the one with the view over the river.

2.   Next stop was Aachen, Germany.  Germany is traditionally where the Christmas markets originated and there was a real buzz at this market.  It was a Monday night but all the locals were out and about, enjoying gluhwein and bratwurst.  Unfortunately I ended up with a cold and virtually no voice but this wasn’t about to prevent me from visiting my second market!  The specialty of Aachen is printen, a spiced gingerbread which of course had to be sampled.  The stalls here were definitely more authentic and I ended up with two very cute hand-made reindeer.  On the way home while waiting for the bus we encountered a group of people having a dance lesson outside.  We were invited to join, but, having a combination of four left feet, we decided to leave them to it.

3.   Luxembourg, Luxembourg.  This was the one market we did in the daylight.  Reading the weather forecast a few days out we realised that some very icy weather was on its way.  Like -12 degrees cold.  And whilst Harvey had been coping to date, we really didn’t want to risk frozen or burst waterpipes.  So we needed to compress our time for visiting markets in order to head south as soon as possible, which meant visiting two markets, cities and countries in one day.  Luxembourg had my favourite gluhwein, quite spicy and delicious!  To commemorate we kept two of the souvenir cups to drink from.  We also managed to find takeaway fondue which was the perfect hot cheesy treat.

4.   Strasbourg, France.  This is the oldest market in France (dating back to 1570) and being right on the border has a very strong German influence.  The market was right in the shadow of the enormous Cathedral, the bells of which were ringing as we walked through into the area.  It was truly magical and felt like Christmas proper had arrived.  Unfortunately the trams were delayed and so we had far less time here than we had hoped, as the markets closed at 8pm and there was football to watch.  It was also freezing and by the end of the evening, had started snowing.  Walking home with the snow crunching underfoot was the stuff of movies, and then snuggling up in Harvey under blankets with hot chocolate to end the evening.  No snowballs were thrown as Dave isn’t foolish enough to start something that would only end badly for him.  Next morning involved Dave on the roof of the motorhome (with strict instructions to not fall off) scraping off snow and ice in order for us to be able to pull the slides in and venture off.  Harvey has excellent heating in the cab which we were very grateful for.

5.   Basel, Switzerland.  This was the last of our five countries and for this blog and it was probably my favourite.  After waking up to ice on the inside of our windscreen and 2deg inside Harvey (!), some serious defrosting was needed before we were off.  Basel is a beautiful town and there were excellent crafts at the markets, again in the shadow of the cathedral.  There were two separate areas of the market and it took us a while to find the second but some happy wandering took us there.  We ate traditional rosti – Dave loves how so many of the meals in this part of the world revolve around sausage, ham and cheese!

Our final Christmas market is still a week away in Barcelona so I’ll have to update you on that next time.  Sadly the photos don’t really do justice to the markets but hopefully you will get the picture.  Harvey is now starting to look a little like Christmas with lights and a few decorations.  Apparently these aren’t interesting for most people reading the blog but I’ll try and sneak a photo or two in. 🤶🎄❄⛄

Much love to you all and a very merry Christmas season! 

Christmas greetings from the travelling Woodies!

an oil rig in the Irish Sea a sailed past

Albert Dock, Liverpool

the famous Liverpool jumper swap

my new friend is also name Dave

Anita wins, Dave has a Christmas jumper!

A lovely evening with our Warwick friends!

It's Christmas market time :-)

the main square in Antwerp - a little different looking from last time we were there!

nice pose!

what happened to your legs?

a frosty morning start in Antwerp

drinking mulled wine :-)

plenty of stalls to visit at the markets

winter wonderland!

a friend suggested we visit the Lancaster Memorial in Luxembourg, 2 of these aircraft were shot down during WWII and one crew was made up almost entirely of kiwis. Thanks MJ, it was great to visit a memorial with kiwi connection

Harvey's overnight stop in Vianden, Luxembourg

if the carpark is full, Harvey can pass for a bus if required :-)

nativity scene at Luxembourg Christmas market

famous gold statue in Luxembourg town square

snow in Strasbourg!

picture postcard in the town square, Strasbourg

welcome to the Christmas markets!

Harvey will need de-snowing in the morning!

Basel Christmas markets - our 5th different country in Europe after Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and France

2deg inside Harvey when we woke up, along with ice on the inside of the windscreen! (there was supposed to be a power hook up where we stopped but it wasn't working so there was no overnight heating. Doesn't take long to shaw him out in the morning 

stunning winter scenery!

diving south to escape the cold!