German Christmas Tour: Day 13 - Erfurt

We woke up early this morning in preparation to debunk to Erfurt on a 9:42am ICE. Whilst the kids and I got the bags together and completed checkout, Katrina treked off to Cafe Seel to grab some pastries for the trip. Giving ourselves plenty of time for the long luggage drag to the train station, we decided to make the walk just a little longer by going via Maximillian Platz - a much nicer route. We had half hoped that our favourite coffee guy would be there next to the christmas market and, praise be to jeebus, he was! We stopped and drank one last amazing capacinno before continuing on to Bamberg Hbf.

The popup coffee guy - best coffee in Bamberg!

Soon we were racing towards Erfurt on our 40 minute ICE ride. There were a few tense moments when the app for Katrina's Eurrail pass refused to work, but in the end the conductor told us not to worry. Of course as soon as he walked away, the app complied. We'll see if we have the same issue tomorrow!

In Erfurt just 20 minutes later, we checked into our rooms (which were actually ready at 11am go figure) and then ventured out into old town for a look-see. Our first port of call was the famous Krämerbrücke (merchant's bridge) that has shops built along both sides and is home to all kinds of artists and artisans. We spent time browsing the shops and even bought a trinket or two.

The Merchants’ Bridge (Krämerbrücke)

In need of caffeination, our next stop was the much recommended Cafe Füchsen; quite the student hangout by all accounts. I had a coffee made with spanish espresso - and very nice it was too. We all felt much recharged after our caffeinne injection. I had a nice conversation in broken german/english with a nice old German lady as I waited to pay. A really nice moment.

Cafe Füchsen with its spanish espresso.

Energised, and with half an hour still to kill before our lunch reservation, we headed to a couple of other old-town landmarks - the Old Synagogue and Fishmarkt. Fishmarkt was especially nice with it's beautiful town hall and baroque buildings.

Erfurt Fischmarkt

Soon it was time for lunch, and we headed to our reservation at Christoph's Wirthaus - a restaurant in the heart of old-town with a medieval theme. We ordered a round of mead, some white and some red (viking blood). We think maybe the mead was really red/white wine with honey mixed in but we can't be sure (it certainly tasted that way).

Christoph's Wirthaus

Viking mead? - prost!

Lunch at Christoph's Wirthaus

We ordered the GrilledHaxe (except for Clau who had a chicken schnitzel), and the Haxe was well worth the price of admission on its own. Say what you like about the fake mead, but the Haxe was so tender that it was literally falling right off the bone. Glorious!

Amazing GrilledHaxe - tender AF.

To wash the taste of the pretend mead out of my mouth, I ordered a Weizen that came in a stoneware mug. I dont know the brand of beer, but it really hit the spot. Eb ordered some 'honey beer', which unfortunately tasted like the white mead (I mean the white wine mixed with honey), mixed with beer. Very easy to drink, but somehow unsatisfying.

Bier #25 - Unnamed Weizen. Yum!

After our medieval extravaganza, we headed to the Erfurt christmas market - one of the top 5 markets in the country. It was immediately obvious why it ranks so highly. The setting was nothing short of spectacular, with the Dom St Marien and it neighbour The Church of St Severi looming over the proceedings.

Erfurt Weinachtmarkt - spectacular.

The market was very nicely set out and we had a great time browsing the stalls, We even picked up yet more christmassy nick knacks. I'm not sure how we'll get them all home at this rate.  I managed to gorge myself on yet another piece of Nuremberger Lebkuchen (my addiction can't be sated) and also finally found some Kartoffelpuffers. Eager as I was to stuff my face with them, they were so oily that they made me feel ill.

Kartofflepuffer with garlic sauce 

Before heading back to the hotel for the night we even took a quick look in the Dom and the Church. We found the typical jeebus worship-y stuff, with the Dom being particularly elaborate. The amount of time and energy spent on what are basically fairy stories still makes my head spin.