Mainz

The trip from Barcelona to Mainz was a long one (it took 2 days) but I did get my first real glimpse of snow (a very exciting event for a snowless Aussie). Mainz was a nice introduction to Germany with its quaint old town and colourful Christmas market. I ate some typical German Christmas food there - potato scallops with apple sauce, flammekoeken, potato and cheese bake… just the thing on a cold winter's day. I stayed with my German penfriend, Claudia, and her father at a block of flats that used to house families of US servicemen! I also got to wander around the university where my mother studied 30 years ago! It was a pilgrimage, of sorts.

We spent a day in Speyer with Claudia's friend Garet and saw a fabulous Romanic cathedral (or Dom in German) and slipped and slid around the markets (geez, walking on ice is hard).

Cochem

One of those classic German towns by the Mosel River, famous for its castle and white wines. It was also where Claudia lives and where I spent Christmas (celebrated on the 24th December in Germany), going to a small service at the Protestant church next door and then having dinner with her family. What did I get for Christmas? You have to ask me yourself!