Christmas Market Tour

Destination 1: NUREMBERG, GERMANY

When:  

December 1-3

Weather:  

Cold. Dry. No Snow. WARM layers…scarves, gloves, boots 😊

Accommodations:

The Sorat Hotel Saxx is a phenomenal place to stay in Nuremberg.  The room we’ve booked multiple times overlooks the square and has a truly 100% accessible bathroom with a roll in shower and great rails on the toilet.  We stayed at this hotel on our initial Germany trip (October 2018)  and we loved it so much that we stayed an extra night and cancelled the hotel we had booked in a different city!  During our first stay at The Hotel Saxx, while overlooking the market square from this room, I said to John: “sometime in my life, I will come back and see this square during the Christmas markets”. Little did I know this dream would turn in to a reality so quickly!

Sights/Activities: 

Nuremberg is one of my favorite cities. This is the location that first inspired my idea to move to Europe in the first place. The quaint streets and architecture of this walled city makes it feel very intimate and cozy.  It’s rich WWII history is fascinating to me…and it is also known for its TOYS!

On our first visit to here (Fall, 2018), we visited several museums, including the toy museum and the Nuremberg trials museum…both of which were accessible once inside.  We also went to a toy store where we bought our soon to be niece a “lovey” in the form of a rabbit. We came full circle yet again on this trip when we visited the same toy store and secured a “back-up lovey” in case the original is ever lost. Gabs can now bond with “Helga” as much as she’d like.

This time around, we once again soaked in the traditional German cuisine…sausages, sauerkraut, pretzels, beer. John and I also discovered a new affinity for the small “Nuremberg sausages”.  We ate at a restaurant where your biggest choice was how many Nuremberg sausages you ordered.  I think we had 18…impressive, I know :)

Other activities included wandering the Christmas markets and drinking who knows how much gluwein, adventuring up to and through an old graveyard that was remarkably beautiful, and climbing the hill to watch the sunset from the castle (while drinking hot gluwein, of course!). We discovered early- on that John’s insulated water bottle kept the beverage hot for much longer…and so he will forever have water that tastes vaguely of Christmas spices :) 

The castle has a beautiful garden space which was closed for the year…but that was a lovely area in the Fall when we visited.  We also returned to an area at the base of the castle where, in the Fall, people had sprawled on the ground drinking beer in the small courtyard.  They now huddled closely together with mugs of steaming gluhwein, overlooking the town dotted with Christmas lights below.  SO STINKIN’ QUAINT.  I love this city…can you tell?

Equipment Used:

Free wheel – Amazing for rough pavement.  Literally no idea how I would travel without it.  If you don’t have one, look into it!

Husband—Definitely a fair number of hills here.  I probably wouldn’t visit without a “buddy” of some sort to help with pushing and navigating

General Accessibility Thoughts:

This city definitely has its fair share of cobblestones and hills…two of the things I’ve found to make wheelchair accessibility difficult…but it is SO worth it.  We were also able to find some ways to avoid particularly treacherous areas.  For example:  the most direct route to the castle has you looking at doing a bunch of stairs to access it…BUT if you take the side-streets off to the right, you can actually avoid the stairs altogether! People are very kind and willing to give accessibility advice if you ask!

Destination 2: VIENNA, AUSTRIA

When:

December 3-6

Weather:

VERY COLD, but dry. Hats, Scarves, Gloves, Boots :)

Accommodations:

We stayed at the Apartments Spittelberg Shrankgasse. This lodging was booked through booking.com, which we use often to find accommodations. One of the biggest questions we have learned to ask is the SIZE of the elevator (we ask for actual dimensions). Believe it or not, some elevators in Europe are so small that they BARELY fit my manual wheelchair! This apartment had one such elevator :) Fortunately, I was able to just squeeze in. The location of this apartment was ideal…central enough that coming back for an afternoon nap was feasible. It had a small kitchen and was very spacious. The bathroom was by no means certifiably ADA…but I was able to fit through the doorways, and if I had wanted to take a shower, I think this would have been possible without John lifting me.

Sights/Activities:

Breakfast with the most AMAZING vegan croissants. How do you make a delicious croissant with NO BUTTER?? Aquarium in an old WWII bunker…very well-done. Resselpark Christmas Markets…more expensive art booths and fewer booths selling typical “chachkies” founds at many of the other markets.

Karlskirche in Resselpark (Karlsplatz). We originally went into this church because we were freezing cold and needed a warm-up. We quickly found, however, that it is a BEAUTIFUL cathedral worth the visit! The art in the dome ceiling has been well documented and showcased. Scaffolding (with a lift!) has been set up in the center of the cathedral to allow visitors to get a closer look at the paintings. I was TERRIFIED being up so high…but the up-close view of the art was amazing. In addition, giant reflective balls have been hung from the ceiling to grant visitors a unique 360 degree view of the cathedral (see photos). Piano/Cello Concert at the theater. Various public squares surrounded by HUGE, GRAND buildings (josefsplatz, am hof, kohlmarkt, stephansplatz). The sheer size of Vienna’s buildings is remarkable. Kohlmarkt has very “ritzy” shopping. Stephansplatz is marked by St. Stephen’s Cathedral…a gothic style cathedral with unique tiled roof. Austrian National Library…PHENOMENAL. Again…we went there to get out of the cold! But it turned out to be one of my favorite activities! This library was established in 1368…WHAT!? The architecture and sheer age of the book collections is incredible…audio guide recommended. Globe Museum…part of the National Library and home to over 250 diverse types of globes…definitely worth a couple of hours. Cafe Landtmann for late-night coffee and cake before the Rathauspark Christmas Markets…GIANT park with beautiful ice skating rink and tons of market booths. We may have spent over an hour at the puzzle booth :) Last but not least, the Kunsthistoriches Museum. Located just across from the natural history museum, these two MASSIVE buildings cradle a Christmas Market when in season. We saw a Carvaggio Bernini exhibition here, and it was remarkable. In addition to the amazing art and history collections, this museum has INCREDIBLE architecture. The building itself is a work of art worth exploring (see pictures).

Equipment Used:

I don’t think I used any accessibility equipment here!

General Accessibility Thoughts:

Very smooth sidewalks. Most buildings wheelchair accessible. In my opinion, a very wheelchair-friendly city.

Destination 3: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

When:

Dec 6-10 (thought our flight was on the 9th…made it part-way to the airport before we figured it out lol. We had even booked the hotel through the 10th but just messed up the flight dates in our head! BONUS DAY :))

Weather:

No Snow or Rain, but VERY cold!

Accommodations:

We stayed at the Prague Siesta Apartments. The apartment had a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Small threshold to get into the apartment wasn’t a problem for us, bout could be for other wheelchair users. The door was also a double-door, and both sides had to be opened for the wheelchair to fit through…BUT I was too short to reach the lock to open/close the second door! So, I needed to have John present to help me in and out of the room. Sink and toilet were accessible. I had to be lifted into the shower. Not the most perfect room accessibility-wise…but it was a great location. Less than one block from a city square with a stunning gothic-style church, and a beautiful Christmas market.

Sights/Activities:

Similar to the other two cities on our trip itinerary, we spent a LOT of time walking around drinking hot gluhwein in Prague. The city is BEAUTIFUL. Even down to the sidewalks. When you get out of the city center, you start to see a bit more “rough-ness”, and there seems to be a stark collision between the areas of ritzy wealth vs. the areas which reveal reminders of the Cold War era. I loved this contrast…John, not so much. Here are a few things we did. As I mentioned, our hotel was very close to a gothic cathedral: Church of Our Lady before Tyn. This church is magical…it looks like the castle from Beauty and the Beast. During the Winter, it was covered in Christmas lights, and a Christmas market covered the square out front…Old Town Square. On the night we arrived, the Christmas Market was in full swing, complete with a giant tree, gluwein, delicious snacks, pulled horse carriages, and a memorable staged dance performance. It’s “touristy” for a reason…because it is awesome. This square is also bordered by the Staromestska radnice, an astronomical clock tower that chimes and gives a show to the crowd each hour. We did not go all the way up to the observations deck…but the inside is very ornate and beautiful. We ventured across the Charles Bridge and walked up and through the STEEP hills of the Petrin Garden for a view of the city and a “back-door” entry to the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. We didn’t spend a ton of time in either of these places…but they were lovely, and the view of the city (especially close to sunset) was amazing. Instead of watching the sunset from this CROWDED viewpoint, however, we asked our hotel receptionist where he would go for a view of the city. We scurried off to this much more remote location just in time for some incredible sunset pictures. When in doubt, ask someone local :) Dinner was perhaps the best meal we had in Prague. After failing to realize we needed a reservation for Restaurace Stoleti (an authentic Czech restaurant), we stumbled in on an Indian restaurant called Golden Tikka and had some of the most amazing Indian food I have had in my life. Restaurace Stoleti had our business the next night, and it too was delicious…but not nearly as memorable as the Indian food. John and I still talk about it to this day :) We realized quickly that we would like to adventure further outside of the major city area of Prague. This took us to Vysehrad, a fortified medieval castle that we thought was even cooler than Prague Castle, and far less crowded. 360 degree views of the city and surrounding neighborhoods stunned us from the high walls of the giant castle grounds. Our “less touristy” adventure continued as we walked over and through neighborhoods from Vysehrad to the Namesti Miru (Peace Square) Christmas Market just in front of the Chrurch of St. Ludmilla. This market felt more local, and we bought Christmas ornaments for our families. December 9 turned out to be a bonus “extra day” in Prague, as we realized part-way to the airport that our flight did not leave until December 10! John took a tour of Prague, and I adventured around the Christmas markets and into a few more shops. We ended with a hike up many steep hills to the extremely strange Zizkov Television Tower, followed by dinner, beer, and cards at a venue John FINALLY deemed as “un-touristy”…very difficult to find in Prague. Overall, a beautiful city :)

Equipment Used:

Freewheel (cobblestones and steep hills made much friendlier with this tool!)

Overall Accessibility Thoughts:

VERY hilly city. Would have been difficult for me to see everything without my faithful motor-husband. Definitely some rough sidewalks in areas…made easier by the freewheel. Access to buildings often requiring one or two steps…not too difficult for me and John, but may be a game-changer for many wheelchair users.