This gave us not only a rare chance to go sledging on the hills of Camp King, but also to talk about some of the things that German residents – and possibly long-term visitors – need to know about: Winter tyres, snow-clearing duty and a lack of salt.

Sledging in Camp King

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The White Tower in Bad Homburg

Our last visit to a tower in this summer took us to Bad Homburg where we visited the White Tower (Weißer Turm).  The tower is located in the middle of the castle, and it took us a while to find the right entrance and then where to get the key from.

Once we had the key, we had the tower almost to ourselves.  The tower contains a museum so that rather than just climb to the top, you can read about its history at different levels on the way up.

Currently the tower costs 1EUR for adults and 50 cents for children to enter.  The car park “Schloß” near the entrance and most of the buses that go through the town stop nearby.

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Größere Kartenansicht

It is easily reached from Germany via the A40 and A61 motorways and many people go over the border to shop, as some things are considerably cheaper on the Dutch side, coffee being the prime example of this.

The town played a pivotal role in the Second World War, as it was an indicent that took place there between British, Dutch and German intelligence that gave Germany a reason to invade the Netherlands, citing the incident as proof that the country was no longer neutral.

For those wishing to sample the Dutch culture, but not able to speak the language, Venlo offers a good opportunity as most of the people serving in shops and cafés also speak German and the menus in restaurants are often in both languages.

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Größere Kartenansicht

Idsteiner Hexenturm

This week, the Monday Podcast visits the “Hexenturm” in Idstein, which literally translates as the “witches’ tower”.

Parts of the tower date from the 12th Century, but the name comes from events that took place in the town in the 17th Century when a number of people in the area were accused of witchcraft.

The tower itself is normally locked, so the key has to be collected from the tourist information office a short distance away.

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Größere Kartenansicht

Although I was never an actual member of that particular group, I have been in contact with them for the past 23 years and have visited them regularly throughout that time.

Find out why, and what happened at the camp, in this week’s podcast:

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Aussichtsturm Ellerhöhe

Hidden away on the northern side of Bad Homburg is a viewing platform called the Aussichtsturm Ellerhöhe.

It was originally built in 1873, re-built in 1889 and extended in 1901.  The top of it is approximately 200m above sea level.

Although the tower itself is only about 16m tall, it does offer a view across the town of Bad Homburg to Oberursel, and even as far as Frankfurt.

In fact, many local people do not even know that it is there!

View towards Frankfurt

Größere Kartenansicht

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Juniors

The answer, of course, is to either get out early or to stay and watch the race – and the drivers arguing with the police that they need to go somewhere.

U23

My daughter and I opted for the 2nd option this year.  To find out more, listen to the podcast:

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Christmas market at the book shop...

To finish off our series of visiting Christmas markets in the area, we went to two smaller ones.

The first one was in front of our local supermarket and organised by the book shop there.  There were stands selling waffles, mulled wine, crêpes, and of course books.  But there were also stands from local organisations such as our Kindergarten selling home-made decorations and biscuits.

A local Nikolaus appeared at one point and took the children into the shop for a story.

... and at the animals' home

Our second visit was to the local Tierheim (animal home).  This was a good chance to see inside the home, and although the market itself was somewhat spread out and not that big, we did partake of coffee and mulled wine, as well as buying a Christmas pyramid at the flea market.

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The ice rink in Bad Homburg

This week the Monday Podcast visited the Christmas Market in Bad Homburg, well at least part of it.

The market has been split into two parts this year, with the main market being at the castle, whilst there is a smaller set of stalls in front of the Kurhaus.  At the smaller market, however, there is also an ice rink and this was our main destination.

I’m not sure why the market has been split in this way.  It is a shame for the parents of children who want to go on the ice, as they only have a limited selection of stalls that they can visit.  It would have been much nicer to have had everyone on one site.

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The Christmas Market on the bank of the Rhine

This week the Monday Podcast visited the Christmas Market in Rüdesheim – also known as the “Christmas Market of Nations“.

Having visited Rüdesheim previously, I drove to a car park near the centre of the town, rather than using the signed car parks for the Christmas Market, which turned out to be futher away.

The market itself is located in the streets of the town centre and along the bank of the Rhine.  There are stalls with food and drink, but also handicraft stalls selling Christmas decorations and household goods.

The Obergasse in Rüdesheim

Two particular highlights are the nativity scene in the market square and the Christkind who opens a door on the advent calendar each evening at 6pm.

The market has an international theme, so that many of the stalls sell traditional goods and dishes from their own countries.

Eating Churros - a Spanish speciality

Unfortunately it rained on and off throughout the day, but even so there were large numbers of people there – especially after it got dark.

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