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[sorayaadventures-blog]

Wiesbaden - A Winter Wonderland

The next day we took an early train to Wiesbaden. As I was leaving the train station, I remember wondering if it was going to be worth the visit for it initially struck me as “just another city”. As we kept on walking towards the city center, we arrived at this beautiful allée –called Adolfsallee– framed by snowy trees and ornamented with frozen fountains – all the prior thoughts were forgotten.

We continued down this street and got to Luisenplatz. This square, which hosts the church of Saint Bonifatius, was so calm, peaceful and powdered in white. The best part: having it practically to ourselves (when I say practically it’s because we shared a lovely moment with a flock of pigeons) with that beautiful gothic church in the background, boasting its two tall and lean bell towers.

After our pigeon-related fun and walking through downtown Wiesbaden, we found ourselves at the Marktplatz, where we were surrounded by Renaissance revival and gothic styles: the Rathaus with its pink façade and beautifully patterned roof tiles and the magnificent red-brick Marktkirche. This architectural bonanza definitively made the Christmas market there much more enjoyable. Following our expedition, we reached Wilhelmstrasse which, to our surprise, was quite gusty but did not wear off our determination to discover what else the city had to offer. Walking up this street we got to this open space completely buried in snow, it didn’t matter to which corner you looked at: it was all white, white, white! Bowling Green is a park with two fountains (quite perilous, even for such a cautious traveler as myself – I’ll explain later), joining the Kurhausplatz, the Stadt Theater, the Wiesbaden Kurhaus and its Casino. The buildings surrounding the park display a neo-classical style with some elements of art nouveau and Belle Époque (I don’t know if you’ve noticed so far, but I’m an architecture enthusiast), and frame the park so exquisitely, particularly since everything was pristine white, this view was one of my favorites from this trip.

We learned this space hosts concerts when the weather is friendlier – I’m sure it would be great to experience one! Maybe it was all that snowy beauty, but I suddenly got in a very playful mood and decided to start throwing snow at my mom and sister (confession time: I’m the bully in the family), but one of the fountains would soon snap me back into my senses; I -smartly or stupidly- opted to step on its edge and… my foot slipped! I was oh so very close to falling into the frozen water I think my mother almost got a heart attack.

Getting back to a more serious mood, we went into the Kurhaus Casino and it was truly something: high ceilings, marble-covered walls, amazing chandeliers and a wonderful Christmas tree coated in red flowers decorating the middle of the main hall. This casino is notable for allowing one of the highest roulette bets in Germany and, it is said, this is where Dostoyevsky received inspiration for his novel, The Gambler.

After exiting the casino from its back door, we encountered the Kurpark, where we took a long, leisurely walk just absorbing its wintery peace, its beautiful green hues subdued by snow and the sound of the water shoot on the Salzbach stream. Following our lovely walk, we randomly walked to find ourselves on Wilhelmstrasse again and on our way back to the train station to close out our escapade in Germany.

For anyone interested in exploring Christmas markets, I would totally recommend this adventure for the holidays. There are many places and markets to see, a lot of food to try and beautiful settings awaiting. Our day trip approach felt very comfortable, as we avoided carrying our luggage around and allowed us to visit more places in less time, and having such an efficient train system as they do in Germany certainly simplifies things. Just do some research on the destinations you’re keen on seeing and lay out your transportation plans. I, for one, can’t wait to discover more Christmas markets! Perhaps in Eastern Europe next time?

[diarymamacom]

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