Caitlin first mentioned her plans for a holiday trip to Germany a few weeks after we met. I didn’t receive an invitation initially but the casual references to an upcoming European winter adventure were unmistakable. We had been dating for less than 2 months and the trip was just a few months away — but I was intrigued (and I got the impression she was testing the waters). When I was formally invited, I was thrilled to say “yes!”

Arrival, Worms, and Kaiserslautern

The trip was planned around celebrating New Years Eve in Frankfurt and the rest of the 10-day excursion was filled-in with stops to recommended towns and landmarks in the area. The Black Forest region and the Rhein River valley in southwest Germany is a beautiful area dotted with many small and large cities, most notably Cologne and Frankfurt.

Cathedral and downtown area — Worms, Germany

After briefly getting lost in the basement levels of the Frankfurt Airport, we managed to find our rental car and hit the road. Our Air BnB for the first night was 60km away in Kaiserslautern and we had one mission for the day — resist the jet lag, don’t take a nap. Luckily it was a warm-ish, sunny day and I was excited to drive on the autobahn for the first time. Plus… the the rental car agency had just handed me the keys to a brand new, shiny red, Volvo SUV.

We stopped for lunch in the town of Worms as the lack of food and sleep was setting in. Practically stumbling around in a grumpy daze, we found refuge in a “sophisticated” coffee shop where Caitlin got to test out her German for the first time in several years. Apparently she was not that rusty, because our soup, salad, and coffee showed up shortly after. Refueled and re-caffeinated, we finished exploring the town and got back on the road to Kaiserslautern.

Unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties checking into the AirBnB. We got a message that the renter’s son lived near by and he would be coming by in a couple hours to let us in with a spare key — just enough time to explore downtown. We were pleasantly surprised to find the Christmas Market was still up and running so we enjoyed a glass of gluhwein, the first of many during the trip.

Christmas Market — Kaiserslautern, Germany

Heidelberg

Heidelberg had been highly recommended for two landmarks. The first was the Thingstätte amphitheater built in the mid-1930’s by the Nazis to celebrate the summer festival. In his speech at the grand opening, Joseph Goebbels addressed the 20,000 Germans in attendance and proclaimed the theater’s completion an achievement on par with the construction of the autobahn.

The second landmark is Heidelberg castle located on the hill across the river from the amphitheater. We met up with Caitlin’s friends for a tour of the castle and lunch at the Christmas market. In addition to great views of the city and river, Heidelberg castle is also home to the world’s largest wine barrel. We spent the rest of the day exploring the castle and downtown area before heading back to our Air BnB in Kaiserslautern.

View from Heidelberg Castle — Heidelberg, Germany

Baden Baden

Wikipedia will tell you that Baden Baden is a spa town who’s thermal baths “led to fame as a fashionable 19th-century resort.” I can confirm that the spas continue to maintain this reputation today. For a very reasonable price, we enjoyed a 4-hour, 17-stage, thermal bath pampering that was worth every cent. The spa that Caitlin picked out was a completely nude spa that alternates between days that's genders are separate and mixed — we decided to go on a co-ed day.

We enjoyed the glow-up from our spa for the rest of the afternoon before changing for the evening and heading out for dinner. The Christmas market in Baden Baden was by far the largest and nicest of the trip. Despite it being a bitterly cold evening, the market was packed, and we refilled our gluhwein mugs a couple times to stay warm. We walked 20 minutes across town for an amazing dinner at a home-style Italia restaurant called Mamma Lina.

New Year’s Eve in Frankfurt

We met up once again with Caitlin’s friends in Frankfurt on New Year’s Eve. They had made a reservation for the 6 of us to have a nice sit-down dinner nearby the river where the festivities would be taking place. The restaurant featured a chef’s special, 3-course menu which we thoroughly enjoyed. After dinner, we walked a few blocks down to the river where the chaos of a German New Years celebration was well underway. The police had started to close the bridges to control the crowds and since our hotel was on the other side, we b-lined for the only bridge that was still open.

If you are familiar with American style fireworks displays you might say that Frankfurt “crowd sources” their New Year’s Eve fireworks. And by that I mean, its everybody’s job to bring and light fireworks. We made it to the bridge about 30 minutes before midnight as the fireworks exploding around us were seriously picking up intensity which made for a very exciting and chaotic crossing. Still expecting an “official” firework show from the river, we found a semi-safe spot on the bank and counted down with the crowd. The clock turned to midnight and we were surrounded by the explosions of fireworks in every direction, completely filling the sky around us.

Cologne, Cochem, and Darmstadt

Cologne was our final major destination of the trip. We got an early start to say goodbye to Caitlin’s friends before making the 2-hour drive north. In my opinion, Cologne had the most interesting architecture of any city we visited on the trip — mostly because of the diversity of classic and modern. We spent the evening walking around the city to see the major landmarks including the train station, cathedral, river front, and Christmas market. Caitlin practiced her Mandarin (and German) at dinner by ordering for us off the Chinese menu at a restaurant in the neighborhood around the cathedral.

Hauptbahnhof railway station — Cologne, Germany

Cochem is a classic “medieval” town strategically situated on a hill overlooking the Rhein River. The castle was once a stronghold lookout point but has since been converted into a drafty tourist attraction. We spent the afternoon exploring the town, hiking up to the castle for a tour, and stopping into a small local “pub” for a beer and pretzel snack. We set off for Darmstadt, the final stop of the trip, which I came to understand had one purpose — to visit the Curran family’s favorite German micro-brewery: The Ratstellar.

After having a beer (or two) at the Rastellar in Darmstadt, we headed over to our airport hotel and rested up before our flight back to the US. After this trip together, we were very excited for what 2020 had in store for us…

More photos depicting this story are on Instagram @eyes__unclouded

Holiday in the Rhein Valley