Christmas Market Tour in Cologne Germany

Welcome to Cologne here in Germany and today I'm very excited because we're going to explore a few Christmas markets around town with a very special mode of transportation. With a beautiful Christmas train. And it's coming right now. All aboard! So the cool thing about this train is it actually takes you around to four different Christmas markets, which if you want to hit them all and do it in a fun way, I think this is the best way to do it. So we are here at stop number one and don't worry, we are saving the best for last. At least that's what social media says. We'll see if that lives up to the hype. So our first stop is the Old Town Christmas Market and it is supposed to be the home of Hinselmansion. I probably don't say it right, but basically they're like, it's a legend about little gnomes that were waking up at night to do the work around the house, which I wish this legend was true. First impressions walking in, it is so cute. It really gives you like that cozy wintry vibe. I think this one is mainly crafts from what I see so far, but we'll see if there's some food down there. So these little gnomes that you see everywhere around the market are the Hinselmansion. So Tracy and I got some Schupfendellen, again, don't knock it, like I just can't pronounce German, but in English it's basically like finger shaped potato dumplings with a bunch of delicious stuff on it, vegetables, some lentils, oh no, some pine nuts. Sour cream, creme fraiche, yeah, parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes. And it comes with a sausage, finally, our first one in Germany, yeah, it's delicious. So the funny part is like, we're kind of standing in front trying to figure out what to get, what we wanted, and the guy behind the counter was just staring at me, he made eye contact, he locked eye contact and goes, so that's what we got. First German sausage in Germany, yes. Potatoes? That's so good. That is very nice. It's very different, but very good. Wow, so weird because it's like potato dumpling, but it's kind of light at the same time. That was fantastic. Oh, it's so warm on the bone, I am in love. So I don't know what's gotten into me since we got into Europe, but I have been on like a cinnamon bun hunt, basically. And here, I saw the perfect ones, they looked fantastic, but now like getting them and feeling them, amazing, it's still super hot. This is exactly what I knew on it. Mmm, I think that's cinnamon bun. I think I just disowned my husband, he took a bite. What's wrong with taking a bite? You only ever peel a cinnamon roll. That doesn't sound very efficient. Oh, it's the best. Looks like they got some inspiration from the tree of love in Vienna, if you haven't seen our video in Austria, you should check it out, beautiful Christmas markets there too. This one was really good, but there is three more, so let's go to the next one. I don't know if it's going to be like that in every market, but the people were so nice at this one, and I love how they were all dressed like the early 1900s or something, like it really added to like this old Christmas ambience. Let me interrupt today's video live from Canada to talk about today's paid partnership, Better Health. With the holidays right around the corner, it can bring up a lot of mixed emotions, making this the perfect time to start prioritizing your mental health. A lot of times when we hear the word therapy, we think that you have to have a clinical mental health diagnosis like depression to benefit from therapy. And while that can be a great resource for depression, you can also benefit from therapy by using it simply as a safe space to talk without judgment. So what is Better Health and why do we love it so much? Better Health is a platform that allows you and your therapist to communicate effectively to make it easy to prioritize your own mental health. So while we were on the go in Europe, it was really easy just to send a message back and forth because I didn't really have time to sit down for a full session. Now that I'm here in Canada, I can just do a video call because we're slowing down. So I have that extra time, which is why it fits into our travel lifestyle so well, making it easy for myself to prioritize my own mental health. Starting therapy is easy with Better Health. All that you have to do is go on their website and fill out a questionnaire and you will be matched with a qualified therapist in as little as a couple of days. Not only that, but if the first therapist that you're matched with doesn't seem like the best fit, you can easily switch until you find the perfect match for you. So if you think you would benefit from therapy, click the link down in the description or go to betterhealth.com slash Dave Manny and you will save 10% off your first month of therapy. Now, back to Germany. Welcome to our second Christmas market, the Harbour Christmas Market, also in Cologne. Yep, we took the train, but we're still in the same city. This is one of the newest Christmas markets in the city and it is on the ground of the famous Cologne Chocolate Museum, so we need to find something with chocolate. We have to. You don't have to tell me twice on that. Okay, to start, we just got Glühwein from the Malakvatron Tower, which I renamed the Glühwein Tower for this time of the year. And the Glühwein is? Hot. Good. Good? Hot. Very hot. But very good. Favorite one of the season, I would say. I think so, too. Wow. Look at this cute little spot by the river. So we found something a little different and decided to get a pint of beer. Because we're in Germany. It's only fitting to have beer in Germany. Why not? This one here, we apparently have in Canada. Yeah, it's the 1664. It's one of my favorite light beers. I like the white beer. Oh, I can see why. This is the perfect beer for like a warm summer day, which it is not right now. It's 5 degrees. It's not free, but it tastes good. It's very nice, right? Yeah. Very light, a little bit sweet. So next up we have an IPA, which I'm not going to lie, IPAs aren't my favorite. Nope. Up next, Lager, which Tracy and I, we do love a good Lager. It looks like dark beer. It is very dark. I don't like dark beer, but that's nice. Very good in between. And then the Hafenwinnersten beer. That's nice. So for our chocolate thing, I see Cannolis. My favorite. Perfect. Chocolate Cannoli. To be honest, it looks like it's almost like a peanut brittle wrapped around it. That's rich. Hey, that's our train. So yes, Cannolis are not very German. They're very Italian, but we're not doing any Christmas market in Italy. So cheers to that. These are so good. I can see the train. Tracy, what are you doing? You're not supposed to eat in the train. Nothing. How's the vanilla one? The best. It beats the chocolate. Really? Yeah. So it's made out of like ricotta with it too. So it has a little bit of a tang. And I know that sounds weird, but it cuts the sweetness just enough. It's so good. The lady at the kiosk said it was her personal favorite. It's rare for me, but I agree with Tracy. The vanilla is better than the chocolate. Anyway, back on the train. Choo choo. To the next market. Okay, up next is the Angel Market. And apparently, there are angels walking around this market. So we'll see if we can find any. But this market was one of the original markets here in the city that kind of helped the rebirth of this market trend during the holidays back in the 1970s. And from first glance, it is so pretty. Okay, so we got what they call, it's kind of like potato fritters or potato pancakes. I know there's more traditional ways of having them with just like applesauce. But this place had camembert cheese and cranberry. And that sounds like Christmas to me. So that's what we got. No regret. That is so good. Potatoes are crunchy. The cheese is like gooey and nice. And the cranberry sauce just has a little touch of sweetness. Delicious. Just as Tracy and I decided that we're pretty full, we walked in front of a pasta booth. You know, like they make the creamy sauce and then put it like in the full cheese and just like mix it in. Like it looks so good that we decided that we did have a little bit more space in our stomachs. 10 out of 10. Would do it again. I'm not shocked because it smells amazing. My stomach just opened up another section to help finish. The pasta section. Yeah, the pasta section. We found the angels and they have like gold dust that they give to kids and then they can make a wish and blow it away. I think that's super cute. So the Angel Market, much busier and much bigger than the other two. And this is like a great market. If you don't want to like market hop, this one has everything and it's beautiful. Made it. So if you've been looking up Christmas markets in Cologne, this one is probably the one that you've come across. This is the one here in the cathedral right by the train station. All of the picturesque, beautiful shots that you see is this market. So let's go see if it actually lives up to the hype. And obviously we cannot ignore the Cologne Cathedral. Fun fact, this is the third tallest church in the entire world. It took over 600 years to build. And during the Second World War, 70 bombs hit that church. But thankfully, because of its sheer size, it wasn't fully destroyed and they were able to rebuild it. Welcome to one of the most famous Christmas markets here in Europe. Tracy and I are on a mission because since we started this Christmas market series in Europe, there's one that I've been awaiting for since the beginning and it's a proper German pretzel, but in German. This market is a little bit more overwhelming because it is packed. And we're filming this on a Wednesday. This market is like super international. Like behind me is a Nepali booth. I've seen Italian pizza. I've even seen Chinese food as well. But we're here for the pretzel. No, Tracy. No, no. Focus. Pretzel. Pretzel. I mean, these look really good too. I found it. It's straight ahead. It is nice, warm, just like firm enough with a little crunch on the outside. She was literally like making them then. Like she had a pretzel oven. So like it's as fresh as it gets. She had a bunch of different ones with like cheeses and pepperoni and ham and stuff. But we just went for the original one. That's so good. Yes. It is perfection. Only thing I would add is some like coarse salt on top. But that's just me because I love super salty pretzels. But it is fantastic. So in the back of the market, there's actually another small section off to the side. And this is where you come to drink. Literally one booth out of two is a bar. It's so beautiful. The bells are ringing from the church. Another fun fact, this church has the largest bell in the entire world in one of its towers. And it only rings during very important holidays like Christmas or literally when a new pope is elected. So very rare. Okay, if it's your first video here, we have a very scientific way to score these markets. Out of 30, 30 points for food, 30 points for ambiance and magic. 10 points for food, 10 points for ambiance and magic and 10 points for hospitality. Whatever she says. To equal 30 points. I ate too much food. I can't think anymore. So basically, we're going to rate Cologne as a whole. But then the four markets we did today will then tell you our favorite. So rating. Food, 10. 10. It was delicious. Everything was so good. The pretzel was the perfect thing to end the night with. That was so good. I've been waiting for that for so long. But yeah, everything was like really, really tasty. Yeah, agreed. Ambiance, honestly, a 10. I think even in just Cologne, there's a good mix between like a little bit of modern and light. Then down to like more authentic and homey feel. And there's way more than like just the four markets. I think there's like seven or eight or something like that. So you can do way more. But these are like the four most popular ones. And finally, hospitality, perfect score. I have to give them a 10. Even though they were quite busy, people were so nice and smiling and everything. And like sometimes like you interact with somebody that can't really speak English, but it's like funny. And they're like, people were like very, very nice. So overall, 10, 10, 10, 30 out of 30. Like this is our highest market score since the beginning. And then our favorite one is going to be very surprising. It's not this one. The first one was so pretty with like its old style, the costumes of everyone and the ambiance. Yeah, it had more like an authentic charm. I don't know if it really was, but there was a certain charm and feel about it there that is just different. And the cinnamon bun. Oh my goodness, that cinnamon bun. Oh, also just very quick, train. I think it was worth it. Yeah. It was really fun. I saw seven-year-old person. That makes sense. Seven-year-old person. Anyway, so make sure to subscribe because up next we are doing Belgium. Which is our last. We are on our way there tomorrow. And if this is the first video that you watch from our Christmas series, well, there's many other countries you need to catch up on the other videos. And until next time, see you guys. In the next one.