We started our trip at the very southern tip of Bavaria and four days in, we were driving northwest to my grandma’s house in Sonnefeld. It’s a tiny little town with lots of history, very kind people, and shops with my grandmother’s and great grandmother’s maiden names on them. There is so much family and cultural history in this place, and it’s always so magical to come back to and see it unchanged through the years. Sonnefeld is just down the road from Coburg, a larger city and the home of the Veste Coburg- a castle where Martin Luther once lived! Our very first day at my grandma’s, we met up with my cousin Anke and her boyfriend Robert to explore the city! This was on December 23rd, which was our five year anniversary… and the BEST anniversary we have had so far!!!
Walking up to the Veste!
It’s beautiful in a much more medieval kind of way!
All of us!! :)
Inside the castle’s walls…
And the view of Coburg! It looks so different in the winter…!
And then of course, some portraits because… when in Germany…
Thank you, Anke, for capturing these!
Justin and his GoPro…
Then we headed into downtown Coburg for the Christmas Market. It turned out to be my favorite Christmas Market we saw the entire trip!!
THE BRATWURSTS. SO GOOD!
Ahhhh, so pretty and romantic and Christmassy and wonderful.
Then we went to the Landestheater for an opera… in German. THAT was interesting!
I actually didn’t take any pictures on Christmas Eve because we relaxed at my grandma’s house (our first day to relax on the trip so far!) and ate pork, potato dumplings, and lots of chocolate and cookies before going to the 10pm Christmas Eve service at the church down the road (that’s well over 500 years old)! The next morning on Christmas Day, we went and explored the two churches that stand on opposite sides of the valley near Sonnefeld: Vierzehnheiligen and Kloster Banz… actually, I’m not sure what the name of the second church is, but the palace part is called Kloster Banz. Lol.
This is FIVE minutes from my grandma’s… crazy!!!
Very funny, dad….
Walking up to the church!
Annndd… it was gorgeous inside!!!
Love him!
And then, the next church! It was hard to take pictures in here because it’s just so big and there are so many different little corners. There were also TONS of people… I was surprised!
A few days later we took a walk around Sonnefeld and I was having some serious flashbacks to being a kid and walking these same streets with my mom and dad. We passed the pool and the waterslide that I used to dream about as a little girl because I would have so much fun playing at it. It was one of the main things I remembered Germany by… and it was so, so cool to show it to Justin… :) And to see it with my two sisters and my dad, all at the same time for the first time ever.
We loved visiting my grandma and seeing Sonnefeld together! Next up… Bamberg, Germany (all covered in snow and beautiful!!!) and Dachau!
That is SO not fair your grandma lives 5 minutes from that beautiful palace!! Also, I’ve always wanted to see the Christmas markets, so unique and unlike anything we have here!
So true! Christmas is totally different in each European country… it’s so fun. Definitely something you should make happen!!!