One of the weekend trips that we took when we were in Frankfurt was to Würzburg. Although we had only been living in Germany for a little over a month, this particularly getaway made us feel as though we were becoming locals. It is a short train ride from Frankfurt to Würzburg and we arrived right around lunchtime. We found a tiny little restaurant that obviously catered to several regulars who were chatting with one another, reading newspapers, and simply relaxing. The owner offered us a seasonal beer, which of course we had to try, and we had an appetizer platter with blood sausage, potatoes, and cheese.

From there we started walking around the town, which was decorated for the holidays. We stopped to listen to a local band playing holiday music and entered a raffle to support the local school. Children were running around and playing, making us smile at their excitement for the season. Even though we entered the raffle just to support the local community, we actually ended up winning a bottle of Riesling wine. Later we found a restaurant that was over 600 years old where we enjoyed a trio of soups and a holiday meal.

The Christmas markets were in full swing and we spent time on both days enjoying them. We walked through the town feeling welcomed by everyone we met. We found a restaurant called the Weinstube that placed little plastic monkeys on the wine glasses. We couldn’t help but play with them to make a heart with them holding hands and their tails curling above them. We went to the Residenz, which is the palace in Würzburg, but the highlight for us was just feeling like we were part of the local community as we strolled the streets and shopped in the Christmas markets.