Travel Party of 5 | Points & Miles for Family Travel

European Christmas Markets + Business Class Flights for FIVE! (Part 1: Strasbourg, France)

• Raya & Duane

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Strasbourg AirBnB (not sponsored, paid with our own money!)

Magical Christmas Markets of Europe (please note: we are not affiliated with this group in any way, and potentially it is run by a travel agency? Either way, lots of good info in there!)

Thanks for finding our podcast! We are a family of 5 who does most of our travel using credit card points and miles and we share how we leverage credit card offers to earn a ton of points/miles so we can afford travel as a larger family.


And make sure to follow us on Instagram @TravelPartyof5

In this episode we share how we turned a long-held bucket list into a family trip to Strasbourg’s Christmas markets. From market food to day trips in Alsace, we show how to plan, but also pivot if needed.

• Booking Air France business class for five with Flying Blue and kid discounts
• Managing points transfers, schedule changes, and positioning flights
• Lounge strategy at PHX, DEN, and JFK for sanity and savings
• Choosing a Strasbourg Airbnb near the tram for easy access
• What to eat and drink at the markets and how mug deposits work
• Handling crowds, rain days, and a restorative slow afternoon
• Day trip playbook for Colmar and Eguisheim with shuttle tips
• Why small-town markets feel calmer and more craft-forward
• Budgeting with cards and euros and when to reserve trains
• Key resources: Facebook groups, routes by train, and timing markets

We will be back next week with all about Germany.  Airbnb and the Magical Christmas Markets of Europe Facebook group linked above!


SPEAKER_01:

The European Christmas Markets were a bucket list trip that we pulled off using points and miles, and today we're sharing exactly how I researched the trip, how we booked it using points, including business class flights for five, and whether or not it lived up to the hype. So listen in. Hi, I'm Raya.

SPEAKER_00:

And I'm Dwayne.

SPEAKER_01:

And we are your hosts of the Travel Party of Five podcast, where we share how we travel as a family of five around the world.

SPEAKER_00:

We will also share how we use points and miles to travel as affordably as possible and sometimes even completely free.

SPEAKER_01:

So if you're wanting to travel more with your family, but you're not sure how, we'd love for you to listen in.

SPEAKER_00:

So welcome to our podcast where we hope you learn a thing or two to get you closer to your next trip.

SPEAKER_01:

Hello, friends.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for tuning in. We are freshly back from our trip to Europe yesterday. Which was a great one. Yes, we haven't even been home for 24 hours yet.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep. But I think we're doing pretty good on the jet lag, actually.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, some of us are. You were up at what 4 a.m. today?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, but I was also asleep by like 8. So I still felt rested. You were. And the kids all slept at least 10, 11 hours. Our daughter slept 13.

SPEAKER_00:

She always sleeps that long if if we don't wake her up.

SPEAKER_01:

She was the first one to bed last night, didn't even eat dinner, and was the last one up today. And it like she went to bed at like 6:30 last night. And I thought, surely she will wake up in the night and be starving. And I even told her, if you wake up hungry, go back to sleep. She did tell me this morning. She said, I woke up so many times. I said, and you just went back to sleep? And she's like, Yeah. And I'm like, that's great.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh. All right. So where do we start?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. So I think first I've been getting if if you follow us on Instagram, you've seen the majority of our trip already. But I think there's still a lot to cover that. It's just too much to put in like an Instagram story or a reel. So I'm going to tell you how I booked the trip and also how I researched like what to book, if that makes sense, because a lot of people were messaging me saying, oh my God, I want to do Christmas markets, but I just, it's so overwhelming. And it is overwhelming. And so I just thought we would talk a little bit about that and then we'll talk about the actual trip. It's good, this the podcast will be broken up into two parts. Um, today we'll talk about Strasbourg, which was the first part of our trip. And then we also went to Cologne, Germany, and we'll talk about that next week. Uh, because the markets definitely had like different feels, I would say, compared to whether we were in France or Germany. And we did a bunch, so just a lot to cover.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Different feels, but still lots of sausages.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, so many sausages. Oh my goodness. Um, yes. Okay, so first of all, the this trip came about, like I booked it fully almost a year in advance. And it literally just was me finding these business class flights from um Denver to Paris for five people for a very reasonable points cost. And I looked back and to see like the exact date that I booked it, and it was December 9th that I booked this trip, and it was over Thanksgiving. And I don't know if you remember all of this, but it was me sitting in front of the computer saying to Dwayne, oh my God, should we do this? Should we do this?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I feel like those are all the trips.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, yeah, but like this was an like, okay, so normally we plan to travel spring break, summer, and fall break. And we already had all those trips booked, so this was like an extra on top of all of those other ones. And so that just felt like a lot to me. And it it was a lot, actually. It's been a very busy travel year, and like I'm excited.

SPEAKER_00:

I just remember you asking me, will you be mad if we go somewhere on Thanksgiving Day?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And I was like, of course not. We'll just have Thanksgiving either before or after.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, which is what we did. We had it before. So, okay. So when I went to book these flights originally, uh, we were actually gonna fly out this Sunday, I think, before Thanksgiving. And it was gonna be that whole Thanksgiving week so that the kids wouldn't miss that much school. And same with us with work, it's a slow week generally. So I went to transfer the points to Flying Blue, which is Air France's loyalty program. And again, this is business class flights. The total cost for two adults and three kids under the age of 12 was 212,500 miles plus the taxes and fees. And so I had a uh Flying Blue is a transfer partner of all four major banks. So City, Capital One, AMX, and Chase. I had some Capital One points that were just sitting there. So I used I transferred my points from Capital One. I think it was like maybe 17,000 points. It wasn't a ton. And then I transferred the rest from Chase, except I did both of those on the same within the same like 10 minutes, probably. And the Capital One points arrived right away, and the Chase points did not. So, which normally it's always instant for me. So I have to assume that it was transferring from two different programs into one is what caused the delay. Because when I I even called Chase, and Chase was like, Oh no, we see that they were transferred. So I don't think Chase was the holdup. So, anyways, I transfer the points, they do not arrive. 24 hours goes by, they still have not arrived, and the flights are now gone. I did not call and hold the flights because that costs money. They charge you a fee when you actually go to book it, and I was being cheap, so I didn't hold the flights and they were gone. So at the 48-hour-ish mark, I think it was even a little bit longer than that, the points did arrive. But at that point, there was no flight to book in business class on the day that I wanted. So I didn't do anything and I just kind of was depressed for a few days. And then another flight popped up on the day after Thanksgiving. And again, this is Denver to Charles de Gaulle, Paris, nonstop business class for five. And so I think that was when I was like, Would you be mad? Because we would have to leave on Thanksgiving to fly to position to Denver. And so I ended up booking those, and I was like, the kids are gonna miss a week of school. And we just kind of decided, like, well, like it'll be fine. They all do great in school, um, you know, and whatever. So I booked the flights and all was fine and good. I booked us a positioning flight, leaving Thursday night, which was Thanksgiving night, to fly to Denver. I booked us like a Hyatt place for, I don't know, 8,000 points or something to stay overnight. And I was like, whatever, that'll be fine. We'll either do Thanksgiving earlier in the day, like we can't host, but we can go somewhere, or we'll do it the weekend before. We ended up doing it the weekend before and we hosted, which we normally do, and that worked out just fine, actually. Um, but then I'm not even gonna talk about the return flight because I'll do that in the next episode. But then come like June, I get an alert that uh Air France has canceled the Denver to Paris nonstop flight and they rerouted us, or they didn't reroute, they rebooked us Denver to JFK and then on Delta and then JFK to Paris on Air France. And this was not ideal because we were already positioning to Denver and we didn't want to have to take three flights to get there. Like it's okay to position if it's a non-stop flight, you know, once you do that. Yeah. But if you are positioning and then you still have a layover, it's kind of like, what was the point of this, you know? Yes. So and Dwayne was like, Oh yeah, like we really don't want to do that. Plus, the Denver to JFK is domestic first class. So you're you're not in a lie flat seat. So I call Air France, and I I think this actually happened while we were on a trip. So it was like it took me like a week to be able to handle it. And so I call them, and because they changed the flight, we can cancel or we can ask for a different flight. So I call and I want to be put on the Phoenix flight that still exists, that leaves on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, and is nonstop to Paris. And that's what I want, and they have availability for five, and that's what I ask for. But Air France has a policy where they will not rebook you out of a different airport if it's more than 300 miles from your original departure airport, which obviously Phoenix is more than 300 miles from Denver. Almost all international airports in the US, I feel like, are more than 300 miles apart because it's such a big country. So they tell me they can't do it. I hang up, I research on Reddit, I search in Facebook groups. Other people are saying they made an exception and were able to book me out of LAX or whatever, because other people were in the same boat as us, where they were positioning to Denver to take these nonstop flights. And the reason that the flights were canceled was uh like weather, not weather, sorry, seasonality, basically. Air France was like, we're not gonna fly out of Denver in the winter, I think was the reason. So our flight wasn't the only flight that was canceled. Um, but other people were saying that they had exceptions made. They just kept calling, kept calling, kept calling. Guys, I called like five different times. First of all, every time you call Flying Blue, it's a big hassle. You got to wait on hold, or you or you gotta find like the Paris number and then call that. I don't even know if that costs money on our phone bill. I have no idea, but I did that a few times.

SPEAKER_00:

It definitely does.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, I like you got to put in the country code and everything. I tried that, I tried their 1-800 number. I couldn't get anyone to make an exception for us, and I was super frustrated. I even read that someone filled out like the contact us form, and that's how they were able to get it done. I tried that twice. Eventually, I just resigned myself to like this is how it's gonna be, and there's nothing I can do about it. I did like kind of hope they would make another flight change leading up to the flight so that I could then call and ask again, but they didn't. And I also kept checking the points cost on from the Phoenix to Paris nonstop. Because if that, like even in the days or weeks before the flight, if that had dropped to the Saber Fairs, I was going to pay the cancellation fee to cancel and rebook. But again, that didn't happen either. So needless to say, on Thanksgiving Day, we flew from Phoenix to Denver. We stayed overnight in Denver, and then on Black Friday, we flew from Denver to JFK and then JFK to Paris. It was a long yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, it was a total of almost three days before we even got there.

SPEAKER_01:

It was 48 hours basically.

SPEAKER_00:

Felt like three days. Uh, why didn't you was the Phoenix, the direct front flight from Phoenix to France not available when you when you booked it?

SPEAKER_01:

No, it was not available at the Saber rate that I booked it. So total cost for five people. This was before Air France did a devaluation earlier this year. So if you were gonna book this same flight for five people, it would be a little bit more, but it's still pretty affordable, I think, for business class for five. Um, but we paid 212,500 miles plus a hundred or sorry, plus one thousand one hundred and eleven dollars in taxes and fees to get one way from Denver to uh Paris. And again, all five of us in business class, Air France does 25% off award flights for kids age 11 and under. So if your kid is 12, you're paying the adult price. And our kids are all 11 and under. And this is the last year that will be the case. Like literally in two weeks, our oldest is gonna turn 12. So that was another reason where I was like, we got to take advantage while we can and get these cheaper flights. So basically, for$1,100 out of pocket and points and miles that we transferred from both Capital One and Chase, we got five business class flights from the US to Paris.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Which would have been really, really good from Denver to France.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

But I'm gonna still it was fine.

SPEAKER_01:

So we the the um we didn't tell the kids, so it was a surprise. And I was concerned that they might figure it out, especially our oldest, when we got on the the first flight from Denver to uh to JFK, and we were in the front of the plane, like in first class, basically. Um, but they didn't like they put on a white tablecloth, guys, and served us a meal, and our kids in Bat and Eye like just were like this is normal life, and it definitely is not. So um, I also didn't know that they still served meals in first class. I mean, it was what a four-hour flight, Denver to JFK, four hours, something like that. Um, and then we had a three-hour layover. We did go to the business class lounge, which was fine. Yeah, I mean, I don't know, we had to change terminals. We had to go from the domestic terminal to the international at JFK, and then we got to go into the Air France like business class lounge or whatever it is there.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, which I got a facial.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh yeah, oh yeah, I forgot about that for the first time. Yes, they they have like the clearance spa in all the Air France lounges, and you can get a 20-minute like treatment and it's free. And so we were there, it was like our layover was from like six to nine or something, and then we got on the flight to to fly over the pond. And uh, so I booked uh I booked one for myself when I when we first got into the lounge, and then I also booked one for Dwayne and convinced him to go do it. It was great.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, first of all, when we got to the lounge, Ray asked the lady at the desk, is there availability at the spa? And I thought in my head, she gonna she're gonna go to the spa right now. But then, you know, a few minutes had passed, and she goes, Something about you know how much it costs. And I was like, No, and you said it was free.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and I got, oh he was like, It's free. I'm like, Yeah, you I mean, I'm gonna tip the lady, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So, yeah, she convinced me to get one too. So yeah, it was great.

SPEAKER_01:

It was relaxing after what had already been like more than 24 hours of travel.

SPEAKER_00:

What did the lady tell you? She says, not about it.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, she said, because I said, Um, you know, I booked one for my husband, but he said he's not gonna come, so your next appointment, like I just need to cancel it. And she goes, Well, you should just tell him it's not about beauty, it's about health. I was like, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So I said after it, I went, and while I was in there, she asked me if I've ever got it done. I was like, no. She goes, Well, you have naturally beautiful skin, but it's very dull. I said, Well, okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

When you came out, your skin was very sparkly.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, it it felt refreshed for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. So that was a nice little treat. Um, and I mean, by that point, we had been to so many lounges and eaten so much free food that day. We didn't pay for any food that entire day. No. So we okay, so in Denver, we flew over on Thanksgiving Day. Let's quickly recap that. Um, we visited the Chase Lounge in Phoenix before we flew out. Uh, we have access, we each have the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Each of us gets in two guests.

SPEAKER_00:

For you you need a book in advance because every time you don't, you have to wait.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, you can make a reservation, at least in the Phoenix one. It has to be at least 24 hours before.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I suggest doing that for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

But you can do it up to two weeks in advance, and I always forget, so I didn't do that.

SPEAKER_00:

So I guess we always have to wait, you know, 15 anywhere from five to 20 minutes, I'd say.

SPEAKER_01:

I think this was closer to 30.

SPEAKER_00:

It was it was yeah, it was very busy.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's a small lounge. Um, I was also really concerned about flight delays because every time you add in a layover, you increase your chances of delays, cancellations, whatever. And with it being Thanksgiving and everyone traveling, plus weather, I was really nervous about that. But all of our all of our flights getting there were on time or within like five or ten minutes. So that was also great.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, yes, and I had a check bag this time, which Duane had a check bag, which Raya hates, but I mean we were packing winter clothes, so I couldn't get mine in a little carry-on bag.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, the kids and I had our carry-ons, and Duane had to check a bag because at one point he looked at me and he was like, I've put my sweatpants in and that's it, and the suitcase is full. So um, I the reason I hate it is it just takes so much extra time and it limits your flexibility, like if you have to rebook, or you know, it's like when we when we flew back home, we waited almost a half an hour for your bag to come out. Yeah, like we would have already been home.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So, anyways, um okay, so we landed in Denver. We ended up, I ended up canceling our Hyatt Place reservation and using a Hilton Free Night certificate to stay at the Embassy Suites, Denver Airport, um, which in full transparency is a horrible use of a Hilton Free Night certificate, but it was expiring on November 29th, and we stayed on November 27th. So I was like, well, I'm gonna use this because otherwise it's gonna expire and I'm just gonna save my 8,000 high-a points. And so that's what we did. They had a they had what we thought was a free shuttle, but they ended up charging us like$4.

SPEAKER_00:

It was$8, four each way, I think.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so I don't know. But we did take the shuttle um to and from the airport. That was fine. The hotel was fine, actually. We had burgers for dinner, and the r the burgers were actually pretty good. Yeah, like better than we expected.

SPEAKER_00:

Mind you, don't forget, it was Thanksgiving Day, so yeah, it was pretty dead in the hotel. It was really dead.

SPEAKER_01:

Also, I sent Dwayne up to the front to ask about breakfast and tell me what you said when you came back.

SPEAKER_00:

What what status are we? Diamond status? So we're diamond status, and she said, Go ask the front desk, you know, diamond status. You know, breakfast options. Yeah. So I went to the front desk and I'm like, hey, you know, you know, what's the deal with breakfast in the morning? She's like, Oh, yeah, it's right over there. Blah blah blah. And I said, Well, you know, we're diamond status. Does that mean it's free? And she's like, It's free for everyone. You know, I was like, Oh, excuse me. I'll just take my diamond status and shove it on my you know, where he came back and he goes, That was so embarrassing. Yeah, I'm flaunting my diamond status and I don't even need to, but whatever. You live, you learn.

SPEAKER_01:

I never bring up my status at Embassy Suits again. Yeah. So, anyways, we were chuckling about that. And the breakfast was good. They had the waffle maker, which I feel like that's where Hyatt really is lacking in the free breakfast department. They never have waffle makers. Um, and so yeah, free breakfast at the hotel. Then we popped over to the lounge. We visited two lounges in the Capital or two lounges in the Denver Airport, both the Denver uh Delta Sky Club and the Capital One Lounge. And that was great too.

SPEAKER_00:

Capital One is I thought it was way better than Delta One.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. The Delta Sky Club that we were at in the Denver airport is being remodeled. And so they had like moved it to like a temporary location, which was kind of small and dim and dark, but they did have a really cute hot chocolate bar setup that the kids enjoyed. So, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, that the kids made a mess of, but yeah, yeah, always.

SPEAKER_01:

Um and yeah, so then we did that, and then we went to the Capital One lounge, then it was time to get on the our our flight, and so we did that. Um what else? Oh, talk about okay, so let's talk about the flight. So business class, JFK to Paris. It's like a seven and a half hour flight. It's not that long.

SPEAKER_00:

I thought it was like six.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think the seven and a half includes like the taxi time and all that. In air, I think it's around six-ish hours, maybe six and a half.

SPEAKER_00:

It was very short. It was very short. Um we didn't realize at the time, but the the plane was old.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. It was, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But again, like I said, we didn't realize that at the time.

SPEAKER_01:

I knew that it was different than the the business class that I flew in coming back from Paris. Like I think that was in, I think that was last year when I went with my mom and sister. I knew that it was definitely older than that. Um, but also my seat was kind of dirty, like there were crumbs all over the place. I don't know if that was the case for everyone else's.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, but I mean it was totally fine. Lay flat seats.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yeah. We are not the people who complain about business class. Let me let me be clear. Like when I hear podcasts where people are like, well, like the you know, the first course wasn't very good. I'm like, it was a live lasie. Like, you're fine. And we were, it was fine. The kids' reaction was really funny. I was kept being very vague because they were like, who's gonna sit with who? Because normally it's like we do three and two, and they like to argue over who gets to sit next to each other because some of them like to play games and whatever, but we have to limit who sits next to each other because they get all riled up.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, they all want to sit by you.

SPEAKER_01:

Also, that, yes, true. Um, and so I was being very vague about the seats, and I didn't know how to say like no one's sitting by anyone. And the way Air France does it is they don't allow kids to sit in the middle. I don't understand why, but they're gonna put your kids in the window and they're gonna put you in the middle, and that's what they did every single time, even if you choose to be.

SPEAKER_00:

I didn't realize that, but because at one point I thought, man, I should switch with Donovan sit by the window.

SPEAKER_01:

But yeah, I didn't realize that. That's why they told us when we got onto the first flight. She was like, You can't move around. And I like, in fact, her telling me that caused me to miss our oldest like initial reaction because he was already on the plane. So when I get on, he's look, he is just standing in the aisle going, Mom, and I'm like, Yeah. He's like, Where's my seat? And I said, Well, what does your boarding pass say?

SPEAKER_00:

He's like, It says like, I don't know, 4H or something.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and I'm like, Okay, well, where's that? He's like, Oh, it's right here. And he points to like the live flat seat, and I go, Okay, there you go. And he goes, Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And then our second notice was as soon as he got to his seat, he's started dancing.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so they were pretty excited about that. Um, so that was cute. Um the flight was fine. Um, we did have dinner, and I did not get any breakfast. They asked if I wanted to be woken for breakfast, and I said yes, but they didn't. Or they maybe they tried and I was sleeping. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

No, they didn't try.

SPEAKER_01:

I was um I didn't sleep well the night before in the hotel for no reason. I have no idea why. So I was really tired and I did sleep a good four hours, I think, on the flight over there, which was helpful. Um landed in Paris, and then here's the other kind of crappy part is I booked our trains in advance, but we had like a four and a half hour uh like a layover between the time our flight landed and the time our train for Strasbourg left.

SPEAKER_00:

So that I would try and do differently next time because it was it was cold in the train station. Yes, it was waiting for that train. Yep, and four hours. So we went to a little cafe, bought a few snacks, were in the cafe with I don't know, 20 other people that all seemed to be coughing and sick, and I was like, get me the F out of here.

SPEAKER_01:

But we didn't have anywhere else to go, so we were there for a good two hours, I think.

SPEAKER_00:

We sat there for a while.

SPEAKER_01:

We had coffees, the kids had like a breakfast-lunch type situation, and we just were kind of hanging out. Um, the tickets that I purchased, so I purchased their train line for this one because the tickets that were available on Omeo, which is the third-party app I normally use to buy tickets, um, they didn't have anything available that day for whatever reason. So we purchased their train line, they were non-refundable, so I wasn't able to like cancel it and maybe book an earlier train. Um, so I just and the reason I booked in advance, I think I booked around August for again end of November. So I kept seeing uh posts in Facebook groups about trains being sold out, and I started to get really nervous because it's a it's like a two-ish hour train ride, maybe two and a half, would you say?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it was at least two and a half, maybe it was even closer to three.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and I was kind of like, if like we have to get there today, like there's no other option. So we landed around 10 or 11, and our train left at three.

SPEAKER_00:

Three, yeah. So and let me just add the train systems are not like Japan, where the train systems in Japan are like flawless and organized. Why are you looking like that?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm just I'm we're just waiting for what else you're gonna say.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I was just gonna say it was the first train we got on was a shit show.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, people were fighting to get on. People were like, hey, hurry up, hurry up. There was no places to put your luggage. Yes, like it.

SPEAKER_01:

We were in this like weird car in like there was only two, four, six, there was only 16 seats in this little car, and like so four that faced each other, and then another four that faced each other, and then the same thing on the other side of the aisle, and that was it.

SPEAKER_00:

And like there was no room for luggages in that.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, they had a little uh little top shelf that you can throw like book bags in, but not a not even a carry-on suitcase, not a carry-on suitcase.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, we had four of those in my big luggage, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Like and the people that were getting on in front of us, like they just they had they had way more bags than us, and they were huge, and they just like got on and were just like standing there, so no one else could get on. And that was the so the people behind us were. They were like, hurry up, hurry up, because the train will leave you. So it is like Japan in that way, is that the train is not there for very long. And so Dwayne ended up having to put our bags in the car behind us.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, like I took someone else's space, but you know, there was nothing else I could do.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and then so there were like two of us sat on one side facing two strangers, and then the other three sat on the other side facing a stranger, also. So I I mean the train was packed, so it was packed, it was uh a long couple hours, but we everyone was also really tired. So at one point, everyone fell asleep, all of us. So that was fine, actually. Was good take a little, take a little nap. Um we finally get to Strasbourg, and then we have to take from the train station, we have to take the tram, okay, to our Airbnb.

SPEAKER_00:

And at this point, it's a Saturday night at like what six from six p.m. Yeah. Christmas markets everywhere, yeah. So the tram was packed, it was like almost a little scary. It was packed at one point. The train like the doors opened and shut like three or four times, and I was thinking there's too many people on it, but no one got off. We finally left. We get to our stop, and you know, usually when the train doors open at a stop, the people that are getting off go first. Yeah. And then the people wait to get in. Not here. People were trying to rush into this train while it was packed. While people were trying to get off, one guy yelled behind me, was like, You guys need to stop. So I just took my big ass luggage and I used it as like a fullback, and I just made my way through these people. And like at one point, I had to push a lady out of the way so that my daughter and my kids could, you know, get through the crowd. Yes, and I was it was another show.

SPEAKER_01:

And I was at the back, and I also used the suitcase. I I had two suitcases. I also used the suitcase that I had to block a lady who was trying to go past us. And I'm like, no, like my kid is gonna go in front of me.

SPEAKER_00:

You are not gonna have to get violent.

SPEAKER_01:

It was like scary for a moment, and the kids are like, Why are you pushing us? And I'm like, I am not pushing you, like that's what I need you to understand. I am being pushed, and there is a difference.

SPEAKER_00:

It was crazy, but again, it was it was a Saturday night with Christmas markets, yes, 6 p.m. Which, yes, it was prime time, but yeah, again, there was it was just chaos at one point.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so we had to be a little bit aggressive, which um, yeah, anyways, it is what it is.

SPEAKER_00:

So then we go to our Airbnb, yes, which we normally don't do.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep. So I there's a Marriott in Strasbourg that you can book. Um, so if you wanted to stay with points, you could do that. Potentially, maybe there's like other options you could book through like a Chase travel portal and utilize like an edit credit or something, but I booked this almost a full year in advance, and I thought it was gonna be perfect for what we needed it for. And so I really didn't look for any other accommodations, even after Chase did the the updates to the Chase Sapphire Reserve cards and and added like the edit credits. I still didn't I didn't even bother looking because I wanted to stay in this Airbnb, and it was great. Our host was great.

SPEAKER_00:

Um the Airbnb was super nice. Yeah, it was really, really nice.

SPEAKER_01:

Three bedrooms or two bedrooms and an office if you're less than five people. Um, one of the bedrooms had two like twin beds in it, so definitely geared for kids.

SPEAKER_00:

Perfect location too. It was right right next to the stop.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. When we got off the tram, it's literally right there. So you didn't like we didn't have to walk far with our bags, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And it was renovated. It was really, really nice Airbnb.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, full kitchen, nice little patio balcony type situation. Um, they had a little Christmas tree set up in there, so that was nice and cozy. Um, they had a little advent calendar that had some candies in it. So it was, it was um, it was great. I would 100% recommend it, and I would absolutely stay there again. Um walkable to the markets, but you also could take the tram like one or two stops if you wanted to. We did both options. Um I want to talk a little bit about so before we get to like the markets themselves. So when I was booking this trip, first of all, I have been in a Facebook group that's called like the magical Christ. Hold on, let me find let me find the name of it. Okay, it is called Magical Christmas Markets of Europe, and it has over 600,000 members in it. So um I I can put a link in the show notes. I Facebook groups are a way that I absolutely use to research every single trip. Um, I don't generally post questions, but I go in and I search in the Facebook group for whatever I want to know. I would say 99% of the time someone has already asked it. And then I read through all the comments. Sometimes I take screenshots. Um, sometimes I just kind of copy and paste into like a Google Notes doc or a Google Keep doc that I have for each trip. And um yeah, so magical Christmas markets of Europe. That is one place that I would start or any like Facebook group that you um, you know, think might be helpful. I generally just want when I'm searching for new groups, I want one that has a lot of people in it that has a lot of posts every day. Um, because I I want up-to-date information and I want to know like that it's being crowdsourced to a lot of people. So that's generally what I look for in a Facebook group. Um, and so when I was deciding, okay, how are we gonna do the Christmas markets? Because guys, there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Christmas markets throughout Europe. Uh, some of the best ones are known to be in Germany, which is why we did Germany also. Um so I basically just start with like, okay, where are the best places to see Christmas markets in Europe? And then it'll give you, it'll say like Strasbourg, Cologne, Munich, um, you know, maybe like Vienna, Austria. Um, and then I started looking, okay. Well, we have flights into Paris. So, and I don't want to get on yet another flight, especially now that we've got three flights just to get to freaking Paris. So I I need it needs to be somewhere that's accessible by train. Okay, so then I'm looking, okay, like Strasbourg is two to three hours from Paris by train. That's totally doable. That's how we set settled on Strasbourg as being one of our main bases. Okay, then from there uh basically our flights home kind of determined the the next uh uh path, which we ended up flying out of Frankfurt because I was either going to have us go to Cologne or to Munich. And if I could find flights out of Munich, we would go there. Cologne, I don't know if they have an I'm they probably have an international airport, but Frankfurt is at less than an hour from train from Cologne. So, and that is a huge international airport. So um I ended up getting the flights out of Frankfurt, so that made our decision for us, basically, because Munich is in the other direction. So that was how we decided on the two kind of main home bases, I'm gonna call them. And then once I had those, I went, okay, like what are the markets to see in Strasbourg? When are they open? Because they're not all open every day. And then are there any day trips that we could take from Strasbourg? And same thing with Cologne. And there are day trips and there are little towns that you can and absolutely should go to visit. But that's like how I started the process and then kind of worked my way down. So I started with the flights, and once I had the flights, then I let that determine. Okay, so we're gonna go to these two places, and then while we're in these two places, we can do a day trip here or we can do a day trip there, and then you know, we'll fly out of Frankfurt. So that was how I thought through it, but also like knowing full well that there are so many markets we will never see. Not on this trip and maybe not on a future trip. Um, and like you just have to be okay with that, and it's gonna be fine.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, but we did see a lot of markets.

SPEAKER_01:

We did. Yes. Okay, so we get to Strasbourg, we get in our Airbnb. Our host actually didn't end up meeting us. He sent a friend um to let us in, and he happened to get there at the same exact time that we walked up to the door, basically. So, like we were at the door, and I was kind of looking at the buttons because it said to push a certain button with a certain name. And then the guy walked up and he was like, Are you like here waiting waiting for Arthur? And I was like, Oh, yeah. And he's like, Oh, perfect. Like, let me let you in. And he let us in. Um, it's on the fourth floor. There is an elevator.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh the elevator on the fifth floor, but four, four in France, because they don't count the first floor.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. As a floor, true. So you push four in the elevator, but it is the fifth floor, technically.

SPEAKER_00:

Um the only reason why I say that is because we walked the stairs one point, and I was like, What is going on here? Yeah, it was so many steps.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't think I ever took the stairs, not one time. Well, I was like, This is more than four floors, but the elevator is so small that we could not all fit in the elevator.

SPEAKER_00:

It was like a three-person elevator, yeah. So, um, so, anyways, I don't know if you saw the elevator's name.

SPEAKER_01:

No, it had a name.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it was you know, Schinder's list, the movie. This was Schinder's liftler, Schindler, yes, lift.

SPEAKER_01:

I did not see that.

SPEAKER_00:

I had to add that to my IG story one day.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my god, that's funny. I did not even notice that. That's great. Um, okay, so yeah, so we take the elevator up. It was very warm. That was my if I had a complaint, it would be that we didn't know how to turn down the radiators or whatever they were. So it was pretty warm in the apartment. Um, but like very cozy was great. Yeah. Um, I'll link it in the show notes if you guys are interested in booking it. Um would definitely recommend. Not sponsored, we paid full price. We pay, oh, we paid$1,600 total for three nights there. Um, it sleeps up to six. So if you're a family of six, this would still absolutely work. Um that that is kind of a lot, I think. But again, it is peak season for Strasbourg.

SPEAKER_00:

And it was a prime location again.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, I would pay that again in a heartbeat. And that includes, you know, all the cleaning fees and whatever else Airbnb wants to tack on, you know. Um, okay, so we get in, we we drop off our stuff, we're hungry, but we're gonna go see the markets first day, Saturday, Saturday night. We walk to the markets.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Again, we have been traveling at this point for more than 48 hours.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Because it's like 6 p.m. in France, which is like 10 a.m. Phoenix time, which is literally the time we left to go to the airport on Thursday. So yeah, 48 hours, long travel days. And we walked to the markets and the lights, the sounds, the smells, like the crowds. It is all exactly as I thought it would be in the best way.

SPEAKER_00:

And yes, festive AF.

SPEAKER_01:

I was like, oh my god, we've done it. We're here. We've arrived. This is our reward for the last 48 hours of traveling with these crazy kids. And it was like I almost cried at one point. I never told you that, but I was just like so excited to finally be doing this thing that had been on my bucket list for over a decade. And like you get there and it truly does live up to the hype. Truly.

SPEAKER_00:

Like I've never heard of a Christmas market until you told me about one.

SPEAKER_01:

But it was a long time ago, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. But I mean, it was definitely, definitely worth the hype for sure. I mean, it was, like I said, festive. There were all types of vendors, food. Well, not all types of food, but sausage. Sausages, sausages, and sausages.

SPEAKER_01:

They had flam kuchin. That was the like crispy flatbread type thing that you could get with like cheese or cheese and ham. So that was the first thing we ate. It was called flam kuchin.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. It was pretty good.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, the kids were like, ooh, this is great. Has like a white cheese on it. We got cheese and ham.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we uh got some what is it called? Glue glue hine. Glue wine. Glue line. The mold wine. Yes. Or what was it called in French? French?

SPEAKER_01:

Vin show.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Vin is wine. Show is hot.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So they have you can choose red or white. Um, we chose white.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. It was pretty good.

SPEAKER_01:

It was very good, actually. It was not very strong the first night. The rest of the ones we had were very strong. This one was not, and I really enjoyed it. I don't like the super strong drinks at all. Um, so but we had a couple of glasses of that that we kind of shared between us. And we got a Kinder Punch, which in Strasbourg, it was just apple, it was hot apple juice that the kids drank and liked. We had um, we got a some bratwurst, one covered in like sauerkraut, and then one with just ketchup. And we just kind of this was how we had dinner. We just got some things to try and we all shared it, and then we moved on to the next area, and we got some sausages to try, and we all shared those. We got got a couple crepes, yes, which were with delicious banana, Nutella, and whipped cream, so good, which was yummy, and that was our dinner, and we just kind of meandered our way through the markets, just taking it all in. I mean, first of all, there were several different markets that we kind of walked through from our Airbnb and back.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, the one in Strasbourg was the biggest one we went to. Yeah, it was yeah. I mean, you would walk down streets and just run into one.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Our last day there, we I was we found one we have never seen. I was like, holy shit, there's another one.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and that's actually where we found the mugs. So a lot of people, here's how the mugs work, okay? And sometimes some people collect these mugs. We now have seven, I think, right? Seven?

SPEAKER_00:

Seven, yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So when you order your Vin show, you order the wine, plus you pay a deposit. And if you return the cup, you get the deposit back. If you don't return the cup, you don't get the deposit back, obviously. In Strasbourg, they mostly have these plastic cups. And like sometimes when we returned them, we got a deposit back, and other times we did not. And so we don't know the difference. I don't I assume sometimes we paid a deposit and other times we didn't, and we just didn't realize it. Um, we used cards most of the time. We did take out some Euros to use when necessary, but for the most part, most of the places took both cards and cash. We actually ended up coming home with like 80 euros that I'm gonna put in an envelope and save for our next trip to Europe next year.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. And we put out what 200 euros?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So we didn't use very much cash, basically. Um, we did, however, find one mug in Strasbourg on our last day there. So it was like a red, um, cute little red, like I don't even know how to describe it, but it's a cute little red mug. And so we took that to go. And um, it was great. Like, really, really enjoyed the markets. And we so we hadn't, I made literally zero plans other than wandering through Christmas markets and just seeing where where the world took us that day. And like I did have a couple of like, okay, if it rains, here's some like indoor stuff maybe we could do. But we actually got really lucky and it only rained one day uh for the entire trip, really. And okay, so we go to the markets, we drink our our hot malt wine, our Vin show, and then we go back to the Airbnb and we go to bed. Okay, like kit make the kids shower, go to bed. Then tell what happened the next day.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, the next day we didn't wake up until I mean 11 a.m.

SPEAKER_01:

11 a.m.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, which we never do. I mean, there's always a kid that's up between six and seven every day, no matter what.

SPEAKER_01:

And sometimes earlier with jet lag.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Like like obviously, this was from the jet lag, and obviously because we we had a really long travel days, but like normally jet lag is the opposite, and we're up super early. And so when I woke up and it said 11 a.m. and everyone else was still sleeping, I was like, What has happened right now?

SPEAKER_00:

And I mean, we didn't even go to bed super late either.

SPEAKER_01:

No, we didn't. It was like, I don't know, nine, maybe?

SPEAKER_00:

Maybe ten. Maybe ten, yes. But we've never, I couldn't even tell you the last time I slept past 9 a.m. Yeah, we let alone 11.

SPEAKER_01:

When Duane woke up, literally, we both were like, never has this ever happened to us. And all the kids were still sleeping. So, like, by the time I had to wake them up. Yeah, we had to wake them up. We were like, what the heck was in that wine?

SPEAKER_00:

Something because we let the kids try some. And I said, Yeah, there was something in there.

SPEAKER_01:

Something. So by the time we like make our way into town to try to find some lunch, it is like one o'clock.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I found this place on Google, which had a lot of good reviews, and we get there and we had to wait like another half an hour. So we didn't even eat lunch until like two. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Two o'clock. Yeah. So Dwayne waited in line for a bit, and me and some of the kids walked around and then we switched, and Dwayne walked around. The the town of Strasbourg is like a literal fairy tale. Like, if you told me that this was the town that like Sleeping Beauty or um not Sleeping Beauty, uh Belle, Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and the Beast was filmed, I would a hundred percent believe you.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I mean, I didn't tell you this, but I felt like I was in like Disneyland. Yeah, I felt like I was on a movie set.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And all the towns that we visited. Like it was just it was so different from the United States. Like so much history, so much character.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Everything was so beautiful, everything was Christmas decorated. Like you just look around and you're just like, oh my goodness, like this is crazy.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it was like our our trip to Europe the first time. I just snapped a bunch of pictures of like different streets, and I did the same thing here.

SPEAKER_01:

Like Dwayne probably has 1,000 photos of just like alleys, European like alleys and streets. Um okay, so we we have we do we ate for lunch, we have lunch, we go inside, it's nice and warm because it's raining. This is the day that it rained, and we're eating lunch. I ordered Spetzel, which is like their version of like a pasta, basically, and it had bacon and cream and onions, and it was very good. Um, the kids got like sausage yet again. Um, you got what did you get?

SPEAKER_00:

Corn bleu, veal.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, it was veal. I didn't realize that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Which it was okay. My mom and my sister actually make really good corn blew.

SPEAKER_01:

So um we had a nice lunch. It was nice to just be inside. It felt like a very cozy restaurant. It was raining outside. And then I said, I was like, you guys, like by now it's like 3, 3:30. And I'm like, is it crazy that I just want to go back and relax for the rest of the day? And everyone was like, no, that sounds great. So that's what we did. We kind of wandered our way back to our Airbnb. We went the long way, so we did pass through the markets again. But I mean, it was like it was just cold and rainy and wet, and we were exhausted. So we spent the Sunday night in our Airbnb. The way that I watched a Christmas movie, the kids got to play on their iPads, the Christmas tree was all lit up. We got like takeout dinner from KFC.

SPEAKER_00:

KFC, which I don't recommend. The only reason why we got it is because it was literally right there.

SPEAKER_01:

It was right across the street. But the chicken tenders were fine.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't think you my sandwich was horrible. Yeah, the kids, I'll never never do that again.

SPEAKER_01:

The chicken tenders were just fine. And there was also like a sandwich place there, and they got me like a chicken sandwich that was on like a pretzel roll. That was also fine. It was fine. Um, so yeah, we just kind of hung out and went to bed, and then that was that was our whole day. Um, so kind of kind of a wasted day, but it also just felt really nice and cozy to just kind of be together in this little apartment.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, it's something we never do, we're always on the go, go, go, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean, it was great. I felt so relaxed. We got coffee from Starbucks and took it back and just drank it. It was great. I like actually have very, a very fond memory of that. So, um, and then the next day we did a day trip to Colmar, which I would also recommend. Um, and we also from Colmar did another day trip to an even smaller town that I'm not going to pronounce correctly, but it looks like Igwashim. E-G-U-I-S-H-I-E-M, Igwishim. And so in my research of day trips, again, this is coming from like Reddit threads and Facebook groups where I'm searching best day trips from Strasbourg for Christmas markets. This is where it's important to know which markets are open which days, because there's a grouping of like four or five towns that you can go to from Colmar that have Christmas markets, but most of them are only open on the weekends. And this is Monday now. However, one of them is open every day, and that was Iguishim. And so that's where we went. So let me back up. So we took a train from Strasbourg to Colmar. Lots of trains run all the time. It's I don't know, maybe an hour, would you say? Maybe 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_00:

Not long.

SPEAKER_01:

So we took the train. Um, the all the markets in Colmar are walkable from the train station, in our experience. So we walked. They had a like one market that was super geared towards kids. So like they had carnival rides here. Yeah. Like swings and carousels and I don't know, sleigh cars, like yes, kind of like bumper cars, but or go-karts, but like little sleigh cars.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. On a small track.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

They they also had a carousel bar, which I've never seen before. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep. That was where we act. That was where I acquired my very first Christmas market mug, and it was a little red boot, and it is very cute. The boot is cute. So we kind of hung out there for, I don't know, about an hour. The kids went on the different rides. The rides are very much geared towards little kids. Oh, yeah, there was like a little roller coaster too. Again, like little kids.

SPEAKER_00:

But they did have a swing. Yeah. Which was for our adults and bigger kids.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. It was 10 euros for all three of our kids to ride each ride. So it was like four dollars, four euros per kid or three for ten per ride. So we paid about 30 euro for them to ride these various rides, and they thought it was great. Um, then we wandered over to a different market in Colmar and had some lunch. Then we planned to go to Igwashim, and I had ordered us bus tickets on this Christmas shuttle that they have. And it was eight euros per adult and kids were free. So 16 euros. Um, however, I did not look at the times for the shuttle because I thought it said it ran every hour on the hour or something. Um, however, when we got to the office to ask where to get on the shuttle, the next one wasn't until 2:30 and it was only like noon. Right?

SPEAKER_00:

Something like that, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

So I'm like, well, we're definitely not gonna wait two and a half hours. So we took a taxi or an Uber, actually. We called an Uber. It was maybe a 15-minute Uber ride. It wasn't very expensive, maybe 20 euro. And we literally drove through like grapefields and country to get to this other little town.

SPEAKER_00:

And yeah, I mean, it was great. First of all, back let me back up. Colmar, that little town is where I felt like I was on this movie set. Yeah. I mean, that town was uh it it almost looked fake to me. Yeah, like it was just I I don't even know how to explain. Like it was so festive, the buildings were old, but yet I I don't even know. They were just they have characters, yes. I mean it it felt like a movie set. Yeah, I don't know how else to put it in in like Disneyland or something.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, literally, it looks like the town from Beauty and the Beast.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean it looked like they had just built it.

SPEAKER_01:

But made it look old, yes, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um yes, it was so I would highly recommend going to Colmar if you're wanting to go to a Christmas market.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I don't know what it's like in the summer, but I would imagine it's just as picturesque, just without the decorations, you know. Yeah, it was definitely cold. Um okay, so then we go to Iguishim. You know what? I think I had the times wrong because I think it was around two o'clock, and I think the next shuttle was 4 30. Yeah, and we were like, well, we're not gonna go that late. So by the time we get there, it's I don't know, maybe it's three o'clock, let's say. And we wander around for a little bit. Part of the reason you want to go to these smaller towns with smaller markets is to get away from the crowds. The bigger markets are super crowded, especially at night and on the weekends. Now it was Monday, so it wasn't too bad, but there were definitely still a lot of people in Colmar for sure. Um, Iguishim definitely felt less crowded. And I do think if we had been there without kids, we could have enjoyed it a little bit more because they had like foie gras and like all these more like elevated snacks that you could try. But first of all, we weren't hungry, and second of all, I don't know. It it felt like too much with kids.

SPEAKER_00:

It was really small though.

SPEAKER_01:

It was small, yeah. But they definitely had more like if you're looking for like the artisan kind of crafts and like uh souvenirs, this town for sure had more of that versus like Strasbourg, which is much bigger, but also more commercial, I would say. So definitely would recommend the smaller towns, even if it's not Iguishine. There's like three or four others that are all on like a Christmas market shuttle loop. Um, and again, that's on the weekends for the most part, to my understanding. Um leaving Iguishim, we the we were like, well, I'm paid for the shuttle, so we're gonna get on the shuttle. But like the next shuttle left at 5 p.m. And we got in line at like 4 15, and there were people that didn't make it on the shuttle. So I think maybe an Uber is probably the better way to go, honestly, if you want to be on your own time schedule.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Because the bus was packed, it was packed. People waiting there before we got there.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yep. So um we took so then we took the shuttle back to Colmar. We took a train back from Colmar to Strasbourg, and we went into the markets in Strasbourg one more time before um, because we had a train to Germany that the next day. So we um got our souvenirs and had some more crepes and waffles, and that's where we got the mug. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And it was right the market we found the mug at was right by the cathedral, yes, which was the what was it called? It was Notre Dame.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, the yeah, it was called Notre Dame Strasbourg or something like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Very beautiful. Yes. I'm a little upset that I didn't get a picture of it during the day, but yes, Duane loves a good cathedral.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and he was like, I really want to get a picture of that during the day, but we just were never there before it was dark. Also, it gets uh it gets dark pretty early, like around 4 30. It's like dusk, I would say. Which is a little different for where for us and where we live. So um any last?

SPEAKER_00:

No, I mean I think that wraps up Strasbourg. Um but yes, Christmas market's totally worth the hype. A friend actually reached out to me knowing that we were going there, and she was like, This is probably my favorite Christmas market. Which I mean, it was Strasbourg.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, or Colmar.

SPEAKER_00:

Strasbourg.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely one of the more popular towns for it. Um, so would definitely recommend. Um, I'll link the Airbnb in the show notes. And what was the other thing I was gonna link? Oh, the Facebook group that I joined. Um and we will be back next week with all about Germany. Cologne. Cologne, Germany, um, and all the things we did and where we stayed. We did stay on points in Germany, so fun fact, cologne.

SPEAKER_00:

That's where they invented cologne.

SPEAKER_01:

It is, yes. Fun fact, I told Dwayne that on the trip, actually.

SPEAKER_00:

So yes, another fun fact. Raya doesn't like any of the cologne I wear, so I don't wear cologne anymore.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I'm just very sensitive to smells, anyways. We've we've we veered off track here. Um, so the Christmas markets, they are worth the hype. Um, and I'm excited to share all about cologne and the German Christmas markets next week because they were actually very different. Like when we got to Germany, I was like, oh, I was like, this is why people say that Germany has the best Christmas markets, like a hundred percent. So but they had sausages, sausages everywhere. It's just what it's like to be a woman in 2025. Okay, we will see you guys on the next episode.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for tuning in. Bye, have a good one.