Wiesbaden and Mainz

Yesterday we took a day trip on the SBahn out to Wiesbaden and Mainz. An hour on the S-bahn from my house and we were in a whole new city, on a different river! It was my first view of the Rhein since I've been living in Germany. We started out in Wiesbaden where we walked through a Christmas market (of course!) and ate some lunch.

Some nice looking façades of Wiesbaden apartments

Lunch in the Christmas market, in front of the carousel. 

Mum had already made two purchases by this point, and both for herself! Not much snow left by this point, just some small patches left from Tuesday. After lunch we decided to head to Mainz, as we wanted to go into the Landesmuseum there. We had some time before the S-bahn, so we wandered back to the station. We came across a monument to the battle of Waterloo:

In Mainz, the museum was great, with a little bit of everything. History of the area (even some from Roman times), art work, furniture, glass work, dutch paintings! I found a painted wooden screen that I could quite happily have taken home. The wood itself was beautifully made with carved leaves at the top. Then the four panels were each painted with a scene from the four seasons. 

After the museum we wandered along the Rhein. We enjoyed the grand old houses that are built along the river. When we got to the rathaus we walked into a Christmas market and a nice square in the city. 

Christie taking a picture of my parents... the pictures didn't turn out so I have to post the one I took. 

A busy Christmas market all nicely lit up

By this time we were all rather hungry, so we had an early dinner... in McDonald's. There are some times when McDonald's is just what is needed. Us on the way back to Frankfurt:

Today (Robert's birthday!) we stayed in Frankfurt. The weather has not been great so we spent part of the day in the Städel art gallery. The 19th C German paintings were popular with my family, especially with my dad. I liked the room with some impressionists as well. The more modern stuff (and some of the earlier works) were not as much our cups of tea. They had an exhibit on Alte Meister (old masters) which had some wonderful pieces as well. After a quick look in the communications museum and a stop at the Christmas market it was time to head back for a bit of a rest. Most of the Christmas markets close today. I will have to wait until next year for more! Though there will be other kinds of markets and festivals in between :)