Europeans have a wonderful commitment to their heritage.  After so much of Germany was destroyed during WWII, many of the cities, towns and villages vowed to rebuild in the old style.  They used photographs, paintings and what may have been remaining of architectural drawings to recreate their ancient buildings and streets.  The effort to rebuild after such devastation would have been immense to begin with, but to reinvent medieval city centers that effectively embrace a thriving citizenry was herculean!

While in Frankfurt, we enjoyed a huge Christmas Market (with the lights on), Limed our way around (even getting stopped by the German police to make sure we weren’t drinking and scooting – we weren’t, by the way), visited the Frankfurt Zoo and got a real taste of the popularity of the German Christmas Markets!

Here are my favorite pictures!

Our first booth – classic!

The main “old” center square – beautifully decorated.

Christmas trees, anyone?

A gorgeous two story carousel!

The top of the main square.

Sycamore trees line the walk along the Rhine.

The Frankfurt Zoo was a lovely treat. It was quiet, well established and a fabulous example of an inner city zoo experience.

Yes, it is a cone of French fries with sauce on top…so American! hahahaha

The darker it got, the more magical it became.

I love the classic quality of the Christmas tree.

Eat, drink (but don’t drive) and be merry!