The first weekend in December was our last weekend getaway for this year. A friend from Bangkok invited us to visit her in the beautiful town of Saalfeld in the state (Thüringen), located in the center of Germany.
It took about 4,5 hours to drive the 390km by car. After arriving at the Pension (homestay) near the center of town, we heard the music from the Christmas market, but we were to tired to go.
The next morning we started early with a nice breakfast at the local Kaffeehaus Wenzel, right at the marketplace, where the Christmas market was located.
After exploring the city for a while and meeting our friend at the Christmas market, we went for a walk towards the Feengrotten at the outskirts of town. Light snowfall that began in the morning continued until the afternoon, so everything was covered with soft white snow. On the way to the Feengrotten we started collecting snow, rolling snowballs on walls and wider surfaces. Once we reached the first meadow outside of town we carried heavy snowballs of 30 to 40 cm diameter, almost ready to build a snowman.
After a little more effort our snowman was standing, and acting as a model for pictures with the kids.
In the evening we had a nice dinner at a restaurant called K*Star. Actually we planned to have a local dinner, but it was too late to make a reservation for Saturday evening. After the dinner we were tired and went to bed early.
But next morning we woke up fresh and ready for more exploration.
After a nice breakfast at our friends home, we went to the Feengrotten (Fairy Grotto) which supposedly is the most colorful grotto I. the world.
Our way back home was calm and the snow got less and less along the way.