Snow Road Trip to Czech & Saxony, Germany - Day 9: Freiberg, Waldenburg & Bamberg

We left Dresden in the early morning of Day 9. Our first stop was Freiberg, a medieval town in the state of Saxony. We had a breakfast in the Old Town and walked around a bit before heading to our next stop. A bakery and cafe, called Bäckerei Schmieder was our breakfast place. I had an omelette with tomato, basil and mozzarella, which was a very dry, overcooked egg sheet. Perhaps I should have not expected that a French-style, silky, fluffy, custardy, delicate omelette would be prepared in Germany, or at least at a bakery. At least this well-done omelette would be approved for food safety by U.S. FDA. I don't remember what J had, though. It must have been a kind of savory dish.

Within a couple of block from the bakery, we found the Christmas market at Obermarkt, or the Upper Market, which was market square.

We didn't miss the pickaxe-shaped decorations on the tower wall of the 15th century town hall at the square. Freiberg has a rich history of mining and smelting. Mining in Freiberg began in the 12th century and continued to the 20th century. Especially, the silver mine in the region is one of the largest and oldest silver mines in Saxony. 

At the square there was also a large Christmas pyramid. The wooden figures on the pyramid were traditional miners and smelters. Freiberg's Christmas market has been presented under the motto "Original mining in the Ore Mountains." It was fascinating to find a Christmas market that the town's history was reflected on strongly although we didn't have a chance to see it open since we were there only a hour or so in the early morning.

We walked up to Petrikirche, or the parish church of St. Petri, which was built at least before 1190 on the highest point of the city center as a Romanesque basilica. The church was closed at that time and we couldn't see the inside.

While we were walking around, we found another church, Jakobikirche. The 19th century evangelical lutheran church was also closed. I wasn't surprised because the town was so quiet and we hardly passed by people there. 

Across from the church was Donatsturm. The 15th century round tower was part of the city fortifications. Freiberg was the richest city in Saxony until the 15th century although it was difficult for me to imagine the past glory from our short walk in the town. 

Then we found another church, St. Nicholas Church. Well, despite the name, it wasn't a church anymore. Originally built between 1185 and 1190 in the Romanesque style, the building was renovated and became a concert and conference hall in 2002. Anyway, the door was closed. We couldn't get in.

We walked around probably only less than the half of the Old Town, but it was time to go to the next stop. The rest of the town was saved for future if we come back to Freiberg sometime. After about an hour drive, we arrived at Waldenburg, a small town in the state of Saxony, surrounded by rolling hills and forests. The reason we came there was to visit the Schloss Waldenburg, or the 'Schloss Lutz,’ the home of Madame D in the Grand Budapest Hotel.

The castle had been the princely residence of the House of Schönburg (Schönburg-Waldenburg) for centuries. The origins of the castle building dates from the 12th century while the current appearance resulted from a major renovation under Prince Otto Victor II of Schönburg-Waldenburg in the early 1900s. The castle is now owned by the district of Zwickau and open for public. We were able to walk around in the castle freely. First we did a tour in the downstairs. There were a chapel, a kitchen and exhibitions about the castle architecture and the filming history. The castle has been used for around 20 film and television productions, including the Grand Budapest Hotel.

We think the downstairs wasn't used for the Grand Budapest Hotel, but we found some locations that we recognized in the upstairs. 

The impressive stair hall with skylight was one of those.

The library was where "Boy with Apple" was found in the film. I believe everyone who watched the film recognizes the room, particularly around the fireplace.

The two-floor library with wood panels and skylight was gracefully designed by a young architecture from Dresden according to Prince's interest in a contemporary architecture. 

The billiard table was in the GBH, too although it was placed in the small open space between the library and this Billiard Room.

Some rooms were plain and some were heavily decorated.

The Gobelin Room, Princess Eleonore von Schönburg-Waldenburg's salon, designed in French royal style.  

The Room of Mirrors, another room for Princess Eleonore. Literally, large mirrors were all around in the lavish room. 

The heavy wood paneled corridor made me feel like being surrounded by giant dark chocolate bars.

There were two ballrooms: the Yellow Hall and the Blue Hall, which were connected with each other. 

Who got those presents?

The castle tour was enjoyable and especially finding the rooms and things that were seen in the film of the GBH was very amusing.  

Before leaving the castle, we explored around the building. There was a little garden, which looked like a rose garden. It must be pretty during summer. 

We found a market square near the castle. There was no Christmas market but a Christmas pyramid. There were a few shops around there and all were closed except a little kebab shop. The town was deserted somehow. On the other hand, the weather got nicer and warmer. I felt the snowy winter was over.

We drove southwest about two and a half hours, passing through the state of Thuringia, and arrived in Bamberg, a medieval town in northern Bavaria. The blue sky disappeared and the cloudy winter sky came back by the time we got there. We walked to the Old Town and quickly found a Christmas market on Grüner Markt, the central square in Bamberg's pedestrian zone. 

At the other end of Grüner Markt was Maximiliansplatz, the largest square in the town center of Bamberg, where a bigger Christmas market was set up. The Christmas market was so crowded!

Früchtebrot, or Fruit Bread reminded me of the Christmas market in Nuremberg that we visited a year before. I don't remember if I saw Früchtebrot at Görlitz, Dresden or Czech. I read that kind of sweet, dark, firm bread with baked dried fruit and nuts is originally from the southern Germany, Austria and Tyrol. Bamberg might be the most-north town to offer Früchtebrot. Anyway, we bought a classic Stollen in Dresden and didn't invest in Früchtebrot this time.

Instead of snacking among numbers of people drinking and partying at the Christmas market, we thought that it would be nice to have a sit-down dinner after the long travel. J found a well-reviewed restaurant in the Old Town and we headed there.

Unfortunately the restaurant was packed. We tried to find a table at another restaurant nearby, but we were told that there was no table available. It was still the late afternoon of Friday, but because of the Christmas market, many people were visiting the Old Town and eating all the day, I guess. We ended up joining the crowds at the Christmas market to look for dinner options.

We chose cheesy Spätzle. It was fine. 

Then, we also had a vegetable Flammkuchen at the Christmas market of Grüner Markt.

For desserts, we stopped by Konditorei und Café Graupner. The over-100-year-old local pastry shop and cafe was not only conveniently located near our hotel but also filled with adorable, colorful cookies, macarons, fresh cakes and Christmas specials. Naturally I couldn't help but step unto the sweet wonderland.

We bought various cookies, lebkuchen and baumkuchen to take home with us and moved into their cafe. It was wonderful to take off my jacket, sit down and have a cup of tea. I also ordered a cake, of course. When I saw the berry cream cake in the showcase, I immediately fell in love with it. The cake was as delicious as it looked. I wish I could try all their cakes...

To be continued...