9 Days, 9 Countries, 9 Christmas Markets (finale)

We decided to celebrate Christmas this year with a big adventure by traveling to nine different countries in nine days to visit nine of the best Christmas markets in all of Europe. Would I be any better right now? We knew this wouldn't be easy, but it's been a bit more challenging than we expected.

We're running for a train that we don't even know if we can get on.

We might be taking an Uber to Austria.

Why does it always have to be like this?

Doesn't every great adventure come with a little drama, Though? So far we indulged in Belgian fries, waffles, chocolate and beer in Brussels, survived the same run in Salzburg, and enjoyed some amazing glue vine in Nuremberg. In Strasbourg, the markets were filled with gorgeous lights, French cheese and champagne. What do I do to deserve this life that we get to live? Then Basel had even more cheese, including this hollowed out baguette filled with fondue. And next we flew over the Alps to Budapest to see if it lived up to the hype.

Y', all, this is so fun.

We only have three days left in this Christmas market Sprint. And for our last three countries, we decided to really switch it up.

Okay, so far we have taken a train, plane and automobiles. And for our last one, we're taking.

A best Christmas market reveal yet. We hope you enjoy this final episode and stick around till the end where we rank all of the markets that we visited and bestow the Kara and Nate best Christmas Market in Europe award to our favorite.

Day seven. We're up our way to head to the train station.

It is almost snowing this morning. Almost. And by that I mean it's raining. Prague is a six hour train right away. So we are heading to the station to catch one of the first trains out this morning so we can have as much time as possible at the Christmas market this evening.

How different is this compared to last night? From not being able to breathe to being the only ones on the street.

Wow, look at this train station not running.

I think this is our first train of the trip that's actually left on time.

It's a big moment for the journey and the snow is beautiful. It actually started snowing.

This is without a doubt my favorite train ride yet.

Now all we need is a coffee.

Got him walking between all these train doors. My hand is gonna be eaten. Interesting.

Drop the link.

Surprise.

It's real espresso.

So it has been like a sauna in here. And I think we just switched to a new country and a new train attendant came in. She opened the windows and gave Everybody, a cold bottle of water. Best train ride ever.

Seven hours later, we have arrived in Prague.

I feel so relaxed and rested, Ready conquer the day.

This is how I thought every train ride was going to go. And then we've just gotten off every other one and completely exhausted and frazzled. Okay, from here we have a 15 minute walk to our hotel where we'll drop our stuff and then head out to the Christmas markets.

Wow. It's huge.

Wow.

Check out our view. Oh, my gosh.

Okay.

Packing in our backpacks is the best decision that we could have made for this trip. I cannot imagine running after all these trains, packing, unpacking, moving hotels, going to the airport with our huge suitcases. And these little details aren't really things that we've talked about in this series so far. And I didn't know if anybody cared, but I asked Instagram yesterday for any and all questions related to this Christmas market. Sprint. And there are actually a lot of great questions. So today, as we explore Prague, we're going to answer a few of them. What we brought on this trip and.

What we've been wearing, it all fits into this little back. Or if you're Kara, the top of this rolls and expands and cares. Is now like this tall.

Well, it depends on how many of my clothes are on my body. We packed the bare minimum and we still packed too much. So base layer when going out. Cheap pair of insulated pants and a top and wool socks.

T shirt, sweatshirt, pants, jacket. It has been just above freezing almost every single day of this trip and we have been so comfortable.

I bought these cute jeans that are like wide leg and like flared like I wore in like fourth grade. But apparently these are cool again, seem to fit in with all the young kids at the market. And then I have one like travel day. Slightly more comfy outfit, completely unnecessary. And then obviously toiletries, our electronics, cameras.

That's it.

I also have one glove. I lost the other one in Strasburg, Salsburg. Is that.

Sunshine?

I think this is the first time that we have seen the sunshine in seven days. We have arrived here at the perfect time. It's golden hour. And everything looks stunning.

It looks like there's a filter on the entire city. This is definitely helping the vibe. Score.

I think the sunlight's doing something to my brain, as you can probably tell by the amount of people. This bridge that we're walking across now is probably the most iconic landmark in all of Prague is called the St. Charles Bridge. It is the second oldest bridge in the entire country and it is almost 6, 700 years old. It is stunningly beautiful, especially at sunset. So I understand why everyone's gathered here. In the last video, I said the Strasburg is going to be hard to beat, but Prague might just do it.

I'm loving Prague.

It's a little unfair, though. I'm very biased towards this city because it was one of the first cities that we ever visited in Europe. So it's very nostalgic. I've really enjoyed looking through all the cheesy photos that we took the first time we were here.

Awful.

No, they're.

No, they're.

They're cute. Huge. We've made our way back down to the Oldtown market, which is the main market in Prague. And it is stunning.

The tree has so many lights. There are carolers, and it smells like cinnamon and glue vine. I am so happy. This is our seventh day in a row of rounding the corner into a square and seeing it for the first time. And this one just blew my mind.

The tree has just drawn us in like bugs to a light. We were just gravitating towards it like everyone else.

Okay. This is a new experience. He said we should put berries in it. First things first.

Official blue vine test. It comes in paper cups, which is a strike against Prague.

Whoa.

It's different.

Can I try yours?

Oh, yeah. You got the rose. Yeah. Whoa. They're so different. This is way sweeter.

Yeah. I feel like it's a nice change.

Not the best, not the worst. Thank you.

You're welcome. So we walked by a stall that was selling heaps of cheese, and these little cheese.

Expectations are high.

Oh, my gosh. This is cheese. The best way I can describe it is grilled halloumi, but smoked so salty and delicious. I love Prague.

There are angels on stilts. I don't know if this is just three guys having fun on stilts or if this is a Czech tradition that I don't know about. En route to one of the smaller local markets, we've ended up in the second biggest one in the city, which is below the National Museum. And it just takes up this entire giant square. They've got live music on one side, a huge Christmas tree in the middle. Prague is doing Christmas markets, right?

All right. We've made it to the local market. It's much more intimate, and there are no lines.

If you missed the last video, I waited 30 minutes to get a chimney cake when we were at Budapest, and so we're comparing the two. I think I'm gonna wait 30 seconds for this. 1. Somebody has to do the hard work of comparing the chimney cakes in Prague to the chimney cakes in Budapest.

Wow. That's huge.

Thank you. Wow. This. This is a big moment for me because in 2014, we came to the Christmas market here, and I saw these chimney cakes, and it was just out of the budget to buy one. And so to have the opportunity to have this two days in a row and compare it between two different countries just for fun, is just a reminder that life is good. But I will say I would trade all the chimney cakes in the world to be able to see these cities again with my eyes for the first time. Hey, don't get me wrong. I still love it. I still appreciate it. It's a privilege to be able to go to all of these places. But, like, you just can only have that first time feeling once, and I want it again.

I'm just gonna cry into my chimney cake. So we've made it back down to the main market in the old town and every day of this trip as well.