Book a Bird to the Bavarian Alps

There's hardly a town in Germany that doesn't celebrate the holidays without a Christmas market. Proof of trading, swapping and bargaining for gifts in December reaches as far back as the Middle Ages. There were Christkindlesmarkts in every Bavarian town I visited, all replete with rows of wooden stalls selling handicrafts, sticky sweets and mulled cider.

Check out my latest travel article posted on GoNomad.com a few minutes ago: "A Visit to the Bavarian Alps: Christmas Markets and Pagan Spirits".

I went last December but should you decide to go now you can still take advantage of some of the airline specials at Swiss Air. If you're flexible with your dates, Swiss Air offers an Economy Saver flight for $341. one-way from JFK to Munich with one quick layover in Zurich.

The one venue you'll not read about in this article is the Island of Fraueninsel. We took a Christmas ferry across the freshwater Lake of Chiemsee to get there.

It was dark, drizzling and damp, so, with regrets, I hid out in a Gasthof on the island. I thought I was saving myself another flu but the sights I missed would have been worth a few sniffles.

I missed the Medieval Minster performance of Christmas carols at the Benedictine Nunnery. And, the nuns serving up a liquor called Klosterlikör with a tray of marzipan (almond paste). Interestingly, women have been the only ones allowed to make this 12th century recipe for biblical reasons. It's a concoction spicy enough to cure the common cold.

So, definitely, do walk around the Island despite whatever weather you come across. Enjoy the read and book your flight soon.