Christmas Markets!

A very popular thing to do during the month of December in Germany and Switzerland (probably Austria too but I'm not 100% sure) is to hang out at Weihnachtsmarkts (Christmas markets). They are made up of little booths that sell handmade goods or German food specialties, carousels and ferris wheels, and one even had an ice skating rink. It's just a good time for all. And don't forget the Glühwein! Glühwein is a hot beverage made from wine (red or white). You can get it with rum-soaked cherries in it too which is what Martin and I decided was our favorite derivative of Glühwein.

We went to two Christmas markets in Cologne (there are four there total but it was too cold for us to venture to all four in the few hours we had in Cologne) and one in Göttingen. Each market has its own feel and personality, so to speak. The booths are all coordinated and the lighting is themed differently at each market. And the goods and the foods are different as well, though obviously every market has some Glühwein, crepes, waffles, and let's not forget the bratwurst. The market in Göttingen had half-meter long bratwurst!

Anyway, here's the first one, which was next to the Cologne Cathedral. This is only the entrance to it, it extends in a star shape all around a big stage where there were musicians playing Christmas music:



Here is my first taste of Glühwein (and yes it is on a star-shaped table):



We ended up stealing mugs like these from the Göttingen Christmas market though it's not actually stealing them because you pay a deposit for them when you order the wine.



Here's the nut booth:



And a pic from the inside of the market:



The booths contain things like wool scarves and sweaters and mittens, chocolates or nuts, christmas ornaments (wooden or shiny/sparkly), candles, ceramics, wooden toys, jewelry, and glassware. All of it is unique and in most cases the artists are working on new pieces right in the booths - blowing glass or carving wood or etching drawings into things.

The second market we went to in Cologne was much prettier and more atmospheric than the first one. It did not have as many booths with goods in them but it had many more booths with food in them. Here we got some meat on a stick for dinner, followed by spätzli with fresh creme and herbs as a side dish. I didn't take many pictures here but the lighting was much prettier. There were lanterns that looked like candles in some of the trees (big trees too, it was beautiful) and many trees were lit with spotlights of different colors.

Here are some brass musicians that were playing Christmas music ... some of them had no gloves on!! I couldn't feel my fingers and I had gloves on. I also can't imagine that you can keep an instrument in tune in such bitter cold but they managed okay. Behind them is a statue of something or other, and behind that you can see a church that was very pretty in the moonlight (or maybe it had a spotlight on it?). When I return to Cologne next year to attend the other two markets that I missed this year, I will venture into that church to see the inside. You can also, in the picture below, see a bit of a tree that was filled with dangling hearts. Fun.



Here's a blurry pic of some of the lights:



I didn't take any pictures of the market in Göttingen, sorry. It was raining and I was drunk off Glühwein with rum-soaked cherries in it. It wasn't as pretty as the Cologne markets but the town of Göttingen had many decorations and lights in the streets so that was nice. I'll show a pic or two from Göttingen in my next post.