While we usually post soon after we visit, circumstances this year got in the way. This post is exceptionally fun as we get to experience Christmas in June.
Advent marks the official beginning of Christmas Market season in Germany. We went to our first Christmas Markets about 10 years ago on a trip to Vienna and Berlin. While we saw many different iterations throughout Europe, Germany seems to take special pride in their Markets.
Metz, France – adjacent to Germany
Typically Christmas markets surround the town square or pedestrian street with decorated booths. While each town and country have their own unique spin, and almost always highlight local products, you will pretty consistently find mulled wine of some kind, local honey or jam, wooden toys/knick knacks of some kind, knitted hats/gloves of some kind, some kind of Disney related item, and then food-pretzels, meats, sausage, candy, and cookies. (More Metz)
While the market have become major tourist attractions, they still feel pretty local. This was really felt in the ruckus of opening night of the Advent Market in Reijka https://thechosenfugue.blogspot.com/2018/12/pula-treiste-and-rijeka-istrian-trilogy_4.html and the more intimate Advent evenings in Zadar https://thechosenfugue.blogspot.com/2018/12/pula-treiste-and-rijeka-istrian-trilogy_4.html.
Everyone was either singing and dancing fueled by drinking Gluwein, which ranged in flavor from warm Sangriá to warm Dimetapp. Most towns had shows for children and rides, enhancing the feeling like you were at an elementary school carnival. Made you feel the nostalgia that probably every German/Croatian/French/Austrian feels anticipating and going to the market. (Saarbrücken)
And of course there is food, lots of food. Reibekuchen/kartoffelpuffer (potato pancakes),kartofellanzen (potato spirals), flammkuchen (flaky pizza), wurst (sausages) and more wurst, all kinds of cheeses-fresh, fried or melted over anything, candy, cookies, roasted chestnuts and almonds, jacket potatoes (the best ever was in Metz, France), all washed down with hot (mainly) alcoholic drinks.
As you can maybe see, most markets have their own specially designed mugs.
It really didn’t matter what town, what country, the food pretty much was consistent with the exception of the uniquely German little bread guy with a pipe.
This year we had an early bird German Christmas market preview on our visits to Worms and Luxembourg, and in Saabrüken, watched Santa flash across the Christmas market with baby Jesus as his co-pilot riding under the sleigh in a foil wrapped potato, consistent potato theme.
Despite the tension of the baby Jesus transport, we were not prepared for the Christmas Markets in the Cologne/Bonn/Dusseldorf corridor. We should have realized something was coming based on the sheer number of Santa hats and bottles of Sekt (German Champagne) we noticed on the trains; morning, noon and night. Typically, the Markets are in the town square, but in these cities they seemed to exist at every turn, each with a different theme. Market hopping! It was a Nativity scene!
We started with a tram ride to Bonn, to see Beethoven’s house and museum,
Then we took another short ride to Dusseldorf; the Mother-Mary-lode of Christmas markets. Between the two cities we strolled through a gnome themed Christmas market, an alpine themed Christmas market, an angel themed Christmas market, an Ice Palace themed market (Frozen?), … etc. Basically a loop of booths of things you don’t need to buy, you don’t really want to eat, followed by a cup of Gluwein in a unique-for-place collectible mug, another lap, rinse, repeat- becomes a drinking game with a side of knick-knacks. In Dusseldorf alone it was 4 or 7 or 10 markets (we don’t remember- it was the Gluewein) in a 2 mile radius. Prost!
The Christmas markets were just part of our very Rhine valley experience.
Christmas dinner was at a traditional German restaurant. We knew it was traditional as all of the vegetarian dishes had bacon in them. Plus, they just kept filling up your cups with beer. Since Köln is known for Kölsch beer we thought it was all complementary until we learned you need to put the coaster on top of the cup to get them to stop pouring. It took us awhile to figure that out, but after our laps of Gluwein, we were well trained for bottomless Kölsch.
We passed a few stolpesteine, this was in front of what was a gay bar during the Weimar, he was a female impersonator and called it a night.
The next day we were ready for the main Köln attraction, the Cathedral, which like most of the city was heavily damaged in the war.
Köln, like most of Germany, shuts down for about 3 days around Christmas, so when not market hopping we were window shopping at the unique stores immediately around our apartment. This included a store exclusively selling cutlery with eight large picturesque storefront windows of cutlery and a store exclusively selling religious objects and priest frocks (The Holy Men’s Warehouse?). You can virtually shop there now to avoid the pre-Christmas rush right here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1SW7RSb3vY
Most interesting, was a the James Dean water bottle.
Chosen Fugue 