Christmas Markets
Winter is the time of Christmas Markets in Europe. Think freezing cold wind, tons of people, hot spiced wine, sausages and rows of stalls filled with things to buy. Mostly I go for the experience and for the hot wine. In the cold, it is almost better to have the hot mug in your hands than actually drink it.
This year due to visits to friends and other trips I have not spent much time in my own local Freiburg market, so I have no pictures of it. I do however have pictures from the markets that I have had a chance to spend time in so far.
Prague
I went to Prague with my girlfriend for the first weekend of the market there. We had a great weekend together. Just like at Easter, the market is in Old Town Square as well as Wenceslas Square. They had Trdlo again, and I caught a snippet of how they are made on video.

Bamberg
The weekend after Prague I went to visit a friend in Bamberg, which is in Bavaria about an hour from Nuremberg. They had a market with orderly rows of stalls selling all kinds of Glühwein. The hit of the season for me is the Blueberry wine. In Germany, when you buy Glühwein you also pay a deposit for the mug. A lot of the mugs this year seem to be in the shape of boots, but the normal mugs abound as well. It seems quite common to just not get your deposit back and keep a mug.

Nuremberg (Nürnberg) Christkindlesmarkt
This is the largest and probably most famous Christmas market in Germany, and it is indeed something to see. The market is spread across several squares in the center of town. This in addition to the streets to and from the train station which are lines with stands. One side square had a set of stalls with the partner cities of Nuremberg. I saw Oreos and Skittles at the Atlanta booth.

Each area in Germany has their own sausage and their own beer. In Nuremberg the sausages are small and spicy, kind of what end up as breakfast sausages in the US. You get three on a roll here. See the can of 10 in the picture. Check out the gallery below for a picture of tons of the little wurst on a grill.

Food and Gifts
Like the malls in the US, Christmas Markets are often a place to buy gifts for Christmas. And like the malls they are usually packed. Though the food is better in the Christmas Markets by far than any food court.


Gallery
[portfolio_slideshow]
Sightseeing around Bavaria - Grounded Traveler
February 14, 2013 @ 10:36 pm
[…] It is very well known for its Christkindlsmarkt at Christmas. […]
December 17, 2010 @ 12:46 am
You make me miss Germany a lot!! Christmas markets are my favorite thing about the holiday season. Have you tried white mulled wine? It’s my favorite – along with sugar roasted almonds 🙂
December 17, 2010 @ 4:19 pm
Yes, I like the white wine too. This year the blueberry wine sounded good and hooked me. You saw the picture of the roasted nuts in the gallery right?
December 15, 2010 @ 12:07 pm
There’s blueberry wine? I need to find this! I’ve heard Prague is a beautiful city so I can only imagine what the Christmas market there is like. Perhaps next year!
December 15, 2010 @ 8:50 pm
Yup, it is Heidelbeerglühwein in German. I saw it all over in Bamberg and Nuremberg. But I have seen bottles of it in the local Rewe, should be easy to find.
December 15, 2010 @ 8:50 pm
Yup, it is Heidelbeerglühwein in German. I saw it all over in Bamberg and Nuremberg. But I have seen bottles of it in the local Rewe, should be easy to find.
December 13, 2010 @ 10:05 am
i love markets, i love the crowds and the sweet food oh the sweet food
December 13, 2010 @ 6:04 pm
Ha.. standing somewhere out of the way with a mug of hot wine watching the people go by is my favorite. Thanks for sharing yours. 🙂
December 11, 2010 @ 9:13 am
Christmas markets are all about the food, imo 🙂
December 13, 2010 @ 6:03 pm
Yeah, there are a lot of neat things that come out at Christmastime. They do potato pancake/hashbrown things with applesauce in Freiburg. Need to make a time to go have one.