Christmas Markets

Greetings,

Stuttgart Christmas Market

As we are living in the land of Christmas markets - as well as in the general location of the source of Christmas - we, of course, visited several of the markets over the holiday season. First was the Stuttgart Christmas market, with foods, drinks, specialty items, ornaments, local products, Christmas gifts, candles ... Of course, it's all outside, and one of the things I love about Germany is that people are willing to be out and about, walking, eating, sipping hot drinks, socializing even in the winter and regardless of the weather. So even on a chilly day at the markets, you still see people standing around eating crepes, drinking beer or gluhwein (hot mulled and spiced wine) or hot chocolate, eating bratwurst and bread, smoking (a lot of smoking in Germany, actually), chatting. We wandered through the markets, selecting a few new ornaments for our first Christmas tree in five years, sampling some of the local specialties. The stalls are each decorated with elaborate scenes or images of St Nicholas or reindeer, angels or Jesus' family ... they are truly lovely. What I love most is the celebratory and festive feeling of Christmas - mostly through candles, wreaths, decorations, lights, trees. It's glorious.

Buying our Christmas tree

We explored the Hohenzollern Castle where there was also a smaller Christmas market, which included many smaller stalls with locally-made clothing, hats, jewelry, antiques, candles, and a large man dressed as St Nicholaus. Again we sampled some of the local treats and enjoyed some Christmas music played on an accordion, surrounded by candles and twinkly lights.

Another evening we headed to one of the most famous Christmas markets in the area - the Medieval Christmas Market in Esslingen. Here they had people dressed up as if it were medieval times (minus the odors, fortunately) and many stalls had demonstrations of paper making, candle making, games, quill writing

Locally made candles in every color

oils and vinegars

I find that that I really enjoy the Christmas season in Germany and Austria, more than I felt I sometimes did at home in the United States. It appears here to be more about connecting with friends and family, enjoying the celebratory and festive decorations, and being outside than necessarily about purchases (though, of course, that is part of Christmas here as well). Nonetheless, the holidays are essentially over now, and I feel a little remorseful that they seemed to go by so quickly. It has been so lovely!

Thanks for reading, Jennifer