So begins die Weihnachtsmärkte

with Sankt Nikolaus

With the first advent beginning this weekend, all the Weihnachtsmärkte in Germany have also opened.  I'm sure most of you have heard of the famous Christmas markets in Germany or maybe even visited one yourself.  It's funny that the Germans are so surprised when they find out we don't really have Christmas markets in the USA.  I guess it's just part of growing up in Germany, and one of the things to indicate that Christmastime has begun.

with Kurt in Spachingen

This weekend I visited 3 different Christmas markets, starting with a really small one in Spaichingen.  The town is so small that they only have their Weihnachtsmarkt on one weekend, but everyone in the town shows up for it.  There were stands of homemade goods, Christmas ornaments, and trinkets, but most of the stands had food (and most importantly, Glühwein) for sale.  On Friday night, Kurt and I went to check things out and have some schnitzel and glühwein.  It really felt like a close community, everyone knew each other, and people were laughing together all over the plaza.  A brass band played Christmas music, then an old choir sang, and finally students from the guitar school played some pop music.  But let me tell you....it was COLD!  -6°C, which is roughly 21°F.  By the time I walked home, my tooshie was freezing!

The next day was a little warmer and I took the train to Würzburg.  I was supposed to have another voice lesson with the teacher there, but when I arrived in Würzburg, I checked my e-mail and discovered that she was sick.  She had to cancel all her lessons for the day, which was unfortunate for me.  But that meant I had more time to see the Weihnachtsmarkt, which was interesting.  It's better to go at night when all the lights are on, but there aren't as many people on the market in the daytime, so it's a toss-up.  Würzburg had some interesting stands, lots of Christmas tree ornaments and....kitchen utensils.

After a couple of hours, I hopped on the train to Nürnberg for the world-famous Christkindlesmarkt.  Thankfully, I was smart enough to rent a locker and not carry my stuff around.  There were SO many people that it was hard to navigate the streets.  Anyone who has been to Disneyland with me knows that I am an expert at efficiently weaving in and out of crowds.  But I guess the Germans have a different traffic pattern than I'm used to, because I was constantly being thwarted!  People would stop in the middle of the street to look at something and there would be no way to get around them.  I had a difficult time predicting where people would go, and as a result I had to constantly wait for people to get out of my way.  It's a good thing I was by myself, though, because it was hard for groups to stay together.

All-in-all, Nürnberg was really beautiful, despite being an obvious tourist attraction.  People from all over the world were there, and most signs were in English as well as German.  With 2 hours, I had plenty of time to walk through all the rows of stands and view the items before deciding if I wanted to purchase anything.  And if so, which stand was least expensive (€20 for a metal Christmas tree ornament?  I don't think so.)  I found it interesting that the stands in Nürnberg were selling different items than in Würzburg.  Of course there were Christmas ornaments, but they also had lots of small wooden toys, candles, Christmas village decorations, jewelry, hats and scarves, even soaps and marmalade.  I drank my glühwein in my souvenir mug and watched the happy customers.  Because the streets were literally packed with people, I found it difficult to shop.  But I'm glad I went for the experience of seeing this famous market.  It's kind of like Oktoberfest...you have to go at least once in your life!

Spaichingen

Würzburg

Nürnberg