German Christmas Markets

This past weekend, Carl and I went to Germany to shop at the famous Christmas markets we have heard so much about lately. Many of the cities in Germany have their centers filled with small portable shops -- or stalls -- that sell Christmas decorations, hand crafts, and food.

We took a plane on Friday morning to Munich, where we spent the day and night. The following day we drove to Salzberg, Austria -one of our favorite European cities - where we spent the afternoon walking around the markets there. That evening we drove to Nuremberg, which claims to have the biggest Christmas market of all. On Sunday, after we finished up at Nuremberg, we returned to Munich, where we caught a plane back to London on Monday.

The markets were lots of fun in all three cities. People crowded into the areas, eating, drinking, and buying Christmas trinkets. The crowds contained both young and old - all having a good time. Lots of people came in groups with friends, and in some ways, the market scene resembled a street party. Folks would stand around, talking, drinking, and eating together. Of course, there were lots of shoppers too.

Some of the scenes were quite beautiful, too, with a combination of Christmas lights and ancient cathedrals. The picture below shows the center of old Munich - or the Marienplatz -- with the large lit tree and the shoppers milling around the market stalls.

If you click on each picture, the picture will enlarge, and you will get more of a sense of what it was like to be there.



The two photos below show the Nuremberg markets as they looked from the third-floor terrace of a restaurant where Carl and I stopped for dinner.



The closer-up views of the stalls were also very interesting.


Each stall, or little shop, had a mind-boggling array of Christmas decorations on display. These below are just a few of the many, many shops we looked at, with all of them jammed full of items.

Maybe about one quarter of the stalls offered food for sale. Of course, the most popular food items were usually some kind of sausages or wursts served as sandwiches on rolls.

Surprisingly, corn on the cob was another food for sale. (Linda and I saw that in Spain, as well.)

Of course, there were also many sweet shops offering up baked goods and/or chocolate treats. Some of the sweets were designed to be given as gifts.

Also, there was hot chocolate, hot toddies, and beer sold at many different types of stands throughout the markets.
This small shop with a windmill on top was a centerpiece in the Munich markets.

This gentleman set up a drink stand just outside his restaurant near the markets.

Of course, we were not surprised to run into Santa along the way.

And, in Salzberg, we spotted Father Christmas skating with the crowd.

We even saw a live manger scene that was being set up.

In Salzberg, we ran across something different. It was a person-sized chess game that was being played on the square.




Carl and I ate our meals twice in restaurants that seated everyone at communal tables alongside strangers. We were interested in trying this because we thought it would provide us with an opportunity to meet people. The first restaurant, however, had us seated with a German couple that did not speak English. There was no chance for any conversation there.
The second restaurant proved more successful. We met up with Tom and Carolyn from Los Angeles - a retired couple our age - and we had a very pleasant conversation throughout the meal. In fact, we exchanged business cards before leaving, and we may well be in touch with them again in the future.