Dana's Deutsches Abenteuer: Es ist Weihnachtszeit (and time for Christmas Markets!!)

As soon as December hit (or really the end of November), Weihnachtszeit in Germany swung into full force! I can't believe it that now there's only 3 days left until heiligabend (the 24th), which is the day that Germans primarily celebrate Christmas and give gifts etc. In this post I'm going to be talking about some of the Weihnachtsmarkts (Christmas Markets) I've been to (in 5 different cities!)

Düsseldorf (November 28th): I actually went to several Christmas markets in Düsseldorf (I think technically 4, but some were pretty close together, so I don't know if I'd really consider them all separate ones or not). So anyway, this was my first ever experience at a German Christmas market, and it was absolutely amazing!! I know I've seen pictures of Christmas markets in Germany, but somehow I had forgotten that everything is displayed in these cute little wooden booths. I was sort of imagining something along the lines of a farmers market (with tents and stuff). Walking up the steps from the U-bahn stop, from a tunnel of darkness, directly into a German Christmas market may be one of the most magical things I've ever experienced. It felt like I was instantly swept into a fantastical winter wonderland (even though there wasn't snow).

The variety of products at the Düsseldorf Weihnachtsmarkt was absolutely astounding. I saw pretty much everything from wood crafts (dishes etc.) to beeswax candles to cookie cutters to felted/knitted wool crafts, the variety was endless. Plus, I couldn't believe how many different things one could buy to eat there. I got a giant soft pretzel covered in cheese, which was pretty amazing. I also got a few christmas gifts (but can't talk about those yet since it's still not Christmas).

Glühwein Stand in Düsseldorf

Christmas tree at the Düsseldorf Altstadt Weihnachtsmarkt

Altstadt Weihnachtsmarkt in Düsseldorf

Neuss (November 29th and December 11th): The Neuss Weihnachtsmarkt isn't one that lots of people travel specially to, but it's in my town, so of course I wanted to visit it a couple of times. Granted it is small (about 40 booths I think), but I found it had a really nice charm to it. Both times I visited were in the evening when it was dark, and in my opinion pretty much any Weihnachtsmarkt looks amazing all lit up at night.

My first visit was with my host mom, after we went to see the play "Das Dopplete Lottchen" on November 29th. It is a children's play, but I think that's about all I'd be able to understand in the way of theater at this point. It was really cute and fun to watch though!! Plus I understood all of it (helped by the fact that I read the book beforehand), so that made everything even better. We didn't really buy anything at the Weihnachtsmarkt, although I did get something called a "paradiesäpfel", on recommendation of my host sister. I thought it would be something like a carmel apple, but the red sugary coating over the apple-on-a-stick is actually really hard (sort of like jolly rancher or something). Not something I'd probably be eating very often, but definitely fun to try. It was also "verkaufsoffenen Sonntag"in Neuss, which means that all the stores are open (they're normally always closed on Sunday). My host mom and I went to this store called Tchibo (pretty much a very interesting cross between a coffee shop and a tiny department store...only in Germany, right?), but didn't end up getting anything.

The second time I visited, I went with a couple of girls from CBYX, after we met with our Bundesminister in Neuss. We spent a couple of hours in a coffee shop talking about political issues, cultural differences, Weihnachtsmarkts, and a variety of other topics. By the time we were finished, we were all really hungry, so we each bought a bratwurst from a food truck. Then we walked around the Weihnachtsmarkt and checked out all of the cool Christmas-y things there. :)

Neuss Rathaus

Neuss Weihnachtsmarkt

St. Quirinus Kirche

Meeting with Herr Gröhe (Bundesminister)

We made it into the newspaper!

Click here to read the article (in German): http://www.erft-kurier.de/grevenbroich/handschlag-mit-dem-paten-amerikanerinnen-am-rhein-aid-1.5638220

Bonn (December 5th)

After that, the Weihnachtsmarkt! It was somewhere in the middle size-wise between Neuss and Düsseldorf. And being a Saturday afternoon, it was extremely full. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun looking around and noticing the variations and similarities between the other Weihnachtsmarkts I'd visited. We also saw children visiting Saint Nicholas (photo below). I spent the whole day on December 5th in Bonn with my host mom! First we visited " the Haus der Geschichte" (house of history), which provides an in depth look at Germany from 1945 until the present. Although reading complex German signs for close to 3 hours was a bit exhausting, I felt very satisfied with the amount that I was able to understand. Of course I didn't read every bit of information there, but I think it would even take a German an entire day or more to do that. The place was HUGE. Also a cool thing about this museum is that it is completely free for everyone (which is pretty uncommon for museums in Germany, or really anywhere).

Das Haus der Geschichte

Mecki!!

Saint Nicholas

Bonn Weihnachtsmarkt

Wiesbaden (December 12th)

My host mom needed to go to Wiesbaden, so I made the trip down to Hessen with her and got to meet up with Alida at the sternschnuppenmarkt (shooting star market) in Wiesbaden for a few hours. It was absolutely wonderful! Everything was decorated really well, which made the atmosphere great. This market also wan't so extremely full (surprisingly), and the booths were set up in a really appealing manner. For lunch, we ate a a pizza place, and got window seats looking out into the market.

Kerzen (candles) <3

Sterne!

Marktkirche Wiesbaden

Köln (December 19th)

Considering that Köln is only 40 minutes away, and it's Christmas market consistently ranks in the top five in all of Germany, I just had to check it out once. I was warned that it would be extremely busy, so I arranged to meet up with Rowan and Karina there at 11 am. But of course, it was just about as packed as it could get. The selection, decorations, food, and just about everything was top notch, so I can totally understand why. Really, can it get much better than a German Christmas Market directly under the most famous cathedral in Germany? I don't think it really does. In addition to the "Weihnachtsmarkt am Kölner Dom", we also checked out the one in the Altstadt and the one along the harbor, by the chocolate museum. The Altstadt one was very nice, and even had an ice skating rink. The one on the harbor wasn't as nice as the others, but I needed to pick up some mustard for my host family at the mustard museum (yes...that exists), so we were really close by anyway. We sort of looked at the whole day as some sort of progressive meal that lasted from about noon until 4 pm. Who could possibly eat crepes, ice cream, french fries, and waffles all in the same day? Exchange students to Germany of course! We divided some stuff and all had relatively small portions, so it's not actually as much as it sounds. Plus we walked all day so I think we earned a few extra calories. ;) Not every day you get to visit one of the world's most famous Christmas markets...gotta celebrate somehow, right? I also finished up the last of my Christmas shopping, which decreased my stress level a ton.