It’s December twentieth and day 20 of expressing what makes me happy during this holiday season. Come back everyday for a new photo set. Today, my happiness is, Christmas Markets!
So, this isn’t exactly something I associated with the holidays till after moving here, but it’s become something nice to experience this time of year. Back in the states, there were never any Christmas markets. Sure, all the stores and malls were decked out for the holidays, but there were never little markets set up just for the holidays. At least, not where I ever lived. Maybe smaller cities in the states had Christmas markets, but I’ve only lived in large cities.
Here in Switzerland, all the big cities have Christmas Markets for weeks before Christmas. The smaller cities have much smaller events that pop up for a few days and then disappear. The closest Christmas market for me, is in Zurich. It’s all over the city and inside the main train station. Every year, Swarovski puts up a huge Christmas tree inside the station with beautiful examples of their products all over the place. The Market is a great chance for small businesses to sell their products. Some are products only found this time of year. I enjoy the Swiss Christmas markets very much.
Supposedly, Germany is the place to be for Christmas Markets. I’ve been to the huge one in Munich and it is HUGE and CROWDED. I hated it for that reason. It was so crowded, you could barely move. I also discovered that it was just booth after booth of more of the same. Which was very disappointing. The Swiss markets aren’t nearly as large, and though you can find the same booths in many cities, the variety is so much better.
I already mentioned that this country doesn’t do eggnog, but instead, they do gluhwein. This is a spiced wine, served hot. I don’t really like it. I like it enough to have a few sips but it’s not something I drink by the mug, but it’s a tradition here especially amongst the Christmas market. There are gluhwein stands everywhere.
© Semi-Charmed Life
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Semi-Charmed Life 
Wow! I love it, I want to be there!!!
It’s pretty nice. I’ll give you a place to stay, if you bring over some of that fantastic food you cook up. 😉
Now that sounds like a plan…..😉 ooh, the possibilities!!
I guess Christmas markets can be fun if you’re into Christmas thingies, but I don’t like markets in general and am not very fond of Christmas. But they sometimes have such beautiful and special things there!
Rebel xox