'Tis the Season... for Christmas Markets!

Hi everyone,
Merry Christmas!  We hope you all are having a nice holiday season.  In keeping with the holiday spirit, we would like to write about a German Christmas tradition that does pop up from time to time in the United States, but isn't as common: the Christmas market.  Many towns in Germany host a Christmas market during Advent.  In the smaller towns, like ours, the market may only run for one weekend, but in bigger cities it may run for several weeks.  Christmas markets feature stands selling food, drink, and crafts, and there are sometimes even rides.  We managed to make it to four different Weihnachtsmärkte, and we will give a review of each one.

Löcknitz
Our hometown of about 3,000 people hosted a Christmas market during the last weekend in November/first weekend in December.  This was our first introduction to Christmas markets, and it was a nice, gentle introduction, since the market was so small (err... proportional to the town).  We actually got to hit this market both days.  On Saturday, November 30, we headed out to the market around 5:00, so it was already quite dark out.  We ate some Bratwürste for dinner and then browsed the stands.  We ended up buying a pair of hand-knitted socks for Jesse and some booties for our niece, Bernice, from a sweet old lady.

Then on Sunday we went back to the Markt for more Bratwurst, some warm Kinderpunsch, and a banana-Nutella crepe made by some of my students from the Gymnasium.  We also stopped to listen to a choir and a duo sing Christmas songs and buy some more socks for Jesse because he thought the first pair were the most comfortable socks of all time.  The Weihnachtsmann even made an apperance.  Overall, it was a nice little market that helped us feel like we were part of the community.

Prenzlau
On the 7th of December a couple Amy had met at a birthday party came and picked us up for a weekend trip to their hometown of Prenzlau, which is about 45 minutes south by car.  This couple was Jana and Lars, and we had a great time hanging out with them.  They took us to the Christmas market in Prenzlau, which was a bit bigger than the one in Löcknitz.  It took up more room than just one Marktplatz and it even had some rides.  The first thing we did was enjoy a nice hot beverage with Jana and Lars.  They ordered Glühwein, a hot, spiced wine, Amy got hot apple cider, and Jesse got a hot chocolate.  We then walked around a little bit, and Amy bought a gingerbread heart with a frosting Santa.  For lunch Lars invited Jesse to try something new.  Lars handed him a meatball on a slice of bread, which turned out to be the best horse burger Jesse has ever eaten.  Amy had a... you guessed it... Bratwurst.  We then ended our trip to the Christmas market with more food, this time a couple delicious donuts and deep-fried delights called Quarkbällchen.  (Jesse: "The rotund portly cousin of the disorderly funnel cake.")  Prenzlau was a pleasant next step in our Christmas market journey.  It was a little bigger, had a bit more variety, but wasn't overwhelming.

 Neubrandenburg
On December 15, we decided to take a last-minute impromptu trip to Neubrandenburg (about an hour west by train) to see the Christmas market there.  This market was even bigger with even more rides.  We walked around and sampled some of the food: Bratwurst (of course), Pommes (a.k.a. french fries), and Dresdner Handbrot, an unbelievably delicious cheese and ham-filled dough pocket.  We also had some Quarkbällchen, but they didn't measure up to the ones in Prenzlau, presumably because they weren't as fresh.  After walking up and down the blocks of Christmas market and listening to a brass band perform some carols, we decided to sit down for some Glühwein and hot chocolate.  While we were sitting at a table, a group of four sat down next to us, and eventually the guy sitting next to me asked where we were from.  When they found out we were from the United States, everyone in the group began to chat excitedly with us, and soon we began making plans to hang out with this group in the future.  It turns out they live in Pasewalk, about 20 minutes from where we are.  Since then, we have hung out with them twice and we have more plans for the new year.  This was probably our favorite market, not only because of the nice craft and food stands, but also because we made these new friends.

Berlin - Alexanderplatz
Finally, on December 17, we took a bus tour of Berlin with with 11th graders from the Gymnasium, which ended at Alexanderplatz.  We had just a little time to explore this market, which was bigger than the one in Neubrandenburg, with so many rides including a huge Ferris wheel.  Unfortunately, we didn't have time to ride the Ferris wheel, but we were still able to walk around and see that the types of stands were similar to the ones we had seen at the other markets.  There were just a lot more of them.  And we counted three Weihnachtsmänner (or Santa Clauses).  We wish we could have spent a bit more time here, but we had to get back to the bus quickly to head to a comedy show at a cabaret.

So those were our experiences with Christmas markets.  By the end, we were a little Christmas marketed out, but we are so glad we got to have this experience of the Christmas season in Germany.

All the best this holiday season,
Amy and Jesse

Dresden

Hey, everyone!

Amy and Jesse here.  We want to tell you about our trip to Dresden a couple weekends ago (Nov. 23-25).  Amy had Monday off of school, so we knew we wanted to go somewhere, and Jesse was interested in taking a trip down to Dresden, so that's what we did.


Jesse: We got up early on Saturday and took the 5 1/2 hour train ride down to Dresden.  We actually did a good job of looking at a map ahead of time, so we actually knew where to go to get to our hotel.

Amy: It was also nice, because our hotel was right by the main station.

Jesse: Yeah, and it was just centrally located in general.  Very easy to get everywhere.

Amy: We got there a little early, so we got some lunch...  American food.  I had stuffed crust (!) pizza, and Jesse got a nice "American" steak.  Then we checked into our hotel.  On our way out of the American restaurant, I stopped to look at a rack of brochures, and I saw that there was a dance exhibit at the Hygiene Museum.  We decided to go check it out.

Jesse: The main selling point of this dance exhibit, at least for me, was La Valse, a statue by Camille Claudel Rodin.

Amy: We heard about this statue from our friend Gretchen, who is absolutely in love with it, and I can see why.  It was beautiful, and I couldn't resist taking some photos, which got me in big trouble with the security guard.  I guess I missed the "no photos" sign at the entrance.

Jesse: The exhibit looked at dance from all different cultures of the world and even had a neat program that would teach you a dance and then record you doing it, so you could see yourself doing the steps.

Amy: Then we walked around and did a little sightseeing even though it was already dark out... and raining.  We bought some postcards and then went to a little Italian restaurant for dinner.  It was so good.

Jesse: The last thing on our agenda for the evening was to watch Catching Fire in the English movie theater.  We had reserved tickets online and we went to pick them up.  When we got there though they told us that we didn't have any tickets and we wouldn't be able to get in, because the movie was sold out.

Amy: I guess we were just too late to pick them up.  So we just went back to the hotel and watched some TV before going to sleep.

Jesse: Turns out the Twilight movies are just as angsty in German.

Amy: On Sunday we grabbed some breakfast at a cafe and then immediately went to buy our tickets for that evening's showing of Catching Fire.  We weren't going to miss it this time.

Jesse: After we purchased our tickets we went sightseeing, and we got to look at some of the beautiful architecture.

Amy: Yeah, I think Dresden is one of my favorite cities in Germany, because it is just so pretty.  We saw the Frauenkirche, the Zwinger palace, and other sights around the Altmarkt.

Jesse: After a few hours of walking around we started to feel a little peckish.  My hunger for steak not yet sated, we went to another restaurant that served American-style food, which played lovely music videos, including Africa by Toto.

Amy: I felt right at home.

Jesse: We also got a great banana split for dessert.

Amy: Then we went back to the hotel and took a nap before heading out to the Alte Meister gallery, which is located in the Zwinger palace.  The highlight of this museum, I think for both of us, was the Sistine Madonna painting by Raphael.  I didn't take any photos this time around though...

Jesse: I couldn't believe the sheer size of it.  I have developed a new love and appreciation for Renaissance oil paintings.  I think oil is my new favorite medium.

Amy: Yeah, when we were in the museum we talked a lot about how lifelike some of the paintings looked.  There was one with two goblets, for example, that looked like a photograph, even up close.  It was incredible.

Jesse: After we got done at the art museum, we were walking towards our hotel, and we found a tapas restaurant.

Amy: I love tapas.  I love that you can get several different little dishes and are able to try a variety of foods in one sitting.

Jesse: The food was wonderful.  I was particularly proud of Amy's willingness to be adventurous.  She tried both quail and rabbit.

Amy: The quail was ok; it tasted like chicken.  I didn't care for the rabbit though.  I also ordered some fried cheese, stuffed mushrooms, and crab cakes.  They were all awesome...  Oh my goodness, then we had a chocolate souffle for dessert that was to die for.

Jesse: After dinner we headed to the theater and finally got to see Catching Fire.  This is one of the few times that I thought the movie actually out-shined the book.

Amy: I really enjoyed it, too.  I found myself completely caught up in the movie, even though I had read the book and knew what was going to happen.

Jesse: After the movie we went back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

Amy: The next morning we got together with my friend Kaylee from Nebraska for brunch.  It was so great seeing a friendly face and getting to chat about life as a teaching assistant.  The brunch buffet was also good.

Jesse: It was really nice to meet Kaylee.  She is super nice.

Amy: Then we checked out of our hotel and headed back...  It was a 7 hour trip with layovers.

Jesse: But we finally made it home.  I thought that this trip was a lot of fun.  There was only one thing I didn't get to do that I wanted to: the Vonnegut tour.

Amy: That just means we'll have to go back sometime!