Hamburg Christmas Markets

There hasn't been a whole lot going on here other than staying pretty busy with work and class for me, hockey for Kev, and some Christmas shopping here and there for the both of us.We have all of our Christmas decorations up in the living room and Kev is already sick of coming home to Christmas music playing (since I found a few online radio stations!!). Since there hasn't been too much excitement here, I figured this was the perfect time to tell you all about the Hamburg Weihnachtsmarkts. Especially since I am so in love and obsessed with them! (Lucky for me, I get to walk through one every time I go to class and usually grab lunch there on my way back afterwards).We had a bit of a girls night just over a week ago and all headed down to the Market in front of the Town Hall for some Gluhwein.

obviously not my camera!

The Christmas markets are opened to celebrate the 4 weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas. They are usually held in a town square and sell food, drinks, and different jewelry and seasonal items. They also usually have some sort of carousel or a Christmas scene in place for children. The two most popular stalls are the Bratwurst stalls and Gluhwein stalls. Gluhwein is a mulled red wine served warm. It is spiced with cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, citrus, and sugar. If one is really feeling festive, you can get a shot of brandy or rum into your Gluhwein! And for those that don't like wine or beer, but still want the buzz, there is always the option of hot chocolate with rum, Baileys, Amaretto, or a mint liquor.

 

A few of the girls that have lived in other countries or German cities because of hockey said that they thought Hamburg's main Christmas market was the most beautiful. In and around Hamburg, there are a total of 33 different markets! The one in front of town hall is the largest and most touristy (it tends to be shoulder-to-shoulder every night!). Kev and I have wandered over to a few of the other markets, and even though some are very small, they all have similar stalls (one even had a small ice rink for kids!). Hamburg's main market has about 4 or 5 Gluhwein stands, a few bratwurst stands, and the other food available ranges from crepes, to roasted nuts, to bakers having different cookies and cakes on hand! I even had fried cauliflower and chocolate covered bananas at one market! We haven't had the greatest weather this past week to really enjoy them (we have snow in Hamburg!) but I plan to get down there a few more times before they close on the 23rd!

Perhaps, the neatest thing about the town square's market is that 3 times a day, Santa Clause flys over the market and tells a story. And this is not some fake Santa Clause! A real man hops into his sleigh and trusts a cable to carry them and his 4 reindeer and Cloud lady across the Market. It is a beautiful thing to see at night!

It seems like even when we are not at the Christmas Markets, downtown is still very festive. Germans love Christmas! Which is great because it puts me in the such a festive holiday spirit! We have the team's Christmas party tonight (hopefully we'll also be celebrating a win this afternoon, go Freezers!), the girls are having a Christmas party next week, and we have made plans with the Scherenbergs to have brunch at their place on Christmas day (early since Kev has an afternoon practice). So, lots of holiday spirit around this city and apartment! I hope everyone is having a good holiday season back home! We miss you all! Tschüss!

one of the buildings downtown