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| A tree in the Advent Market |
So today I set out to learn more about the Christmas markets. Please let it be noted it has not stop snowing since I arrived and the temperature keeps dropping. The snow is getting too deep for my basic shoes so I have to resort to my Wellies with the minus 40 degrees wool socks, silk socks, long underwear both top and bottom, leggings, fleece pullover, quilted vest, fleece scarf, fingerless gloves covered with fleece mittens and my coat. Yes I look like the Michelin man in Red Wellies! My appearance be damned I am going back to the markets and I am not going to be cold! I waddle out of my hotel and down to the tram stop but trusty #3 is late…..very late. Oh no here comes my nemeses the #13, but I now know that I can take the #13, get off at Bautzner/Rothenburger, walk over to Albert platz and get the #3, or # 7 to the Synagoge stop and be at the market. See I was not kidding when I said German is a difficult language to read on the fly! Anyway I make it to the markets. The first market I visit today is called Advent Auf Dem Neumarkt. It too is full of vendor huts covered in pine branches and lights. I realize this market has more food than the Altmarkt. I wander the market taking in all the wonderful scents and then it occurs to me that I have been in German for three days and I have not had a sausage. Decision made lunch today is a sausage, with grilled onion on a hard roll. I am not let down by this traditional fare. The sausage is a little spicy but the onion and roll are a perfect complement! With my hunger handled for the moment I meander the market till I reach a hot mulled wine vendor. I decide with a full stomach I can try a mulled wine. This treat that warms me to the core. I have been wondering why people have been congregating around these stands and not walking around with this wonderful treat. Answer, the mugs are real and need to be returned to the vendor. I wonder how much landfill space is saved by this simple process. Warmed to the core by my mulled wine I head over to the other Christmas Market. I believe it is called Mittelalter Weihnacht in Stallh of Dresden. The Renaissance is alive and well at this market. Market vendors include a blacksmith, an artisan glass blower, a tannery and of course a couple pubs complete with wenches and friars. The whole energy of this market reminds me that this is the 576 annual Dresden Christmas Market. That is correct the first market was held in 1434. Coming from the US that just makes me go Wow, because we get excited about centennials this is a whole different world! As I am leaving the Renisance market I notice a third market to my left. Hum, I thought there were only three markets in Old City. I march forward but realize I am frozen and need to find a spot to warm up before I venture any further. I stop into the Café zuc Frevenkirche and have a glass of white wine dry and a crepe with marinated black currents, homemade marzipan curd cheese and fresh whipped crème. Yes it is as good as it sounds! While at the cafe I learn about Christstoller, which is a yeast made fruit cake with candies fruits and nuts. Toes thawed I am ready to explore this mysterious fourth market. The sign above the market read, Weihnachtsmarket an der Frauenkirch. The top of the market….meaning the closest to the Café I just left seemed to be mostly local bars that have set up an outdoor shop to offer fun elixirs to market attendees but as I move further into the market I see vendors selling ornaments, dried fruit, roasted chestnuts, candles and everything else I could imagine. Quite satisfied by my acquisition of knowledge for the day I head back to my hotel on the trusted #3 tram. Tomorrow I am going to explore the neighbor around my hotel and do laundry…that ought provide for some laughs!
All my best,
Jill
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| The scene at the Mittelalter Weinacht Market. |
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| A vendor in the Weihnachtsmarket an der Frauenkirch. |
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