Since living in London, visiting christmas markets at christmas time has become a tradition for me. Last christmas (2007), I visited the christmas market in Nuremberg, Germany and this christmas, I went to Germany again for its another wonderful christmas markets - this time to Cologne, where I visited three of the six christmas markets the city offered.
But before I even started my trip to Cologne, I had been to a few other christmas markets without realising that it has become such a habit of mine to visit christmas markets during christmas time. I went to the Bath Christmas Market in the UK, Skansen Christmas Market in Stockholm, Sweden and Leuven Christmas Market in Belgium.
It's amazing what a christmas market can do for me. It gives me an excuse to get out there and embrace the cold weather (although I can't do more than an hour outside when the temperature is below 0 degree celsius). The cold winter weather, the warm mulled wine and the hot food, all combined creating a fantastic atmosphere to every christmas market. And not to forget the shopping spree if you are into traditional christmas cookies, decorations and traditional toys.
I enjoyed every moment of it and will definitely visit another christmas market come Christmas.
In this picture: the Christmas Market at Skansen.
Christmas Market at Skansen was located around the central square of this outdoor museum featuring the Swedish old town of the mid-19th century. The surroundings of the town really brought me back in time. The people were wearing traditional costumes of the era. The christmas market was very festive despite the wet weather. The music created a perfect atmosphere for people to participate in traditional dancing and it was fun too. The stalls were selling variety of hot food and drinks and other stuffs. I loved the glogg a lot. It's a Swedish type of mulled wine that has raisins and almonds in it. This is the sweetest mulled wine I've ever tried. The already perfect day was ended with carol singing for everyone to enjoy.
In this picture: Leuven Christmas Market in Belgium
Located at the town centre of Leuven, the christmas market was surprisingly quite big (I thought christmas markets outside Germany are usually smaller). The market was packed with people eating, drinking, shopping or simply just enjoying the whole thing. The kids were really happy with the many rides the market offered.
In this picture: Mark der Engel, Cologne
The Angel's Market is located at Neumarkt Square within the popular shopping areas of Cologne. This is Cologne's oldest Christmas market and some stalls were still there since early 70s. I liked the stalls. I think they were very beautifully designed. I also liked the star lights hanging on the trees. They shone magnificently when the night came.
In this picture: Christmas market at Cologne Cathedral
With the christmas tree at the middle of the market and the lights designed brilliantly hanging and coming out towards the stall, the Christmas market at Cologne Cathedral was beautifully lit. The atmosphere was unbelievable and the food was excellent too. It's a tradition to collect the Gluhwein mug and I collected one from this market. I think this is the most festive christmas market of all.
In this picture: Christmas market on the Alter Markt, Cologne
Located at the heart of the Altstadt (Old Town), the stalls were designed with timber giving the impression of traditional market. And on top of every stall was a crafted timber showing the theme of the stall. The traditional ginger cookies were the decoration of the trees around. There were many crafty items on sale here. I bought quite a few of christmas cake and cookies from this market as gifts for my friends.
Photos were taken by me and FH.
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