Weihnachtsmarkt

Weihnacht is what they call Christmas over here in Germania, and I have to say they do Christmas here in style.

Though I have my Christmases where I "grinch" it up (for lack of a less lame term), I think deep down I like Christmas for the reason that it's this big special event, and it makes you feel like you're a part of something that isn't around long enough for you to get used to (and thus bored with it). I think a lame part of getting older is when the last week of December comes and all the Christmassy stuff goes down and people start getting excited about the New Year, and you think to yourself "Yeah, it's about the right time for all that holly to come down." But on the plus side, getting older means you can drink, and vote and stuff. Really, what I'm getting at is: being a kid sucks.

But seriously, Zie Germans really know how to do Christmas.

The Weihnachtsmarkt is literally Christmas-market, and it's a month-long festival in Freiburg where they have three or four Plätze (town squares (plural) is one meaning, and the one I'm going for here) with booths set up that serve stuff like Glühwein, Waffeln, Bratwurst, and Crêpes; as well as nick-nacks, and plates and stuff (you know, all those toys you see and read about in old Christmas stories, that are pretty much wooden cars, and horses and junk). It's all very storybook like, and typically European.

I sometimes wonder though, if it is typically European, they just want us to think that it is, or they've believed our hype so much that they do think it's typically European as opposed to typically, oh let's say, 19th century.

I kid, but really I love it. A bunch of friends and I went there on opening night and drank Glühwein (a hot, spiced wine that, I assume, is the same as mulled wine, even though I've never had it before), and ate Waffeln (use your heads to translate that one). It was very nice, and very festive, and they even had an outdoor ice skating thing, that caused us Canadians to chuckle a bit at the skating skills of the South Germans. I mean, not everyone can have national sports sponsored by national donut chains, can they?

But, like everything the Germans do, it all seemed really earnest, and really fun, and I really can't wait to go back, and enjoy it again! I even have a Glühwein mug to remember the night from!

Tschüss!

P.S. Upon further translation; yes, Glühwein does mean mulled wine.