Weihnachtsmarkt-Season!!!

December is here, it is quite cold and wet (worst combination, but I would also complain of the cold if it was not wet, unless it is -40, that is nicely dry!) AND there are x-mas markets open. I love that season. But it can be a challenge to find the real good markets where they even have eggnog (the only alcohol I can hardly resist), some nice crafts and all this nostalgic x-mas stuff. Many markets are just luna-parks with x-mas songs. That is disgusting. Germans do know eggnog (Eierpunsch), but it is not very common. They rather drink Glühwein, hot spiced red wine. If you are not used to it, you better share the cup with you sweetie. It is sometimes extremely strong. Normally when you buy a hot drink on the market they ask you for a deposit for the cup. To foreigners that is a bit strange but in green Germany we do not use plastic like other countries. Whether this makes sense is not the question :)


In Berlin, every district has at leat 2-3 own little markets. Tomorrow I will go to RIXDORF, Berlin-Neukölln. It is only open for 3 days, it is supposed to be historic (whatever that means) and I have high hopes that their 3-day effort will not mingle with the overall commercial stuff like the other markets. Unfortunately snow is not even near. It is too warm for that. So I will most probably have some eggnog (if I am lucky and they sell it) in the rain. My wishlist contains not only eggnog, but also some "poffertjes", these little Dutch pancakes with powder sugar. hmmmm.... good childhood memories from the Netherlands are coming back. In Düsseldorf you find them on all the markets, but Berlin is close to the Polish boarder, most probably I will have to miss them.

I will try to take some good pics for you guys. Let me know which is your favourite x-mas market.'*

PS. The other day my friend from Egypt said that she does not know how to make Glühwein. Guess what dear... Germans do not know either... we go to supermarket, buy a cheap red wine and a package of "Glühfix". This is a teabag from the famous German tea company Teekanne (outside Germany "Pompadour") that contains all the spices. Heat the wine, put the spice-bag. DONE :-)


* Sorry, I dit not make it. It was raining since the market opened today. What a pitty, it is only open until tomorrow evening. I might give it another try tomorrow when I am in the area anyway.  The weather forecast is not good. But once there, I might drop by. So, please cross fingers that I will be able to take some good photos.