2022.12 German Christmas Markets (Part 4)

As we had visited their local Christmas market last year, this year they proposed a different market.  Located at a farm near the village, I was surprised with the size of this market was wholly located on one person’s property.  Once parked in a neighbouring field, and paying the admission fee we entered the market:

As much as we love traveling, we both miss our dog as he does not accompany us on our international trips.  Instead, we enjoy meeting other dogs during our trips.  After spotting these two, Little Miss happily reminded me “See, we wouldn’t be the only people who could use a stroller for their dog.”

We arrived just around sunset, and it was already quickly filling up with people.

What I learned from my relatives is that going to a Christmas market can be used as a substitute for dinner.  Given the many food options, it’ll possible to try many things and by the end of your visit to be full.  As well, some people use Christmas markets as their outdoor pub for the day.  One example was that a group spent the entire day, starting from the market opening around 10-11am until the market closed in one of the covered and heated huts drinking and eating the day away with friends.

Once the sunset (waiting isn’t difficult as it gets dark by 4pm in Northern Germany) the location started to look even more impressive.  Every building had Christmas lights, and there was a small pond to walk around.

Here’s a sample of the many food items available for purchase:

A multitude of seasoned and roasted nuts available for sale here!

Sweet treats were never far, and typically each stall focused on a particular type.  Above was the assortment of Cannoli and a few other baked sweets.

While we walked around the crowds grew, and that was because there are short performances during the evening.  To me, the production value and quality was much greater than I would have had guessed.  I cannot adequately explain it, so I’ll try and remember to find a video so that it can be posted on YouTube for your own critical review. 😉

We made sure to have some food while we walked around the market:

Remember, when visiting a market expect that the typical German diet of pork, potatoes, sauerkraut being the easiest items to find.

Little Miss definitely stopped and drooled over this stall.  She was even happier once she had a bit of the crackle that he was cutting up in the picture too.

This is an example of different expectations on quality and craftmanship.  To me, the stalls that had handmade items were well made and appeared to be of high quality.  My relatives joked, “That’s just the usual stuff.”, aka nothing special to the locals. 😀

This was a full evening.  Entertainment, many foods and drinks that fuelled us, we were full and tired when we left.  The younger ones weren’t, as upon returning home, they then found more food to eat (pizza I think) — as being full as a teenager is a different level.

Don’t count out markets outside of cities.  Just because there isn’t a train station or easy public transit to it, doesn’t mean they are not worth visiting.

Explore other parts of this trip:

Part 1 – Air Canada Signature Class Lounge & Flight Toronto to Amsterdam

Part 2 – Doubletree Hotel by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station

Part 3 – DB ICE Train Amsterdam to Dusseldorf

Part 4 – A Christmas market in the countryside (this post!)

Part 5 – Hampton Inn by Hilton, Berlin West (Zoo Station)

Part 6 – Lego Berlin and other stores

Part 7 – Berlin Christmas Markets

Part 8 – Hilton Dresden

Part 9 – Dresden Christmas Market

Part 10 – Nuremberg Christmas Market

Part 11 – Nuremberg Hampton by Hilton

Part 12 – Doubletree by Hilton Frankfurt Niederrad

Part 13 – Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

Part 14 – Schiphol Aspire Lounge & Air Canada flight Amsterdam to Toronto