Christmas Markets

With only a few more days until Christmas we still have time to complete our Christmas market visits for the season. Of all the things I enjoy about living in Central Europe, the traditional Christmas market is near the top of the list! I'm not exactly sure why but Christmas markets here just feel more authentic somehow, but here are a few guess:

The food is absolutely more authentic! Local cuisine is simply better than foreign facsimiles and this 100% true with Christmas market fare.

Collectable mugs. Every year, each city has commemorative mugs that they sell hot drinks (mostly Glühwein) in. The price of your drink includes a deposit for the mug so that if you want to keep it after downing your drink, you're already covered, but if you want the 2-3 CHF / Euro back just take your empty mug back to the nearest vendor and they'll exchange it for the local currency.

 

(Hot chocolate also comes in the mugs!)

The weather is always cold! This seems to be true even when the temperatures are unseasonably mild. Last year, we went to the Zurich markets on a day that was said to be 50 degrees but it was honestly one of the coldest Christmas market experiences of my life! This year the temperatures were legitamately frigid everywhere we went. And while it can make walking around outside all day a little uncomfortable it does provide a different feel compared to visiting an equivalent market in North Texas where the temperatures can reach the mid to upper 60's.

The cities have a traditional old world feel! Of course much of this is due to the fact that most of the cities worth visiting at Christmas are legitimately several hundred years old at least so the locals have quite a bit of practice in putting their collective best foot forward during the holidays!

Some steampunk fountains!

Everything is decorated! And while this can also be true of certain areas in the states, over here it's frequently hard to find a building, sign or street corner that doesn't have something festive for the holidays draped over it.

This is a train station. It apparently needed to feel festive too.

It's festive but not Kitschy. Maybe it's the fact that places like Walmart and Target don't really exist over here so when you go to buy something from a vendor it doesn't feel like your paying a middleman for something. Also, the term kitschy originates from the German word "kitsch" meaning "gaudy" or "trashy" and despite how over-the-top some of the decorations can be you also know that it generally wasn't done on the cheap so it tends to avoid the dreaded kitschy feel.

Even the chandelier vendor didn't feel absurd somehow!

This year selection of markets were Colmar, Basel and Feldkirch with the family and Amanda got a bonus trip to Prague for work and visited their market. Here's hoping we can continue the tradition in the future!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Luciatåg

One of my favorite things about being part of an international school is getting to celebrate all the traditions coming from all over the world. Many have a familiar feeling but a unique twist. St. Lucia Day, or Luciatåg, is one of these. Olivia's pre-K teacher is from Sweden where this tradition originates and she took the students through the history and festivities of the day.

The festival begins with a procession led by the St. Lucia designee, who is followed by young girls dressed in white and wearing lighted wreaths on their heads and boys dressed in white pajama-like costume singing traditional songs. Traditionally, real candles were used, but for safety reasons they’ve been replaced by battery-powered ones. The festival marks the beginning of the Christmas season in Scandinavia, and it is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year.

It is celebrated on December 13th as this was the historic Julian calendar’s shortest day of the year, and according to Swedish folklore, the long night was dangerous, with dark spirits out in force. Staying awake was paramount, and eating helped – another connection to the small feast associated with today’s Lucia celebration.

Olivia was chosen by her class to be St. Lucia and got to lead the procession around the school for the class to sing to other students. She came home so proud of wearing the headdress. I asked the teacher about the songs. Here is a taste of the main Lucia song, "Sankta Lucia".

A primary school Christmas

The girls both participated in their school Christmas show this year. Similar to last year, I'm not entirely sure I can tell you the plot of the show. But also similar to last year, the adorableness level was off the charts.

There were 5 scenes. Each grade 1 - 5 acted out one scene with the same characters, so there was a Mrs Claus in Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, etc. She aged quite quickly that Mrs Claus. Pre-K and Kindergarten joined for the opening and closing musical numbers.

I put together a video of all the parts the girls participated in (including Charlotte's TWO lines) at the very end of the this post. Enjoy "Christmas with the Krackers"!

Charlotte's class preparing for dress rehearsal

Costume trial day at home

Dress rehearsal for Olivia

Dress rehearsal for Charlotte

Olivia with her teacher after the show

And now for the show!