The Christmas Markets
Nobody does a Christmas market like the Germans, and no German Christmas market is quite like Dresden. Dating back to 1434, this is the oldest in the country and the 250 pretty stalls provide a real hit of Christmas cheer. Breathe in the heady scent of caramelized almonds and mulled wine as you shop for traditional crafts and gifts such as blown glass baubles from the town of Lauscha and brightly painted and carved wooden nutcrackers from the Erzgebirge mountains.
A slice of Stollen (German Christmas cake) is a must, especially if you are there for the Stollen Festival, which is held each year. Echoing past times, when the local princes gave slices of the cake to the poor, a four tonne Stollen is paraded through the town to the market, taking in some of Dresden’s best sight along the way: the Baroque Zwinger Palace, the Semper Oper House and the newly restored Frauenkirche (the Church of Our Lady).
In Copenhagen the annual Christmas market is held at the Tivoli amusement park. Packed with Christmas trees and shimmering with over half a million lights, the setting couldn’t be more enchanting and there is plenty to keep you busy. Work up an appetite with a morning’s browsing around the many colourfully painted stalls, snapping up wooden dolls, Royal Copenhagen porcelain, carved Danish pixies and locally produced arts and crafts. By then you will be ready for your share of cinnamon biscuits, candied apples, hot apple dumplings and a good draft of glogg, a potent mix of mulled wine, spices and liquor. (more…)