Christmas Market Cruise- It's a Wrap!

So there you have it- Our cruise is over and we're back at home dealing with the holidays, American Style. But I just thought you might like to check out a few pictures of the various Christmas Markets we saw.




First off, every market in every city has it's own personality, but there are some things they all have in common, like Gluhwein, folk music played by local musicians, bratwurst, gingerbread and Christmas ornaments galore! I really enjoyed spending time in all of them.


The Market In Passau, Germany is held against the backdrop of St Stephens cathedral. Along with the usual items, there were some very interesting glass blowers there.

Another thing I thought of the whole time I was there, was how hard it must be to vend at these Markets. They're held during the entire season of Advent OUTSIDE, regardless of weather. Heck, the 3 days of Quilt Market just about kills me. Can you just imagine how difficult this must be? Because let me tell you it was COLD there, and often raining!

There are actually several Christmas Markets in Salzburg, but the largest is in Dom Square. The Austrian Christmas markets are aimed more at children and we saw a cool puppet show complete with marionettes. I dont know what the puppets were saying, but the children were cracking up!

The largest Christmas Market in Vienna is held at the Rathaus. There were LOTS of children there and they looked adorable all bundled up against the cold.


The Christmas Market I enjoyed the most was in Bratislava, Slovakia. Here's a little YouTube clip I found that was taken at the Market in 2006. It really felt more like an open-air festival than a merchandising event. There were performance stages and LOTS and LOTS of food and drink. I've got to admit, some of the food seemed quite strange, especially the various meats, but I loved mixing with the locals and the lights at night were quite beautiful!

I thought that the Budapest Christmas Market featured the most beautiful locally-produced handcrafts of any of the markets. They were also VERY crowded, but this may have been partly because were there on a Sunday.

Nonetheless, it was festive & fun and the Hungarian Folk music in the background was just wonderful!



But alas, all good things must come to an end, and it seemed before we knew it, we were sitting on a plane on a VERY snowy runway, winging our way back to the states. But we won't soon forget the sights and sounds of the Christmas Markets! It's an experience I highly recommend!