Nuremberg

Nuremberg markets CROWDED!!  Score 7/10 

 We only scored this market a 7 because of the crowds. There were over 25,000 people but i'm guessing it was because it was the official opening.  This is one of the most famous markets & people flock to see the opening ceremony. It was officially opened at 5.30 pm by the Christkind, a girl with long blond hair & a golden crown. She stood on the balcony of the cathedral & had to recite a poem off heart then a song was sung & markets were open. We were warned not to be near the stage or the centre of the markets as the bus left at 5.45pm & we would never get out. So after wandering around & gazing at the stalls which was easy to start with but it started to get more & more crowded & difficult to move around.  We decided to have our Christmas mulled wine ( one each this time) leave but it was too late. All the lights went out and no-one moved. It was impossible to go anywhere, we were stuck with thousands of people pressed hard against us. No one wanted to move because they wanted to see the ceremony so there was nothing we could do except stand there & wait. I cannot describe how jammed it was & how slightly panicked I felt. Mum & I clung together while she was protecting our chocolate waffle bon bon from getting squashed. People around us said there was nothing we could do & we just to wait. Finally it was over & we were released. A local woman helped us out & we made it to the bus in the nick of time. It was a great market but we couldn't see most of it. I would suggest, unless you are really determined to see the opening ceremony, to go another night so you can enjoy this market at a more leisurely pace.




















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rudesheim

Image
Rudesheim Score 8.5/10  Another high score from us due to the beautiful buildings & half timbered houses & accompanying shops. The market meandered around the streets, following the street around, along the top, down the side and along the bottom street. There were lots of amazing lace shops & stalls as well as many Christmas shops. The huts were cute & the shops were great.  We could have spent hours popping into all the different shops & exploring the town but time was tight. We drank apple punch but the real drink of the town is called Rudesheimer coffee.  Asbach brandy is a speciality of Rudesheim and a nip of this brandy is poured into a special mug & set on fire then doused with coffee and topped by whipped cream & chocolate flakes. The best place to get this little treat is at the Rudesheimer Schloss in the Drosseigasse, a 144 metre long narrow cobblestone street. The Christmas market in this town is called the mar...
Read more

Regensburg

Image
Regensburg market Score 9/10  Regensburg, unlike a lot of German cities was spared destruction by the bombs in WWII so it remains intact as it has been for centuries.  We scored this market high as it had a great atmosphere,  lovely stalls with detailed scenes on the top and what craft stalls there were had the best quality of products.  The backdrop of the old town made it super charming. There were a great variety  of mulled wine with different cups. It was not overly crowded but busy enough to give it a good atmosphere.  We sampled the blueberry punch  and an amaretto punch as we are particularly fond of that almond marzipan flavour. The lebkuchen cookies, which are a gingerbread spiced cookie are definitely worth a try.
Read more

Bratislava Slovakia

Image
Bratislava  Score 7/10 As grim as Bratislava's history maybe, being part of the iron curtain with patrolling guards & dogs and architecture to match, the old town with it's cobbled streets & historic buildings came alive with the rows of candy cane striped Christmas stalls loaded with their Christmas wares. We started with a white wine punch before moving onto a Christmas rum punch. Up to this point we hadn't tried the hot white wine but it was surprisingly good although I admit it doesn't sound appealing. The Christmas rum was nicely spiced and great for warming up cold fingers & body. There was a really good variety of hot alcohol here like Rose or plum mulled wine, ginger punch with lemon & honey for those with a cold, lavender punch with blueberry, Elderflower punch with mint, Mojito punch & for those who like tea there was a fruit tea.  The vats were mainly stainless steel & the glasses were plastic with pictures of Bratislava o...
Read more