1. Food
To say that German pastries and bread are great is an understatement. Germany makes over 600 main types of bread and 1,200 pastries, produced in over 27,000 bakeries, according to my research. Darker rye-type bread is most popular. (Germans would probably be aghast at the white Wonder Bread that passes for bread in America…)
The bread is good; the sweets, epic. Back in September I spent my birthday with a good friend in Germany. One of our first stops was to a bakery. The choices for cake were mind-numbing. I’m convinced that no person ever walks out of a German bakery with one slice of cake. We left with two slices: a triple-layer fruit tort slice and piece of dark-chocolate-almond meringue cake. I like to wash down my German food with apfelschorle--my new favorite soft drink. It is merely carbonated water and apple juice, but it tastes much better in Germany than when I attempt to make it at home...
2. Christmas Markets
Germany is known for some crazy festivals; carnival (where everyone dresses up) and October Fest are two of the better known ones, but small fairs happen all the time (think West Virginia.) For example, when I was in Gottingen with a friend there was a great little fair with loads of street food (mostly of the meat variety, hard for a vegetarian), soft pretzels and beer—of course. There were also musical troops. I listened to two forty-plus-looking women in bell-bottom white stretch pants with long blond and brown wigs, rock to Abba in front of a huge crowd. I also crouched down with some six and seven-year-olds to get a prime view of a swell German puppet show going on.
However, my favorite German festival happens in winter: Christmas Markets. There is nothing like holding a mug of hot, German mulled wine in your mittened hands on a freezing cold night, spiced steam wafting around you, surrounded by twinkling market lights and stars.
What: Christkindlmarkts are large craft and food markets that last the entire month of December. This tradition dates back to the Late Middle Ages in Germany and Austria; there are now Christmas Markets all over the world.
Where: In many towns and major German cities.
When: It lasts the month of December, day and night, though it is most fun to go in the evening when vendor’s stalls are illuminated with lights.
Who to Go With: I went with a German friend (Sabrina!) My friend showed me how there were two markets within close proximity to each other. One was made mostly for tourists, she said, the other for locals. The one for locals was much cooler. For example, the food was more authentic and all the crafts (leather belts, wool hat, candles, etc.,) were handmade.
Purchases: I bought mostly food items (marzipan logs, gingerbread hearts) and a little wood carving of an owl perched on an open book.
Eat and Drink: Roasted chestnuts that come out piping hot and are served in a paper cone. They are incredible and taste a bit like really sweet meat. I also ate a pfannkucken (a large crepe-esque pancake) smeared with hot apples and delicious nut and berry-stuffed stollen (a sweet bread.) A lot of people were eating meat on skewers by the fistful. However, the hallmark item is gluhwein! This spiced wine is laddled piping hot into your mug. It is flavored with lemon rind, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla pods, though these ingredients are not found in your cup. The drink can be made with red and white wine, but is more popular with red. At a Christmas Market you are given a pottery collector’s edition mug for your gluhwein. You pay about three euro for your first glass (replete with mug.) Then, every glass after that is about a euro. At the end of the night you can return your mug for a two euro refund, though I kept my mug (as some people do) for souvenirs. Gluhwein is delicious and keeps you warm all night. Prost to that! (Cheers in German.)I hope to go back to visit another Christmas Market someday.
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