Is it really better to travel hopefully than to arrive?
The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that we have been travelling for nearly a week without much mention of my raison d'etre, the Christmas Market.
And why? Because things have gone slightly sideways on the CM front. I had fairly low expectations of the Italian markets as I don't think they are the tradition there that they are elsewhere. We visited one in Rome. We skipped Florence because I was so footsore after the walk up to take sunset photos that not even the lure of a Christmas market could make me take another step.
In Venice, we arrived at the piazza to find ... tumbleweeds. It was picturesque. It was Italian. And it was empty. Crushed, we retreated to a nearby trattoria and tried to work out what had happened. I concluded that somehow a previous market, probably 2023, had been mistagged as 2024 (and on several websites, because as a trained librarian, I would never rely on a single source for any information), but the upshot was, no market. This, naturally, resulted in my family gleefully claiming that Venice has the BEST Christmas Market and it is their favourite now and forever. Beasts!
We moved on to Vienna, where I admit, my hopes were high. Vienna has about 24 different Christmas markets. In the morning we went to the one by Schonbrunn Palace. Or, if we are being strictly accurate, by Schonbrunn Zoo, which is what took us there in the first place! The market was in front of the Schloss so had a beautiful backdrop, but it was heaving with people. They were lined up to get in and there was not much room inside. We edged our way in and edged out again fairly quickly. You'd think that would have prepared us, wouldn't you?
But no. That evening we went to the main CM in Vienna, at Rathausplatz. Well, we tried. The closer we got to it, the more people there were, until we finally got to the front of the market and the roads were thick with people. I can't even use the word Crowd really, it was more of a Mob. A fairly genial mob, true, but still a mob. I have never seen so many people in one place before. You could not walk more than two steps without bumping into someone else and the queues to get near the little stalls were horrific. It was so awful we gave up after half an hour of battling. I realise that Vienna on a Saturday was never going to be quiet but this was so terrible that I feared for the rest of the trip. Had I spent years planning only to have my dreams ripped away?!
But! Next up was Munich. Our hotel is just around the corner from the Marienplatz market so I girded my loins and sallied forth. And it. Was. Lovely. Walkable, busy but not crowded, a gorgeous Gothic building as the backdrop, and to crown it all, about quarter of an hour after we arrived, an oom-pah band/choir appeared on the balcony and sang Christmas songs. It was utterly divine and has restored my faith. I foresee more markets in my future!
Your public demands more (and better) photographs!
ReplyDeleteDon't we just hate people and crowds!
ReplyDeleteClaude.ai is my intellectual paramour and it made you this poem:
ReplyDeleteTHE RATHAUSPLATZ CHRISTMAS MARKET
Before Vienna's grand town hall,
Where Gothic spires pierce winter's pall,
A market springs in festive might—
Since eighteen seventy-five's first night.
Seven hundred stalls of wonder spread,
Where glühwein flows, both white and red.
Three million visitors yearly stroll
Past craftsmen's wares and treats untold.
The Christkindlmarkt, as locals say,
Spans forty days in grand display.
Ice skaters glide through tree-lined paths,
While children ride the reindeer crafts.
The market's heart, a crystal tree,
Stands twenty metres, proud and free.
Its thousand lights in evening's bower
Illuminate the Rathaus tower.
Traditional treats line every row:
Maroni roasting, chestnuts glow,
Lebkuchen hearts with sugar-screed,
And vanillekipferl, mouth's sweet need.
Each wooden hut with treasures filled:
Handblown glass and items skilled,
From Tyrolean wool to painted scenes
Of Habsburg days and royal dreams.
In modern times, they've gone quite green:
LED lights and measures keen
To reduce the market's carbon trace—
Tradition meets sustainable grace.
So raise your mug of punch divine,
Where history and present twine,
In Europe's grandest Christmas fair,
Where Vienna's heart beats winter's air.