Christmas Markets 2012

It was a long time coming, the Christmas Markets, that German institution that has spread throughout the rest of the Western World and provides China with another industry fuelled by Western demand. What had once been the domain of small specialist craftsmen was now mass produced in China. There are still some that manage to carry on in the old tradition, like the wooden pyramids and smoking men of the Erzgebirge or Rothenberg Glass blowers, but even here you can see cheap replicas creeping in. Progress I suppose and as unstoppable as an avalanche or the McDonalds taking over from traditional foods.

Uschi our dear friend  and us two, meet up on various times during the year, Carnival, special days when foreign cultures show off their food and folklore,  most years we pick a Christmas market to visit and normally do Dortmund or Düsseldorf, but this time we selected Cologne.

It was good as I then asked Linda if she fancied making a weekend of it as we have good friends that live near Bonn and that would mean we could visit them and also go to the Bonner Weihnachtsmarkt. As we both had never been to either his would fill in a gap in our education.

So Marga and Ewald duly informed that they would have guests for the first weekend in Advent, it was arranged that Friday would be Bonn and Saturday in Cologne.

I travelled down from Rheda and arrived at our friends in 2 hrs after the normal traffic hold ups on the A1 (I have lived in Germany for 36 years and in all that time there has always been road works and hold ups on the A1).

We agreed that we would pick up Linda from the Central Station, the poor lass had travelled from Lübeck and it that was over a 5 hour journey, the things that people do in the name of culture. We could then pop across the road and take in the Bonner Christmas Market. This is it in pictures:

Marga and Linda

The rather large Christmas Pyramid

Käthe Wolfahrt from Rothenberg an der Tauber, one of the most famous manufacturers of glass Christmas tree decorations, you can give a small fortune out for the decorations for a small tree and be bankrupt for a large one.

The Christmas Market under the ever watchful cathedral.  

It is a small compact, nice Olde Worlde non-commercial Christmas market.

We slept sound in Ewald’s Lemon Grove that night and even better the next night after a feast and a few glasses of wine

After breakfast Marga took us to the Central station to catch the train to Cologne, we (well the girls had) had arranged to meet just outside the railways station, which just so happens to be at the foot of the famous twin towers, no not from Tolkien, but the Kölner Dom!

We then walked along the main shopping street (it is in no way comparable with the Kö in Düsseldorf but still very nice) I wanted various Christmas presents to myself, I being the only one that knows what I want and not what others think I need.

We then went about finding the Christmas Markets, there are three in Cologne and Uschi had printed out the plan of the city and marked the areas in red. So it was first to the Engelsmarkt (Angel’s market) this was in fact on the area called the Neumarkt. But on they way we passed the bakers shops and the conditorie shops there was a very nice one with the ginger bread house in the window.

And two witches watching close by?????

 

It was still quite early in the afternoon and so was not as busy as it would be later so it was actually quite pleasant to wander from stall to stall without fear of being crushed, robbed or trampled to death at the Glühwein stands.

We passed all of those wonderful stalls selling the different Christmas (and at other times of the year) specialities)

The Artisan Bakers

The Baumkuchen, a speciality that is wound round a central spit and when sliced has rings like the rings in a tree, they are often cut into sections and coated in chocolate or some other sweet glaze.

There is also lots of fretwork stalls, here is a one that has specialised on the Dom.

And the Nougat stalls with the myriad of colours and flavours this was making me hungry, very hungry indeed.

I fancied a bite to eat, and each year I like to have my Grünkohleintopf (curly kale stew),  This year alas I was to be out of luck, I was informed by Ewald that there is a Grünkohl border with Bonn and Cologne being on the wrong side of it. After we had been around the Engelsmarkt we headed of to the next one at the Heumarkt (Hay Market), we perused the stalls and all the time getting a little more peckish, so as we were near the Alte Stadt and the Rhein, we decided to seek out a suitable Hostelry. This was easier said than done, as many due to so many people getting hungry at the same time (most inconsiderate) left no place for three weary travellers. We at last got into the Haxenhaus and with a bit of luck (a group of French tourists were just leaving) got a table.

I decided against having the namesake of the house, Schweinshaxe this is pork knuckle in all its variations and along with Linda settled on Gänsekeule, Kartoffel knödeln and Rotkohl ( Goose leg potato dumplings and red cabbage) Uschi had the regional speciality Rheinische Sauerbraten.

I had the beer famous in the Cologne area “Kölsch”, this is a beer akin to the English Mild, in that it is bottom brewed beer? Please do not make the mistake of asking for an Altbier, this is very similar but you will be told in no uncertain terms that you are in the wrong city (Alt comes from Düsseldorf and the two cities are always at odds which has the best beer, the best carnival,  the best football team, in fact the best of anything).

So after a very nice hour we walked along the Rheinufer, the walk along the banks of the mighty river Rhine, the river that rises in Switzerland and enters the North Sea at the delta in Rotterdam and the surrounding area.

Due to the mild weather (it felt pretty cold to me) the Rhine barges and cruise ships were still plying up and down with their cargoes of goods and passengers.  

Walking through the Altstadt

We made our way back towards the Dom and the Central Station as we needed to catch the train back to Bonn and Marga’s  Martins Braten, a recipe that I must get off her as it was delicious. We ate and drank and chatted about next year’s trip to Cornwall, I had promised Marga many years ago, when she was my landlady, that we would one day go to Cornwall (she watches too much Rosamunde Pilchar). We have now settled on summer 2013. So it is to be in campervans, I shall be buying one very soon and Ewald and Marga are going to hire a one.

Next morning it was up earlyish and took Linda to the railway station and I headed up the A1 through the rain, sleet and snow, but made good time and guess what? I was able to get in another Christmas Market, our very own at Wiedenbrück and at last I got my Grünkohleintopf.