The Holiday Spirit

Mountains. Snow. Christmas Markets. What else could you want?

Oh. Maybe the holiday spirit?

That's the one thing that was missing at the Innsbruck Christmas Market. Happy people.

At one store, I was buying a few Christmas ornaments with a friend so I asked for an extra bag. Nicely. In German. The salesclerk then threw the ornaments on the counter, got another bag, and threw them all in the other bag. Excuse me for giving her business.

At another stand, I picked up a wrapped loaf of bread to figure out what it was. It looked tasty and was covered in chocolate and I was considering buying it until all of a sudden I received a scathing lecture from the seller for touching it. I apologized, but this woman kept yelling. One of my friends, who speaks fluent German, stepped in and told this women we were sorry, we just thought her breads looked good and we wanted to see what they were. She kept yelling, "you should know better than to pick things up!" My friend told her that then she should have a "do not touch sign." "No!" said this woman, "It is common sense not to touch things!"

She was still yelling but I wasn't going to take it any more. I wished her a "Frohe Weihnachten" and then I walked off.

Later, we passed her booth and here's what we saw:

Happy Holidays from Austria.

An Expat in Switzerland's Favorite Christmas Markets

Last year, there was a big argument at my office in Zurich when my German boss claimed that German Christmas markets were far superior to Swiss Christmas markets in front of a group of Swiss colleagues. I tried not to take sides, but after four years of European Christmas Marketing, I too have found that German Christmas markets are more to my liking than Swiss ones. 

The main reason I prefer German markets is that they're usually larger and I'm an American so I like large things. Of course, there's something to be said for small markets, and I always enjoy Baden's little market because I can walk out my door and be there in five minutes. With a commute that small, I don't mind that the market will only occupy me for less than a half hour. But I felt much differently when I went to Bern's market, which took up two hours of total transport time, but only offered about an hour's worth of entertainment. 

In any case, after awhile, all of these Christmas markets start to feel the same. They all have glüwein. They all have mandeln. They all sell millions of trinkets I don't need but buy anyway. But still. There's something festive about all of them. Especially ones that offer 1/2 Meter Bratwursts.

So for what it’s worth, here are some markets in Europe I especially enjoyed:

Switzerland:

Basel (if you like big markets, this is arguably Switzerland’s largest)

Germany:

Stuttgart (great weekend destination from Switzerland, good deals on the train from CH)

Esslingen (adorable town near Stuttgart with a fantastic market, including a medieval one)

Düsseldorf (free ice skating and ½ Meter Bratwursts)

Schloss Dyck (they sold golden gnomes here, something I couldn’t pass by)

But enough about what I think. What are your favorite Christmas Markets in Europe?

This post was written on behalf of AffordableCallingCards.net, a new expat community blog. This blog offers affordable calling cards in Switzerland as well as information about living abroad in Switzerland and in many other countries.

German vs. Swiss Christmas Markets

According to many Germans I have talked to, Swiss Christmas markets are really lame compared to those in Germany. So far, my only experience at a Christmas market in Germany was in Waldshut, which is a tiny town on the Swiss-German border. It was festive and much cheaper than its Swiss counterparts of similar size.

The German claim of superiority in all things celebration I will be testing myself as I head to Stuttgart soon to find out just exactly how to celebrate the holidays German style. According to one German friend, Christmas is just another excuse to build a month-long festival centered around that favorite German pastime—drinking. Silly me, I thought I was going for the ambiance and Christmas items.

Oh well. Happy Thanksgiving. My third one spent at the office.