Last year's Christmas season is defined in my memory by insane amounts of snow. But, ironically, the coldest I can remember was actually one without snow. I remember it so well, too, because it was the day Gemma and I visited the Christmas Market in Nürnberg.
You may notice that the market in Nürnberg is called a "Christkindlesmarkt" instead of a Weihnachtsmarkt. That literally means "Christ Child Market" and might have to do with the fact that in Germany the Christkind (or Christ child) is the one that delivers presents on Christmas night, not Santa Claus (but more on that later). But regardless of what it's called, it's still the same thing.
The Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt is probably the most famous in Germany. I'm not entirely sure why, but I can confirm, it is well deserved.
Luckily, living less than an hour away, I got to visit the Nürnberg market on more than one occasion last year. But on particular visit sticks out as the absolute coldest I can remember. Now, I couldn't tell you exactly what the temperature was, just that Gemma and I were so cold we bought Glühwein just to hold on to something warm and spent 30 minutes walking through a grocery store just to get out of the cold.
Even after we lost feeling in all our extremities, were still able to enjoy the perfect Christmas atmosphere at the market. I mean, set in the idyllic Nürnberg market square, how could we not?
The absolute best part of the Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt, though, is hidden around the corner from the main market. Now, most people wouldn't really call Nürnberg's sister city market the best part, but most people don't come from (well, almost come from) one of Nürnberg's sister cities - Atlanta!
I almost peed my pants with excitement when I saw the Atlanta stand! When I proudly told the girl working the stand that I was from the area, she did not seem nearly as excited as I had hoped. I then spent the next 20 minutes pointing at every item for sale and going "oh! I know that!" And for those 20 minutes, I forgot just how cold it really was.
When telling people where I live in Germany, I always reference the closest big city - Nürnberg. And it recently came to my attention that I've never really posted about Nürnberg.
Visits to Nürnberg this past year were pretty regular, especially whenever I had visitors in town. It has an incredibly picturesque Altstadt (old city) and an overall very stereotypical "German" feel about it. I mean, it was once claimed, by the Nazis, to be the most German city.
Aside from being a great shopping destination, it has a lot to see including a castle, the Nazi Party Rally museum, some very strange and disturbing statues, and lots of big, beautiful churches (ok, it's Germany, there are big, beautiful churches everywhere. It's a little ridiculous.)
One big, beautiful church in particular - the Lorenzkirche - is right on the way from the main train station to the altstadt. Which means we pass it almost every time we go to Nürnberg. And somehow I always end up taking a picture of it. Perhaps to prove that it is just as big and beautiful as I left it...?
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| September 17, 2010 |
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| October 9, 2010 |
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| April 19, 2011 |
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| July 29, 2011 |
But you have to admit, it is a pretty photogenic church
