I’d told myself before I came to Germany that I needed to visit one of the big Christmas markets while I was here. I then told myself in October when I visited Nuremberg on a Sunday (big mistake) that I need to go back so that I could actually buy some souvenirs. Put the two together and what have you got: A trip to the Nuremberg Christkindlmarkt.
I was a little worried that I was going to be expecting to much from Nuremberg. I’d read that it was one of the biggest, oldest, most famous Christmas markets in the Germany and I think anything less than that would have been a disappointment.
The journey to Marburg took just over 6 hours. We could have gotten there a little quicker if we had used the ICE, but my purse preferred the option of buying the €28 Bayernticket which allows up to 5 people to travel around Bavaria on regional trains from 12am-3am the following day from free. Originally four of us where supposed to be going but one of the girls fell ill and the other had been invited to a farewell dinner. Nevertheless I only needed to pay €14 for 6 train journeys.
We arrived in Nuremberg at 1.15pm and both the train station and the street leading up to Hauptmarkt were crowded. Once we arrived at the Christkindlmarkt I could see it was bigger than some of the ones I’ve been too, put I wasn’t impressed by it. 5 hours of walking around the stalls later, I took it all back. The place is huge. They have managed to compact so many stalls in such a tiny space. There are also 3 markets to visit. There is the Christkindlmarkt which is where the majority of the stalls lie. Here you get your food, Glühwein and German themed goodies. Then there is the Weihnachtsmarkt der Partnerstädte where each stall represents the many different twinned towns of Nuremberg. One of them being Glasgow, where you can purchase tartan ties, Walker’s shortbread and Fudge. (I’m fairly sure fudge is actually from southwest England but whose really complaining). I also loved the Venedig (Venice) stall. It was full of ceramic carnival masks. I really hope I have the time to go to carnival in Italy, I’d love to wear an authentic venetian mask. 
The third market is the Kindermarkt, which as the name suggests is geared towards the little ones. Oh it was so sweet. There was a carousal and a Ferris wheel, a post office where you can write and send your letters to Father Christmas, a house where you can meet the man himself and a house full of Playmobil for the kids to enjoy. A childs paradise for sure. 
But back to the main Christkindlmarkt. My main aim of the day was purchase some Christmas tree decorations and the all important German nutcracker. I was really lucky because in Nuremberg I was spoilt for choice. Every other stall sold Christmas decorations. I’ll let you in to a little secret…I spend almost €100. All I can say is thank God my Erasmus grant and university bursary arrived this month.
Another aim of mine was to eat the typical Christkindlmarkt snack: 3 Nürnberger Bratwürste im Brötchen (3 Nuremberg speciality sausages in a hard bread roll). It was delicious. I also bought myself a cup of Glühwein (hot malted wine) made from Heidelbeer (I don’t know what type of berry they are but they tasted sweet). I’m not a big fan of Glühwein but I felt the need to buy some because a. I need to have the authentic Christmas market experience b. I wanted to steal the cup (more on this crazy in a later post).
All in all I had an amazing time. I got my decorations and a very handsome nutcracker. It is definitely the best Christmas market that I’ve ever been too, I haven’t been to the other hyped up ones like Erfurt or Dresden so I can’t really compare. I hope though that I’ll be able to come back for a weekend next Christmas and visit the Dresden Christmas market. Nevertheless I look forward to more, local, Christmas markets in teh days prior to my trip back home (11 days away). I really recommend a trip to Nuremberg for anyone who can, it really was worth the half a days travel.
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