Schönbrunn Palace Christmas market : NPR

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Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly collection wherein NPR's worldwide group shares moments from their lives and work around the globe.

This was the yr I lastly made good on a five-year-old promise to my husband that we would go to Christmas markets in Europe. It was essential to us to expertise these markets as a result of we actually take pleasure in Christmas festivities, and the combo of tradition and historical past is difficult to seek out anyplace else.

We walked about 10 miles a day in a packed schedule by means of a pair dozen Christmas markets in Hungary, Germany and Austria. No two had been fairly alike.

The market at Vienna's 18th century Schönbrunn Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Web site, was among the many most particular. Once I first noticed this enormous lit-up star archway with its message of welcome, I gasped. The market, within the palace's grand courtyard, was filled with sights together with an ice rink, ice inventory video games (like curling), a Ferris wheel, carousel and tons of meals and craft cubicles.

We made some extent to strive native specialties like Käsespätzle (a German macaroni and cheese) and Glühwein, or mulled wine. Most Christmas markets throughout Europe serve Glühwein in collectible mugs with the market's emblem or formed like Santa's boot. You possibly can pay a deposit and return the mug or hold it as a memento.

What I cherished most was the sense of neighborhood at these markets. They'll get crowded, however everybody's there to benefit from the meals, wine and enjoyable. You typically find yourself chatting with strangers or listening to about one other stall to take a look at.

On the Altwiener Christkindl Market, additionally in Vienna, we talked with an artisan a couple of New 12 months's custom, Schwein gehabt, which suggests "had a pig" and symbolizes prosperity. In Germany and Austria, proudly owning a pig meant wealth. Round New 12 months's, individuals present pig-shaped charms as tokens of excellent fortune. I picked up a number of!