The Holiday (Shopping) Spirit

After our rookie mistake last year (of attempting to Christmas shop in Union Square hungover), Martin and I went for a slightly different approach this year.  Instead of Union Square we opted for Union Street for an evening of shopping and taking in the festive season.  After only a few short hours, I had presents for everyone on my list and even thrown in a few more items for myself.  It was a success!  We were done with shopping and the crowds for this year without incident, complaint or snarky comment …or at least that is what we thought.  United Airlines had other plans in store for us…..

We spent Christmas in Germany this year with Martin’s family and I left a few days early for a side trip to Tel Aviv for work (spending 3 great days with the team but missing all of the historical sights and attractions including Jerusalem and Bethlehem).  Martin and I were to rejoin in Berlin that following Friday to kick off the German Christmas Tour. 

I made it to Berlin safe and sound however due to flight delays and some re-routing, Martin arrived in Berlin 4 hours late; his luggage arrived in Houston around the same time.  With only the clothes on his back and the pair of underwear I bought him at the airport, it appeared we were going shopping in Berlin that next day; the Saturday before Christmas.

We had breakfast that morning with Anna and Tim, our hosts for the weekend in their beautiful East Berlin apartment and then set off to Alexanderplatz in hopes of buying a few clothes to outfit Martin until his luggage arrived.  Come to find out Alexanderplatz is the Union Square of Berlin and the Saturday before Christmas is their busiest day.  To make matters worse, even under pressure Martin was unwilling to forego his fashion sense and just buy something at the first store we went to.  After 3 stores and only socks purchased, my patience started running a little low and my comments were turning from supportive to slightly hostile.    We thankfully struck gold at the fourth store with Martin buying two great outfits including a pair of jeans, two shirts and a sweater.  And the fifth shop, the kebab shop, put me back in the holiday spirit.

We met back up with Tim and friends later that day and ended our quick trip to Berlin with a stroll through the Hacker Market Christmas Market for some more holiday cheer and Gluh Wein (kinder punch for me)…. Little did I know, our shopping mall / Christmas Market match up would be repeated two more times before the holidays were over.

Hacker Market Christmas Market

We left the next morning with promises to see Anna and Tim again next December (it was becoming a tradition) and hopped the train to Chemnitz to spend two nights with Meike before heading to the Breuer house. 

We arrived in Chemnitz and were informed that a few presents still needed purchasing for the parents.  So with Monday lined up as a day of shopping downtown, we spent Sunday night checking out a few Christmas markets in the surrounding areas – specifically Erzburg (in the old castle) and Freiburg (in the town square).  I found the Erzburg Market to be in a cool historic location but filled with cheap mass produced knickknacks and the Freiburg Market too overcrowded with too many food and alcohol stands (did I really just say that)?  The best market we went to was the Chemnitz Market, which we checked out on Monday after a day of Christmas shopping and a Christmas Carol sing along with Meike’s co-workers.  The Chemnitz Market had it all: the right amount of people, a good mixture of classic stands with the traditional wood carved decorations from the region, rides for the kids and a fun (definitely not the standard creepy) magician who kept us entertained as we huddled around the fire pit keeping warm with our Gluh Wein and kinder punch.

Chemnitz Christmas Market

Not to be outdone, we checked out one final Christmas Market the following day in Iserlohn after the drive from Chemnitz to Martin’s parent’s house.  I can officially say I have done the Germany Christmas Markets and soaked in the Christmas Spirit.