Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Why not Weihnachts

It has become something of a pass time for David and I to attend the Weihnachtsmarkts in and around Hamburg. Some have been very cool, particularly those downtown. And some have been awfully lame (Alsterdorfer Adventsmarkt). But in all cases, this country has pretty much cornered the market on Christmas. You could just about bottle the atmosphere here. While there is a similar (although I think not as crazy) tendency to shop till you drop for Christmas in Germany, there is an old-fashioned traditional feeling that I've never seen in the U.S. I suppose all the Gluehwein is helping with the holiday cheer, but never mind that. The air smells like sugary treats, wood smoke and pine trees. In the few days since the markets opened, we've been to a total of seven. The big ones have really special baked goods, candy, mustard, nuts, etc and lots of handi-crafts for gifts and decorating. I feel like a total sap, but I love it.

As I mentioned, Gluehwein is the drink of choice at these Weihnachtsmarkts and boy does it flow liberally. You can always find the Gluehwein stand - it's usually surrounded 4 people deep and smells like spiced wine. It is spiced wine, so go figure. Actually, Gluehwein is cheap red wine mixed with this stuff called Kinder Punch and a bunch of spices and then heated up. You can also get your Gluewein mit schuss (a shot of rum) or ohne schuss (without the shot). The schuss takes it to a whole new level and is worth a try and also worth implementing a self-imposed limit. We've decided that unchecked quantities of cheap red wine, lot's of sugar and rum just can't be a good combination. Our limit is three. So far, so good.

There is also a drink called feuerzangbowle that I am positively mad about. The word, feuerzangbowle, literally translates to "fire tongs punch." While I believe the base of the drink is the same as Gluehwein (cheap red mixed with cheaper punch), an extra step in the process makes the drink pretty damn special. A huge cone of sugar is placed in large tongs over a giant copper pot of simmering wine. The cone is then dowsed with high-alcohol rum and lit on fire. A ladel is used to continue adding rum to the sugar cone until the cone is made very small. The resulting firey, sugary mess drips into the wein and makes an ultra-sweet, highly intoxicating hot drink. So dangerously delicious. We tried a cup (or was it two?) on Friday. On Saturday my hands still smelled like carmelized sugar.

The other treat we tried was from a stand making fresh candy canes. The candy makers rolled out a huge, warm glob of striped candy, yelling all the while like carnival barkers. Then with some sort of quick hand magic, one guy lopped off a chunk of the candy, made into perfectly uniform pillow-looking squares and passed a bowl filled with the candy through the crowd. Wow, fresh, warm candy cane. I have no words.

We have two more Weihnachtsmarkts on the agenda this weekend - an ecological market and the big market in Bremen (about 110km from Hamburg). In the spirit of the season, I also bought an Advents Kalendar. I got one as a kid every year from a family friend and it has been really fun & nostalgic to pop open each day and pull out a little bit of chocolate during the countdown to Christmas.

That's pretty much it. David is encouraging me to focus a blog entry on German ways. I think I've been here long enough that I have stopped noticing! I have to pay attention again, because I know there is lot's of good sociological stuff going on. I just haven't been tuned into the transmissions lately.

Of course, I still love Hamburg and I really love feuerzangbowle, fresh candy and Weihnachts!!!

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