European Christmas Markets!

Christmas markets are seriously the coolest thing in the world. I’ve been to a bunch this winter so I thought I’d share what I thought of each one.

Luxembourg: The first one I went to was in Sanem, Luxembourg with a bunch of friends and I didn’t buy anything but it was cold that day so we got Bratwurst which come in these baguettes (much tastier than a hotdog bun) and les frites. And then we got chocolate chaud and sat around the bonfire in the center of the festival. Oh and then we took pictures with the leaves because they were bright orange and really pretty.

Gromperekilchelcher

Luxembourg: Luxembourg City has 3 markets open within walking distance of each other called Winterlights Luxembourg. I’ve been to each a bunch of times by now which means I have developed my little list of favorite things. On top of the list at number 1 is Gromperekilchelcher. If you follow me on insta (If you don’t but want to, my username is emmajoycooper-

or use the link under the contact page) you saw the picture of them but I’ll add one here too. They’re basically just really good fried potato cakes. I think it’s one of the only dishes originating in Luxembourg (don’t fact check me on that). Number two on my list probably has to be churros. I know what you’re thinking- Emma you can get churros at home at the Jacksonville Zoo- yes but these churros are so much better for some reason. They’re bite-sized and taste like heaven. You can also get them with chocolate dipping sauce (basically melted Nutella) and since you’re usually walking around the market eating them, the chocolate freezes which I think is cool lol. Number three is Kurtos.

Kurtos

They’re like these hollow cylindrical sugar and cinnamon- crusted fried dough. And as you eat it you unravel it from top to bottom. Amazing. There’s an ice skating rink at one of them which is really fun. Oh, and they have this stage where this

group of men sings American Christmas carols which is funny and I love it.

UK: When I was in London with Olivia we, unfortunately, didn’t have time to stop to explore the markets because we were only there for two days. BUT, I saw them and they were really cute. They were sort of similar to the others but also had things like fish and chips and candyfloss.

Germany: Trier Christmas market was honestly a lot better than I expected. It looked exactly the same as ours in Luxembourg but the city is so small I expected it to be small. It was in such a beautiful place though which made it feel a little fairytale-like. I’ll add a picture so you’ll see what I’m talking about. Olivia and I wanted

Trier, Germany

to eat German food while we were there so we went to a restaurant and ordered two dishes to share. The first- bratwurst and frites. I am not a fan of hotdog but it was honestly so good and there wasn’t even anything on it, it was a plain wurst. The other dish we got was venison, potatoes, and pickled sauerkraut. The venison was like roasted (you know when you have like a potato roast and it’s so tender and juicy) and the potatoes were such a weird texture. It was like they added cornstarch or something. But they were good! And I don’t like sauerkraut at all but this sauerkraut was seriously so good I was eating it by itself. We did some Christmas shopping at the market and then headed home!

Belgium: Brussels. Okay, so I have been to Brussels before and absolutely loved it. The square where the grand palace is, in my opinion, is more beautiful than anything I’ve seen in Europe- including Paris. It’s just this huge plaza and all the buildings are gold lined.

Brussels, Belgium

Anyway, so when Olivia came I really wanted to go with her because I enjoyed it so much last time and the Christmas market is open now. It did not disappoint! The market was so cute, it looked the same as all the others, and we ate really good food and got some Christmas shopping done. I introduced Olivia to les frites and Belgian waffles- both are just as good as you’d expect. It was really busy because everyone in Europe is on holiday and Brussels is a big tourist city for Europeans but that’s my only complaint.

France: Strasbourg, Capitale de Noel. It’s said to be the best Christmas market in the world and I can’t disagree. The market spans the entire city but the real show-stopper is the part that sits under the looming Notre Dame Cathedrale. It’s one of the most incredible views I’ve seen. And each street is completely decked out in Christmas stuff. One of the streets was so lit up that it made it seem like daylight even though the sky was pitch black. Olivia and I shared spaetzle and tarte flambée and got jus de pomme chaud. I wish we had more time because I think it would be so easy to spend like 3 days walking through all the markets in Strasbourg.