Tuesday, November 14, 2017

The irresistible scent of Christmas

Without Christmas markets the month of November and December would be like the advent wreath without candles. This is why we will be happy to take you to places which ranked among the TOP 10 most beautiful Christmas markets in Europe in the last year´s public voting. You can smell their scent far and wide and each of them has a unique odour that would be a pity to resist. So, feel welcome and take a seat.

bratislava christmas


Bratislava


Although the Christmas market in the Slovak metropolis did not appear among the best ones, its incomparable atmosphere of closeness attracts the visitors from near but also more distant countries. The Main, Hviezdoslav, Franciscan and the Primatial Square together with the Courtyard of the Old Town Hall offer beautiful corners, where the smell of mulled wine, Christmas punch, roasted beef, potato pancakes mingles with the smell of strudels or lokshe filled with endless varieties of stuffing. And while listening to the Christmas carols on the stage, in more than a hundred of stands you can choose from handmade glass products, ceramics, husk, textile, wood, honey, wax, original Christmas decoration, but also wafers, Christmas pastry or traditional cheese and other dairy delicacies. Or you can put on your skates and, at least for a while, forget about the pre-Christmas rush on the ice rink on the Primatial Square.

Budapest


The Vörösmarty Square belongs among the most popular places in Europe at the time of Advent. In 122 wooden chalets you will find handmade folklore products from the producers being carefully selected by a professional jury and, of course, a number of tasty delicacies. Kürtös cake, strudels, langosh, roasted chestnuts, roasted beef, Hungarian goulash, halászlé, roasted pig, stuffed cabbage, foie gras but also mulled wine, punch or krampampula – significantly differing from the one that is drank in Banská Štiavnica.

The opening of the windows of the Advent calendar in the building of the famous Gerbeaud patisserie is one of the biggest attractions of the Christmas market in Budapest. It is not only worth coming here every day at five in the afternoon from the beginning of December until Christmas Eve, when, being accompanied by an orchestra and lighting effects, one of the windows is unleashed, but the patisserie itself is also worth visiting with an inexhaustible number of self-produced delicacies. However, except this, more than 160 various performances exchange on the main stage of the Christmas festival – from folk through jazz, soul, dance, ending with a puppet show. Also workshops wait for the kids, where they can make their own toys, candles or postcards. You can be sure that Santa Claus will stop by on the sixth of December, but the Christmas market in Budapest will be surely decorated by live Bethlehem all the time.



Vienna


Also the Austrian metropolis is full of Christmas stands as of mid of November. Although the Christkindlmarkt in front of the Vienna Town Hall is the largest and the most famous thanks to its 150 sellers, numerous others in various parts of Vienna are very attractive as well. For example, in the Christmas village in the Mary Theresa Square between the Art-Historical Museum and the Museum of Natural History you will find 60 stands with handicraft products, gifts and traditional delicacies. 80 exhibitors from Austria and the neighbouring countries present their craft in the beautiful premises of the Schönbrunn castle. However, except ceramics, candles, artistic puppets, wool products or sheet metal toys you can get fascinated by the art of gospel and wind ensembles and your kids can have fun in the Christmas workshop or at Bethlehem. The Old-style Viennese Christkindlmarkt on the Freyung Square known since 1772, the market on the St. Stephen´s Square with Austrian high-quality products, the Christmas village in the Belvedere castle and a lot of other amusements are surely worth visiting.

However, the Christmas market on the Town Hall Square attracts the most attention, where the stands attract the visitors with candied fruits, roasted chestnuts, cotton candy, pretzels, fruits in chocolate, punch, mulled wine, Christmas decorations, toys and handicraft products. The magic atmosphere is enhanced by the adjacent park full of decorated trees, but also the Christmas Express, a merry-go-round and ponies for the greatest joy of the youngest visitors of the market.