Yesterday, my parents, Dan and I went to one of the city's celebrated Christmas markets. My doctor said we should go enjoy one before Sophia is born...so we did. Wow! Picture little wooden huts decorated with evergreen boughs, red bows, and lots of little white lights. Artisans sell homemade and commercial wares, from traditional wooden toys and spoons to contemporary glass candleholders and jewelry. There's the cookie hut, with fantastic Lebkeuchen (German gingerbread covered in chocolate...mmmm), sugar-roasted almonds, and marzipan treats
(so luscious!). There are Wurst huts with all sorts of sausages that taste amazingly good in the cold 
weather, and the drink huts with Gluhwine (like glogg) and Kinderpunch (the non-alcoholic cousin). My parents were mesmerized by watching kids ride the carousel. Perhaps they were day dreaming about Sophie and next year....The best part? It's non-commercial. No Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, no Santa Claus, no Wal-Mart specials. There's no pressure to actually purchase anything, for part of the Christmas Market is the experience of just being there.
Now that I'm living closer to the Arctic Circle, I have a new appreciation for light. Candles, fires, the little white lights that shine in windows--these fiery illuminations bring joy to my heart. It's DARK here! I'm writing this at 4pm, when there's na'er a trace of sunlight to be found. No wonder the Nordic and Teutonic folk celebrated with bonfires, cookies and hot alcohol; a person needs something hospitable to keep herself going through winter.
The Christmas markets provide a wonderful kind of warmth--the essence of the human spirit. As we sipped our hot chocolate and munched on fried doughnuts covered in powdered sugar, I felt happy and alive. We're together. Our baby will be born soon. The sun will shine again. Some foods just taste better in the snow, and some songs need to be sung every year. It took moving half-way around the world to experience the best Christmas present of all.
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