The Netherlands - Christmas Market at Wageningen

Since this will be my last visit to the open market in Wageningen, I went out despite having too many things to study for the final exams. I needed to buy a roll of packing tape and some fruits and veggies for the next 5 days.

The moment I set my feet at the market I realized that it was more lively than usual. I saw crowds - mostly families and barely any students - gathering around the city centre, and heard Christmas songs on air. Oh yes, it's this mobile music box I saw on the day Sinterklaas came to the Netherlands almost a month ago!

The city centre is decorated with lights and there were shops along the main street of the city centre - these shops were usually not there!

As I walked further, I saw a signboard that says Kerst Markt (Christmas Market).

Compared to the Christmas markets at big cities like Dusseldorf (Germany) and Antwerp (Belgium), this Christmas market is relatively small and they don't sell as much variety as those mentioned earlier.

But of course, the vital component of Christmas market is not missing: the mulled wine (gluhwein)! Also, it serves erwtensoep, which is the famous Dutch pea soup that everyone drinks in winter (according to my Dutch friend). I didn't drink the mulled wine because I have to study! I don't want to get drunk that early (I'm EXTREMELY weak with alcohol; my alcohol tolerance way below the normal Asian standard).

At the center of the city centrum, next to the church, I saw this mini ice skating rink for kids. I had hoped that there would be one for adults, but considering the size of Wageningen's centrum, an ice skating rink for adults would take up almost half of the open market.

The festivities doesn't end here. There was also a group of Christmas Carol team that kept moving from one place to another, harmoniously livened up the market. They had beautiful voices!

Also these guys from SpecSaver (a glasses company) went out with some kind of goods (they were not giving out those stuffs yet as they walked through the crowd so I don't know what's in there), in such a flashy appearance.

And of course, I didn't forget my initial intention going to the market. I visited the mushroom specialty shop and decided that I had to buy something because this will be my last time visiting such a shop. I don't know when else I can get these exotic mushrooms for such a cheap price.

I also tried oliebollen (Dutch traditional deep-fried dough ball):

In concept it is similar to a doughnut but it is rubbery and chewy, yet at the same time very soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. It is served with confectionary sugar on the top. It is very sinful indeed, but as sinful as it can be, it is very delicious.

The poffertjes (Dutch mini fluffy pancakes) looked and smelled really good too, but my stomach was beyond the limit. I had a huge lunch before I went to the market, which was a really stupid decision I made earlier this morning. The way poffertjes are made is somehow similar to making Japanese takoyaki, but the pancake balls are then folded and topped with confectionary sugar. The Dutch surely love to add confectionary sugar to a lot of things!

If I don't have time to post on Christmas, I hope everyone will have an enjoyable Christmas! :)

Read More

Germany - Dusseldorf Christmas Market - Non-Food Aspects

While my main reason to go to the Christmas Market in Dusseldorf on the 1st of December was to eat as much yummy street food as possible, the city center of Dusseldorf offers amazing experience.

We arrived at the city center at around 11 AM, when the Christmas Market opens on Saturday. As I explained in the previous post, there are 6 different Christmas markets around the city center, and we explored 5 out of 6 of them. Each market has its own style. The first market at Marktplatz, for example, features red huts and little houses close to the City Hall in Dusseldorf Old Town (Altstadt). There was also a big Christmas tree. I don't know how tall it was, but it was my first time seeing a real Christmas tree. Back at home we have a synthetic Christmas tree made of plastic because pine trees normally grow in cool areas and the minimum temperature there is like 32 degrees C.

1st Christmas Market: Marktplatz

The City Hall in Dusseldorf Old Town

There were a lot of things going on, from something fun for children like the merry-go-round, craft shops for christmas decorations, ceramics, birdhouses, and woodcarving, to street foods like grilled bratwurst, mulled wine, nuts, crepes and nuts.

The city center was very lively with both locals and tourists. Most people speak English, but sometimes some stall handlers do not really speak English, so it might be quite difficult if you have questions about the products. But when it comes to purchasing goods, looking at the price signboards should do the job.

In some markets you can hear Christmas songs being played in the background. The atmosphere around the city center was filled with festivities. It made me feel that Christmas was just around the corner!

There were also places where you could rest for a drink, a meal, or a chitchat. Unfortunately, they were outdoors and if you are weak to cold temperatures (when we went there it was -4 degrees C), you'll have to find an indoor cafe.

If you want to warm yourself up a little bit, you can find Starbucks close by, or if you want something else, go over to the 5th market at Schadowplatz and there is a cafe called WOYTON.

The coffee was not too bad (although it's a little sour - not the type of coffee beans that I like), but I think they serve good bagels. And you could also see the entire 5th market from the second floor of the cafe.

The 5th Market, Schadowplatz from WOYTON

There are really a lot of things to explore in the market. You might think that the markets sell the same thing (indeed they do; you'll see multiple crepe shops, bratwurst shops, and of course bars that serve mulled wines), but each market has something different that you cannot find in other markets.

More bird houses

Christmas tree decoration! Kind of fancy, don't you think?

They call this the Christmas Tower :)

One of the interesting stalls I visited was the honey shop. You can try many different kinds of honey and honey products like honey wine, candies and cosmetics.

Eucalyptus honey... mmm... not for me haha!

Nordic Summer honey, Kesahunaja, was my favorite. It's very creamy and mild, not too sweet yet flavorful!

Oh, and there was also an ice-skating rink close to the 6th market!

For kids only: you can grab on to these "dwarves" (?) if you can't skate so you won't fall! :)

The ice skating rink is open from the 22th of November 2012 until 6th of January 2013, and you can rent the ice skates for 3 euros. We didn't ice skate there because we were limited by time and we haven't explored everything by 3 PM (and the bus back to the Netherlands would leave at 5 PM).

Sad enough, we had to leave around 5 PM. It was getting dark and the scenery was getting illuminated with beautiful lights, but we had to miss it. I'd love to go back to the Christmas market during night time if possible. I bet it will be very beautiful (despite the cold weather!).

Read More

Germany - Christmas Market at Dusseldorf Food Excursion

15 euros for a round trip to Dusseldorf Christmas Market from the Netherlands? Sure, why not! We got the bus tickets from betuwe-express.nl, and by the help of Google Chrome's auto translation service, I managed to book tickets with no problems. There was a 3.50 euro service fee per reservation, so if you book at least 4 tickets per reservation (of course you can book more tickets per reservation), the service fee is almost negligible.

I've heard that the best Christmas Market in Germany is not in Dusseldorf, but my friends decided to go there so I don't mind at all. We visited 5 out of 6 Christmas Markets (we missed the 4th one):

1) Marktplatz

2) Flinger Strasse / Makrtstrasse

3) Heinrich-Heine-Platz

4) Stadtbruckchen

5) Schadowplatz

6) Gustaf-Grundgens-Platz / Schadowstrasse

We obtained a guidebook in Dutch and German from the bus, but later on we found an information center at the market (you can find it easily by following the signs) and obtained the English version of the guidebook. A little late, but it helps me write about it now.

It was -4 degrees C outside. Although it was sunny, it was definitely cold. At first I couldn't stand the cold, but then I bought a glass of mulled wine, Gluhwein, from one of the stalls in Marktplatz:

It wasn't really the best decision ever because I had a light breakfast at 6 AM and I haven't had anything until 11 AM, and the first thing I had in my stomach was alcohol. It tasted like warmed up grape juice with alcohol and earthy spices. After I drank half a glass of it I felt really warm and I didn't need to wear gloves for about half an hour (even though it's -4C outside). Then I started to get a little tipsy. Yes, I am very weak with alcohol.

If you buy a glass of mulled wine, or perhaps hot chocolate (kakao) with a splash of liquor like amaretto (almond liquor) or Bailey's (Irish cream) and Sahne (whipped cream), or egg nogg (eierlikoer), you have to pay for a deposit (2-3 euros, depending on the stall). If you return the glass, you can get the deposit back, but you cannot use a glass from a stall in another different stall. I got myself this cute snowman mug:

More than anything else, me and my other three friends decided to grab foods and drinks instead of shopping at fashion shops located at the city center. To me, this was the best decision because those fashion shops are accessible everywhere in many countries, but these street foods won't be the same even if there is an imitation of German Christmas Market somewhere else in the world.

We had pretzels (brezel):

1/2 metre bratwurst (pork sausage):

Super delicious!!!

Curry bratwurst:

Roasted chestnuts (maronen):

Spiessbraten (grilled pork loin):

Champignon mushroom in krauterrahmsauce (herb cream sauce):

Roasted nuts covered in sugar and liquor:

Kinderchocolade soft crepe:

Spatzle mit Wildrahmsauce + Preiselbeeren (German egg noodle with game sauce + cranberry sauce):

The sauce tasted like IKEA Swedish meatball sauce!

Möhrengemüse bürgerlich mit Mettwurst (carrots, potatoes, butter and herbs with pork sausage of another type):

Garlic soup:

Ofenfrisches Raclettebaguette mit Kräuter - oder knoblauchöl (fresh from the oven baguette with Raclette cheese with herbs or garlic oil): 

Flammlachs (fire-roasted salmon with dill cream):

Kartoffel-Puffer (German potato pancakes)

Eaten with applesauce (!), ketchup or mayonaise.

There were also foods that we'd love to try but we didn't have enough room in our stomach.

Peruvian croquette

Spitzkuchen

More spatzle, but cooked in herbs

Flammkuchen

I have to say German food is awesome!

I will talk about Christmas market in general in the next post because I think I posted too much pictures here. I'm trying to utilize Photobucket to upload pictures, but attaching pictures one by one is pretty annoying. I'm so used to using Picasa's Instant Upload. Maybe I should just pay for the extra 25 GB storage :(

Read More