What is a "Weihnachtsmarkt", you may ask. Basically this is a large, open air market that usually opens around the third week in November in most towns and cities in German areas. There are many booths selling almost anything that you can imagine related to Christmas (Weihnachten is Christmas).
Anyway, last Sunday our Jungendgruppe went down to Salzburg to visit the Weihnachtmarkt there. It takes place in front of the main cathedral in Salzburg. The day we went it was cold and rainy, so high on our priority list was purchasing food and drink that would keep our hands warm. This desire led some of us to a Kaiserschmarrn booth. Kaiserschmarrn is a delicious food that appears to be a giant, cut-up pancake. It comes in many flavors. and I chose to get an apple-gingerbread flavor with chocolate sauce. That was amazing! This warmed my hands enough to wander around looking at the many booths selling toys, clothes, christmas ornaments, etc. Soon though, it was time to warm my hands again, so I bought some Kinderpunch, basically a hot, fruity/spicy punch. It is called Kinderpunch because it has no alcohol.
VaShon, Dylan, and I decided to step inside the cathedral for a few minutes to warm up. Ha, we had forgotten that cathedrals generally aren't much warmer than the outside temps, due to a lack of central heating. Oh well, at least there were many candles lit in honor of the saints that we could surreptitiously warm our hands over!
Finally, it was time to get back on the train and head back to Bogi. If one is in Europe during this time of year, a visit to the nearest Weihnachtsmarkt is a must, although you might want to pick a day with better weather.
