Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.
This was the year I finally made good on a five-year-old promise to my husband that we'd visit Christmas markets in Europe. It was important to us to experience these markets because we really enjoy Christmas festivities, and the mix of culture and history is hard to find anywhere else.
We walked about 10 miles a day in a packed schedule through a couple dozen Christmas markets in Hungary, Germany and Austria. No two were quite alike.
The market at Vienna's 18th century Schönbrunn Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was among the most special. When I first saw this huge lit-up star archway with its message of welcome, I gasped. The market, in the palace's grand courtyard, was full of attractions including an ice rink, ice stock games (like curling), a Ferris wheel, carousel and tons of food and craft booths.
We made a point to try local specialties like Käsespätzle (a German macaroni and cheese) and Glühwein, or mulled wine. Most Christmas markets across Europe serve Glühwein in collectible mugs with the market's logo or shaped like Santa's boot. You can pay a deposit and return the mug or keep it as a memento.
What I loved most was the sense of community at these markets. They can get crowded, but everyone's there to enjoy the food, wine and fun. You often end up chatting with strangers or hearing about another stall to check out.
At the Altwiener Christkindl Market, also in Vienna, we talked with an artisan about a New Year's tradition, Schwein gehabt, which means "had a pig" and symbolizes prosperity. In Germany and Austria, owning a pig meant wealth. Around New Year's, people gift pig-shaped charms as tokens of good fortune. I picked up several!
See more photos from around the world:
- Greetings from Jaffa, Israel, where a salon is a welcoming space for Palestinians and Jews
- Greetings from Chiloé Island, Chile, where the fast-moving tides are part of local lore
- Greetings from Andhra Pradesh, India, where a fragrant food stand feeds working women
- Greetings from Ukraine, where churchgoers seek respite ahead of another winter at war
- Greetings from Amman, Jordan, where history lent a colossal hand
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