Since I moved to Birmingham, everyone has raved about the German market that takes over the city centre for December. I was skeptical.
“It’s not a real German market, is it?”, I said. “Yes, they said. Real German people come over from Germany. Frankfurt in fact. And that’s in Germany. And that makes it German.”
So, I thought i’d put it to the test - put the German market in Birmingham up against the German market, in erm, Germany.
First up, Die Weihnachtsmarkt in Hamburg.
Ready? Let’s go together. We hop on a plane in Birmingham - only budget airline GermanWings fly from this airport but that’s OK because it means it’s cheap. The flight is only over one hour long, just long enough to really get into a good book before pressing our noses up against the window to spot what’s beneath as we come in to land.
We jump in a taxi, and high tail it over to our hotel. We are living it up in the Park Hyatt. Ooh-er, fancy! But don’t get settled - there is barely time to dump our cases which we’ve cleverly filled with warm woolies and winter boots, and put on our gloves before the sparkling streets below beckon us to join them.
There is Christmas in the air - smells of Gluhwein, bratwurst, crepes, roasting nuts and cloves all mingling in together come floating out to meet us. We practically skip to the nearest market - and we don’t have far to go because there are LOADS of markets here. Some big, some small, on every street corner, filling the city with festivity.
We’ve not eaten since breakfast, so we are pretty hungry. The boys want sausages. And sausages they will get! Currywurst, bratwurst, all sorts of wurst being grilled up ready to fill their tummies.
And for the non-meat eaters? Well, don’t fear there is plenty here. I start with some delicious hand-made, cheese filled, wood fired bread.
Gut, ja! These folks are loving it too!
Would you like a slice? Or perhaps you’ll have sausage. Whichever you chose, we’ll need to wash it down with a warming mug of pretty lethal Gluhwein. Naturlich.
Then, brace yourself, as we are in for a heavy night. We know some locals who live here and they are ready to show us the town. Don’t expect to get into your super-comfortable-luxury bed before 4:30am. Ouch.
As expected, we sleep in the next day and wake up in the afternoon feeling annoyed that we’ve wasted so much time. But, we’ve got a plan. We head over to the AlsterHaus - Hamburg’s answer to Selfridges or Harvey Nichs. And lo and behold, our partner from the night before works there.
Now there’s nothing like a a bit of pampering to take you from hangover to makeover in 30minutes.
That’s Mac’s Falsh Lashes mascara on my eyes right there - my new best friend!
To celebrate our new, invigorated look, we head up to the top floor for champagne.
What do you think? …oops, don’t forget to cheers.
Delicious. Feeling peckish? Why don’t we order something tasty. We are at a seafood bar, so you could have some lobster, caviar or perhaps play it a bit safe and opt for some smoked salmon. Good idea batman. That;s exactly what i’ll have too.
We have a wonder around the shop, oohing and ahhing at all the beautiful things for sale. The food court on the top floor looks absolutely delicious too- somewhere to come on our next visit, because we have too much Christmas market food to eat during this trip.
On our way out of the shop, we are treated to a little dance!
Then it’s back to the streets for a bit more market exploring. Hamburg really does do Christmas well. Everywhere sparkles. Nothing is left dull.
Peckish again? What already? Well, me too. Hamburg is a big port city, and is famous for its seafood. There are some great restaurants down by the harbour, and they bring the fish to the markets too. They have loads of amazing tasty things cooking. I’m going to have some prawns. Want some?
Or maybe you’d like to warm up with some hot soup. Oh, OK, i’ll have some of that too!
You might think that the only thing that can top this trip is snow. Well, that would be nice, but a fly by from Santa would be better.
There he goes!
My verdict on the German market in Germany: 10 out of 10.
Thank you Deutschland, we’ll be back.
Birmingham, you are up next…..
