Christmas mood
Just over a week ago I was able to spend a little time browsing through an Austrian Christmas fair. Doing so always takes me back to my childhood in Germany. Maybe it’s because our childhood memories manage to retain something of the excitement and mystery of the child’s-eye view, and maybe it’s because my German childhood ended when we moved to Ireland (I was seven years old at the time), but I could not help feeling that Germans (and Austrians) ‘do’ Christmas better than we do. The smell of ginger Christmas pastries, and the Glühwein (mulled wine), the quaint stalls and the music all combine to create what at least to me is a unique atmosphere.
I brought back too much, however. It’s wonderful where it is, but I am not sure how well it travels. But try as I might, I cannot get quite the same feeling of Christmas when I walk down Grafton Street in Dublin, even with the lights and decorations and cheesy music coming from the Brown Thomas store. I don’t often miss Germany, but this time of year I do, just a little bit.
Explore posts in the same categories: cultureTags: Austria, Christmas, Christmas fair, Christmas market, Germany
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
University Blog 
December 8, 2008 at 9:23 am
You might enjoy the 12 days of Christmas market http://www.dublindocklands.ie/12daysofchristmas/
It is on in the Docklands – where “Oktoberfest” was on, beside the CHQ building and the Harbourmasters Pub. Here you will find your mulled wine, bratwurst and ginger biscuits.
December 28, 2008 at 2:07 am
you weren’t alone on not feeling Christmassy this year. I must say even after Christmas day been and gone and my charity christmas party in Croke park I still don’t feel Christmassy 😦 Maybe next year when I don’t have the worry of a thesis