I am a sucker for Christmas markets! I don’t necessarily love the crowds, but I do love mulled wine, hot chocolate with rum or Bailey’s, sausages, the lights and music, and all the lovely little booths selling gifts, woodwork, glassware, warm socks and sheep furs and all the other stuff. I love the candlelight, the smell of Christmas spices and the carousels for children. In Germany, there are a couple of stands you will almost certainly find on every German “Weihnachtsmarkt”: mulled wine and other hot drinks, sausages, beeswax candles, chocolate-covered fruits, colorful glassware like candle holders and bowls, and woodwork from the Black Forest. Normally, I don’t get to see German Christmas markets as much since I moved here, and I kind of miss them. But this weekend, I found out about the International Christmas market at Højbro Plads, smack in the city center just across the street from Christiansborg.

So we decided to swing by after work and see what it’s all about - and I have to say, I love it! It’s not very big, and there’s certainly some of the relatively useless stuff (plastic gifts and kitschy things), but there is also a massive charcoal grill full of real, German sausages! The “international” part is mainly provided by some French and Italian cheeses, a crêpes stand, and a Spanish churros cart. After chowing down a bratwurst and a currywurst, needless to say, I had the best time. Here are some impressions from the market.