One of the largest differences between the changing of holiday seasons in the United States and in Germany is the switch time between Halloween and Christmas/winter type decorations. This is mostly because they do not have Thanksgiving here and so they move much quicker to decorations for the holidays in December. Here they have Christmas markets that start opening some places around mid-November. Now, having been to some of the markets, here are some of my favorite things to eat and drink: the hot punsch (comes in cute glasses), handbrot and kartoffel puffer.

Now there are other things to look at in these Christmas markets other than food — lots of various wares and handcrafted items. Looking for ornaments, new plates, wool hats, cookie cutters or some type of fun gift for someone? You will most likely find it there! It is very fun to just walk around, have some good food, look at the decorations, have warm drinks and look at all of the different stands full of items!

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: IES Abroad: Environmental Studies and Sustainability in Freiburg