More Christmass-y stuff
Dec. 11th, 2011 07:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartMum and I decided to fight our disappointment about yesterday's trip by visiting the Christmas Fair of Budapest today. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
espresso_addict and mr_ea could tell you about it, as they have seen it two years ago, so let me just tell you that it's great.
The mother of all Christmas markets is the Christkindlmarkt in Vienna, of course. You simply cannot outdo the Austrians when it comes to pomp and great presentation. I think they must be genetically inclined to do this in a way no one else can. But. As big and shiny as their market is, it's a tiny bit repetitive. You can see the same wares and the same types of food (and not all that much of a variation of either) in dozens of stalls. A few of the items you can buy are truly beautiful, but the great majority is fairly commercial.
Our Christmas Fair takes place on a square in the heart of the city, and thus it has limited space. However, what's offered is of very high quality. Real craftspeople of various trades offer their products: glass-blowers, potters, leatherworkers, woodworkers, doll-makers... I even saw a blacksmith today, with a working forge, making wrought iron ornaments. And the glass-worker, too, was making little ornaments in front of people's eyes: mostly Christmas tree ornaments, which he produced within 10-15 minutes.
The food is also much better and more varied than anywhere else. The honey-cakle figures were so detailed and lovingly decorated as tiny sculptures. There was a marzipan stall where they sold bonbons of at least two dozen different flavours. They had cardboard boxes with little holes for the individual bonbons, and you could chose the bonbons you liked. They would put them into the box and wrap it and stick the sigil on it that proved its originality and that it was all hand-made - for a present, it was a great idea, I think.
The other food was great, too. Mum and I only drank mulled red wine and ate a chimney cake, but we could have eaten stuffed cabbages, or goulash soup served in a small loaf of bread instead of a cup, or grilled meats of all possible kinds... I can't even begin to list everything. The weather was relatively mild, so that people could sti on benches at the long tables and eat comfortably. The whole atmosphere was very happy and relaxed.
espresso_addict and mr_ea could tell you about it, as they have seen it two years ago, so let me just tell you that it's great.The mother of all Christmas markets is the Christkindlmarkt in Vienna, of course. You simply cannot outdo the Austrians when it comes to pomp and great presentation. I think they must be genetically inclined to do this in a way no one else can. But. As big and shiny as their market is, it's a tiny bit repetitive. You can see the same wares and the same types of food (and not all that much of a variation of either) in dozens of stalls. A few of the items you can buy are truly beautiful, but the great majority is fairly commercial.
Our Christmas Fair takes place on a square in the heart of the city, and thus it has limited space. However, what's offered is of very high quality. Real craftspeople of various trades offer their products: glass-blowers, potters, leatherworkers, woodworkers, doll-makers... I even saw a blacksmith today, with a working forge, making wrought iron ornaments. And the glass-worker, too, was making little ornaments in front of people's eyes: mostly Christmas tree ornaments, which he produced within 10-15 minutes.
The food is also much better and more varied than anywhere else. The honey-cakle figures were so detailed and lovingly decorated as tiny sculptures. There was a marzipan stall where they sold bonbons of at least two dozen different flavours. They had cardboard boxes with little holes for the individual bonbons, and you could chose the bonbons you liked. They would put them into the box and wrap it and stick the sigil on it that proved its originality and that it was all hand-made - for a present, it was a great idea, I think.
The other food was great, too. Mum and I only drank mulled red wine and ate a chimney cake, but we could have eaten stuffed cabbages, or goulash soup served in a small loaf of bread instead of a cup, or grilled meats of all possible kinds... I can't even begin to list everything. The weather was relatively mild, so that people could sti on benches at the long tables and eat comfortably. The whole atmosphere was very happy and relaxed.
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-12-12 01:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-12-12 05:01 pm (UTC)We've been fortunate as the crowd wasn't quite as thick as it had been during your visit - in the middle of pre-Christmas time it always ebbs down a little, and you'd been here around St. Nicholas Day - and so we could look at the beautiful things offered by the craftspeople more closely.