Give me a High Five #3: Weihnachtsmärkte

It's almost Christmas! I can't believe it's almost here. Germany has been preparing for Christmas for so long, with their Weihnachtsmärkte and their decorations, that it just seems like we were going to endlessly wait for the holiday to arrive. In honor of Christmas, here are the top 5 Weihnachtsmärkte that we have visited in Berlin. We have not gone to all of them, so I am sure that there are other great ones to see, but these are the best out of the ones that we have seen. Merry Christmas everyone! Fröhliche Weihnachten!

1. Berliner Weihnachtszeit
This Weihnachtsmarkt was near Alexanderplatz, but not the Alexanderplatz markt. Here, they had an ice skating rink, many yummy flavors of almonds, and a Pflaumen (plum) dough ball that Susan loved so much.  This market had a good variety of crafts and food, and is where I bought some very warm gloves :) They also had real smoked Salmon that smelled amazing.

Smoking Salmon

2. Potsdam Weihnachtsmarkt
Very cute! The street never seemed to end of stands selling everything from Indian silks, hot chocolate, German Christmas twirly carousel things, Polish Sausages, and other homemade goods. I bought some wool socks, which kept my feet warm. The other bonus, was that there were tons of stores and cafes on the same street, so we could step inside a cafe when it was cold, or step into the Tamaris store to look at pretty shoes.

Polish Sausage guy

3. Potsdamer Platz Weihnachtsmarkt
Really good dried fruit. Susan stocked up on dried dates. There is also a sledding hill, stage for curling, and it's next to the best ice cream place (that I have found so far) in the whole city!

Sledding Hill

4. Schloss Charlottenburg Weihnachtsmärkte
It was very cold the evening that I went with Jack, but they have the Schloss lit up with pretty colors.

5. Lucia Weihnachtsmarkt at Kulturbrauerei
This market is pretty cool because it offers fur coats and heaters to keep yourself warm. Unfortunately, there was no room where the coats were to try them on, but they looked pretty warm. This markt also had the cutest Glühwein mugs, which were in the shape of boots that had little Christmas mice and dolls on it. We kept that one!

Honorable Mentions:
The Nostalgic Weihnachtsmarkt at Opernpalais

Opernpalais also had pretty lights

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Weihnachtsmarkt

And a bonus:

-1. Gendarmenmarkt (yes, there is a negative sign before this one)
This markt was actually the biggest disappointment, but I'm writing about it because the experience was interesting. The markt at Gendarmenmarkt is probably the most famous one in the city, and even costs a euro to go. However, what they don't tell you, is that you have to waddle like a penguin throughout the whole market because it's so crowded that you cannot move or walk. If you get separated from your party, you better have a meeting space, because there is no where to stand aside and wait, nor can you catch up. They put a huge performing stage smack dab in the middle of the markt, where way too loud, mediocre singing is taking place. Why they put the stage in the middle, where all of the waddling penguin traffic is taking place, I don't know. We were in and out in 5-10 minutes. However, they did have samples of homemade Applechips which were pretty tasty, and it was also aesthetically pleasing.