Christmas time

So this Christmas time, I decided I wanted to see some Christmas markets. So I planned my weekends so that I was able to see many of them. My first was in Olomouc, a city about an hour from Ostrava. I really enjoyed this Christmas market. It wasn't too busy. It wasn't too crowded. They had nice things and good prices. I had a great time and bought some cool stuff.

The following weekend, I went with Shelly and Ashley (two other ESI teachers at Fishnet) to visit the ESI teachers in Bratislava and then go to the Christmas markets in Vienna. Well, we got to go to the Christmas market in Bratislava, too, and ate dinner there. The food was fantastic! And they also had some great things to buy. This market wasn't quite as big as Olomouc (or any of the others-except maybe Ostrava) but it was still nice. I was able to get some nice stuff there, too. Then the next day, Saturday, we hopped on a train to Vienna-only about an hour away-and went to three different Christmas markets there. The first was in front of the town hall. And it was PACKED. Like sardines in a can packed. You could barely move. I was so stressed out by the end of it that I was ready to just be done, even though I'm certain I didn't see everything, and I might have liked to get a mug of punch. The second one was nice. It was less packed, which was very nice. And this one was more artsy. There was some stained glass, handmade candles, photos, paintings, and other such things, as well as food and punch. This was one where I might have liked more time, but overall it was fine. I could have had a cup of punch there, too-and gotten the mug (there was a different mug you could get at each Christmas market.) and at this one, they had a bunch of hay in the middle for the kids to play in. There was absolutely no snow there, so it was fun to see the kids playing in the hay. Then we went and saw the church in what I assume is the middle of town. And on to our third of the day. I have to be honest, by the end of the day, I was just stressed out. I really enjoyed this Christmas market, too, but I was really hungry. By the time we ate, I didn't have time to look much more, so though there were a few things I'd have liked to buy, I didn't get to. But at this one, I did get some punch (though I think they actually just gave me hot wine... which was still good) and bought the mug, so I got one mug out of it. It was, overall, a great weekend.

And this weekend. This weekend, I went to Prague. I couldn't go until Saturday morning because we had the Fishnet Christmas party on Friday night. But Saturday morning, I woke up and hopped on the train and headed to see my friends Sierra and Amy in Prague. They took me around to the many Christmas markets. They were nice, but very much for tourists. And in a few, it seemed like they had 3 different shops that manned every 3rd booth... But I did find a few things to buy. And we had some good food and some punch-that wasn't so good. I was disappointed to find that Prague didn't have mugs for their hot wine and punch. But oh well. Then tonight, when I was back in Ostrava, I went to see my friend Teresa sing at the Christmas market here. I got some Christmas punch (WAY better than the punch I had in Prague) and got to hang out with some friends. Overall it was a successful weekend.

And overall it was a successful Christmas market season-and it's not over. I hope to go back to the Ostrava Christmas market at least once more, and I'll go to any others if there is time, but I fear that there will not be any time to go anywhere else, since there's a week left before Christmas, though some are open the week after Christmas. We shall see. :-)