Thanks to Twitter, I stumbled across a blog hop hosted by Blog In France, a fellow expat blog. What better date than 12-12-12 to have a Christmas/expat-themed blog hop! Best of all, it’s a great way to read about other traditions in other countries and how they get incorporated into an expat’s new life. I figured I’d share a bit about one of the Christmas traditions here in Utrecht (the Netherlands) that helps get me into the holiday spirit.
The kerstmarkt (Christmas market) may be more well known in Germany, but they pop up in cities and countries in this general part of the world. Utrecht’s is hardly the largest or oldest, but it takes place on Twijnstraat, a lovely historic street in the old city center, which also happens to be the oldest shopping street in Utrecht. Hidden behind the rows of shops on the right is the Oudegracht, one of the multi-level canals unique to Utrecht. Part of our tradition is to get a cup of gluhwein (mulled wine) from the market and wander down to the wharf level to enjoy the scenery.
Twijnstraat and some of the side streets are filled with stalls selling food, drink, decorations, yarn, antiques, and more. Many of the kramen (stalls) feature organic products from the area. In fact, a monthly organic market combines with the kerstmarkt during the Christmas season.
Last year, the market extended down one of the side streets to Nicolaaskerkhof, the square next to Nicolaikerk (Nicholas Church). There were more stalls on hand, as well as a crepe stall and some special treats for the children, including a charming merry-go-round powered by bicycle (of course) and special sleigh rides with Santa and a couple of his reindeer!
Not surprisingly, there was also a nativity scene with lots of animals to accompany Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. The low-key donkey was a placid contrast to some of the llamas and goats that helped make up the menagerie.
This year, we’ll be visiting the kerstmarkt again, although it will also be held at Janskerkhof this year, in addition to the Twijnstraat location. Either way, we’ll be heading to Nicolaikerk on Saturday to listen to the Christmas and Advent Concert in the church, which I’m sure will help generate a bit more holiday spirit.
Please hop on over to the other blogs taking part in today’s blog hope. Many of them are giving away special prizes, as well as sharing their expat life.
A Flamingo in Utrecht 
Loving the look at Xmas in different parts of the world 🙂
Hope you discover your Xmas spirit in time to put up your decorations – I’ve not even thought about it yet. Xmas eve isn’t too late, is it?
Suz x
I’m glad you’re enjoying the “tour”! I did manage to get my tree up this past weekend, but only because I wasn’t sure I’d get around to it otherwise. Christmas Eve is better than nothing. Enjoy your holidays!
I love the idea of sleigh rides!
Putting the sleigh on wheels (since we’re short on snow) was such a great idea, especially with actual reindeer to pull!
I always like it when a town or city holds a big Christmas event like this. That always gives me a big Christmas feeling.
It really does help to create a festive mood, especially when you run into other friends.
I was lucky enough to spend a Christmas in Rotterdam, I was really impressed how the Dutch got into the Christmas spirit in more ways than one. 🙂
Between Sinterklaas at the beginning of December and then the two days of Christmas (25/26), it really can be quite festive. Certainly lots of opportunities to celebrate!
Thanks for sharing Christmas in the Netherlands! I’m glad to see they have Santa’s sleigh and reindeer there. You just don’t see them here in France!
It’s still fairly rare here to see Santa and a sleigh. The Dutch have Sinterklaas earlier in the month, which is a much bigger deal. Still, it’s nice to see Santa pop up occasionally!
The live creches are so beautiful, those reindeer look so cute, I am sure all the children just adore to see them. I love the ambiance of the Christmas markets, I’ll never forget when we first moved to France, it was early December and every evening we walked home through the market and couldn’t believe we had come to live in this beautiful place, which was so exciting at night for very small children as well! It is a wonderful European tradition.
We went to this year’s market yesterday and while the live creche wasn’t on display, the market itself seemed larger and nicer in terms of the items on offer. It’s always fun and I’m glad we have our own small version of it here in Utrecht. We’re getting another weekend of it this year, as well, so we can go back and enjoy it again, hopefully when the lights are on more clearly.
Christmas suits that little town rather nicely. That wine looks questionable and wonderful!
I love that different stalls have their own recipe for the warm spiced wine. Some have more citrus, while others have more spices. It’s fun to try the different ones!
Thanks for joining in the blog hop. It was great to see the photo of the reindeer. I rode on one when I was about five on holiday in Scotland! And lovely to see llamas too!
I figured you’d enjoy the llamas! Growing up in Florida, I certainly wasn’t used to seeing real reindeer, so that was a thrill for me, as well!
I’ve seen donkeys but never reindeer. I somehow thought they would be bigger (from Twas the Night Before Christmas, no doubt). Congratulations on winning the Bronze Expat Blogs award! Unfortunately, the most recent versions of the Christmas market in Paris have been very disappointing, with no handcrafts at all.
I do think these were fairly young reindeer. I’m sure I’ve seen others (on tv) that were much bigger! That’s a shame that the Paris market has been disappointing. We’ve been lucky in that ours seems to be improving each year, but ours is still fairly new I think.
What a lovely post! I love donkeys and llamas but I adore the photos of the baby reindeer! It definitely brought a smile to my face, so thank you for sharing.
You probably won’t be surprised, but I have a ton of other photos of all of the animals that were there. It could have done (and meant to do last year) a whole post just of the photos of the animals. Chickens, goats, llamas, sheep, donkeys … lots of adorable faces!
Thanks for hopping — your blog took me to all over the place & I ended up winning a box of homemade bath goodies from Jive Turkish!
Congrats on taking the bronze medal, and I hope all goes well with Pippo, too.
Fijne feestdagen!