Christmas markets
One of the things I found really tough about moving to Germany was the cold Christmases. Coming from the southern hemisphere, to me Christmas is hot, celebrated in shorts and with a large serving of prawns. We never spent Christmas day on the beach, but we were certainly there within seventy-eight hours of it.
So cold and snow and ice? Awful. Terrible. I understand where the trees and the hot drinks and the fake snow on windows comes from now, but does it have to be so miserably cold? And Berlin is a grey and depressing city in the wintertime, when snow rapidly becomes slush and commuting around is often a wet and windy affair.
Then I discovered the German Christmas markets.
Oh, these light filled havens of sparkly seasonal items! Rosy cheeked natives huddled round mugs of spiked mulled wine! The wooden huts! The hand painted tree ornaments! The assortment of gloves and head wear! Wooden sculptures of questionable ethnic origin! Christmas markets are a joy to behold.
If you are looking for presents for people, try the glass tree decorations or the candle-powered windmills. Be wary of the last just because really good ones can be mightily expensive, while really cheap ones may not turn properly and you'll end up with charred blades instead of spinning ones.
If you'd rather not cart home Christmas kitsch, even of the cute local variety, make sure you spend some time getting to know Gluehwein (mulled wine) or its more evil cousin Feuerzangbowle. This hardcore Gluehwein is made by hanging cones of sugar above the wine, dousing these liberally with rum and then setting them alight. The sugar melts into the Gluehwein along with any unburnt rum and the whole hing becomes a sweet, alchoholic mess which can seriously bite hard the next morning.
My favourite Christmas market in Berlin is at the Opernpalais because of the ambiance, but there are plenty around and all will have the same fundamental stalls. For a full list, check out this website.