Germany in December
By Jerrold VanNocker

It was raining, and cold.  “Am I crazy for doing this?” I wondered to myself as I loaded the car’s trunk with our luggage.  With in a few hours my wife and I would be boarding an airplane for Munich.  I had checked Munich’s weather report, it looked a lot like what I was receiving now at my Michigan home, temperature around freezing (32F) with a little rain and snow.  I had spent the past three days recovering from a cold; while my sniffles were nearly gone, pain still permeated my bones.  At this moment, I could only ask; why was I traveling to Germany during December?

We spent the first few hours consuming lots of coffee, then walking, eating and then a little browsing in the shops. In no time it seemed like darkness was starting to descend on the city. Munich’s Christmas market was now in full swing; the evening crowds were forming and we were hungry again.

Germany's Christmas Markets are famous all over the world. From November until December 22th you will find a Christmas market open in most German cities, the markets of Munich, Cologne and Nuremberg are notable for their size and diversity of products. While you will find plenty of German Christmas ornaments and hand carved nativity scenes at these markets, there are also Christmas markets built around other themes like, antique, Renaissance etc

Checking out the offerings at one of Munich's Christmas Market food stalls we turn down their offer of warm wine.

I wanted to get a good sleep for my second day in Germany. I did not want to mess up the brain chemistry with an alcoholic drink or with caffeine.

Getting a couple of sandwiches my wife asks about non-caffeinated drinks. "There is eggnog" replies the clerk. "Eggnog sounds good!" my wife and I both reply. The eggnog arrives in a ceramic mug; my hands encircle the cup, seeking out the heat coming off its surface.

Gathering our food we join a young German couple standing at one of last tables with an open space. I look down in to my cup of eggnog; a very yellow egg yoke looks back. Taking a sip of the warm mixture I am greeted to a mild sweet taste. Other than the egg, I can not quite identify the other ingredients in this concoction. I suspect Rum, but something else is in the mixture. With the help of the German couple we learn Eggnog here is a combination of egg yoke, rum and white wine.