Christkindlmarket
I’ve lived in Chicago for over 7 years now and usually that feels like plenty of time to have gotten connected to the city. But the holidays reveal my rootlessness — I don’t have any childhood holiday memories of Chicago. I’ve never had a holiday lunch in the Walnut Room, I’ve never seen the Goodman’s A Christmas Carol, and when I still believed in Santa Claus, it was far away from here.
But my wife and I are developing some adult Chicago Christmas traditions and one of those is a visit to the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza. The market is mostly-German, as befits it’s inspiration by the 462-year-old Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, though in delightful modern inclusiveness you can also buy Guatemalan and African handicrafts.
And like many traditions, ours is centered around food — a pork loin sandwich with sauerkraut and a little mug of mulled wine while we look at the lights and huddle against the cold. That’s Christmas to us, now.
Really nobody I know does the Xmas things like the Walnut Room, or see’s the Nutcracker more than once. They do exactly what you are doing. Checking out a few cool things, and going back each year to see how they’ve grown.
this market is one of my favorite xmas things to do. i havent gone yet this year, but i plan on getting some glogg and potato pancakes very soon. such a great vibe.
I just wanted to say thank you for linking to my blog post about memories of Chicago and Marshall Field’s at Christmas. The Christkindlmarket sounds like a wonderful holiday tradition to start.
Happy holidays, Fuzzy!