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City Visit: Christmas Markets in Hanover, Germany – Part II

I took in today doing a little shopping. Being a work day, MrsWT73 was in meetings all day. I took the U Train downtown and engaged in a little retail therapy. There were great deals on Great deals on European brands like Scotch and Soda (from Amsterdam) among others. I later returned to the hotel to drop everything off.

It was the rowdy train “lite” for the work trip colleagues today. After they all got off work, we all went down to the Hannover Christmas market for a little festive cheer starting at Kropke. The place had a much different feel at night. It didn’t seem to matter that it was a weeknight, the whole town was out having a great time!!

Locating some Glüwhen

After a foot long hot dog at the Kropke station Christmas pyramid, we walked down towards the church.

We stopped in the shadows of the Altus Church for a Glüwhen and white Glüwhen (not as satisfying). It was a nice atmosphere with a band playing with advertisements that Hannover was a UNESCO Cultural city for 2014.

Locating the Zum Forsthaus:

After some collegial cheer, we set out to find the Zum Forsthaus. This is an artificial pine forest located in the middle of the city. The floor is woodchips and the concept is that you go into the trees for your drink, simulating being in a forest. Once inside, you can smell the pine throughout the atmosphere which is a very neat feeling. It’s also packed like a night club in likely in violation of the fire code. Otherwise it’s a really neat experience and I can’t imagine why this hasn’t been replicated elsewhere. Probably because dropping a cigarette ash in a dead forest covered with wood chips all over the floor with no real lighting inside wouldn’t lead to a great result (laughing).

Midnight snacks in Germany:

We were quite hungry after the whole after work adventure so we stopped at a bar on the way back home. It seems like dinner for most undertaking Christmas markets are street snacks. I was pretty hungry for the day so when we stopped at the bar, we enjoyed traditional pub fare food; which was Chicken Cordon Bleu for me with hollandaise sauce and a large Herrenhäuser pilsner to wash it down.

We eventually made it home for sleep after experiencing the best festive cheer that Hannover’s Christmas market(s) had to offer. It was a great experience in a town that I would have never otherwise had the reason or opportunity to visit.