You can't escape the fact that Christmas is coming, so it's time to reflect on one of my best Eastern European Christmas experiences.
Wherever I am each Christmas, I think with such fond memories of my Christmas in Bratislava, Slovakia. This was the first proper, cold, northern hemisphere Christmas I had (I’d also spent two years in Japan, where Christmas does fall in winter, but since the Japanese don’t celebrate it the spirit wasn’t quite there – in fact I had to work on Christmas Day!).
And it really was cold, as I spent afternoon and evening after afternoon and evening meeting up with friends, students and colleagues in the Bratislava Christmas markets in the Old Town. Before and since I’ve tested many other Christmas markets, but none quite live up. The commercialism of those markets which sell all kinds of mass market toys and plastic products is not to be found here (yet, and never, I hope); instead, it’s the pure joy of the season and of catching up with everyone you know. If you want to try them, find out more in this week’s article on the Bratislava Christmas Markets.
