Christmas Celebrations

Christmas is around the corner and the whole city of Luxembourg is enthusiastic about that. It is well-known that the western countries celebrate Christmas with great splendor and joy. Now since I am staying here in Luxembourg, I am happy to be a part of this grand celebration. 

The preparations for this grand event had started about fifteen days ago. Each day I happened to see a new addition to the city. One day they were painting and renovating the roads. The next day, they had these lighting on the trees. They were setting up some wooden stalls in the major centers. There was a huge Christmas tree in the city center. Then, a variety of goods were on discount. And another day, there was a giant wheel.  It was a nice feeling to see things happening in a well-planned and well-organized pattern. The progression was step by step and now the whole city is shining bright with colorful decoration and lights!

Literally, every place, street, store, cafe, restaurant were decked up with a Christmas theme. A basic sale is put up on most of the apparel outlets, but the major promotion is seen on gift items like toys, cosmetics, books, bake ware, etc. It is certainly not a commercial celebration where all the brands are trying to push their products in the name of Christmas. The shopping mania here is not as big as it is in the United States. No Black Friday or Thanksgiving deals. Rather it is more of a cultural celebration. 

The most special thing here is the Christmas market, a truly traditional event. It is more like a fair with food stalls and craft shops. Typically, these stalls start functioning from one month before the Christmas day. Glühwein, a mulled wine is the most popular and favorite drink here in the Christmas market. Other delicacies like the French fries, coffees, pastas, noodles, waffles, churros, soups, sugar candies, burgers, würst, chicken nuggets and biers. The hot wine and coffee are served in attractive and colorful cups molded into impressive shapes. The shoe cup is my favorite. The shops mostly sell woolen wear, handicrafts, fancy jewelry, cheeses, chocolates, candles and small gift articles. The Christmas Market also offers a variety of fun rides for kids as well as for adults.

The Christmas markets are a great place for social gatherings. And the Luxembourg Christmas market is really amazing. The hot beverages, the steaming food, the fire places, the whole Christmas Market in the cold winter; the whole set up is just perfect. I still wish to visit the most popular Christmas Markets in Germany.