Mistletoe, roasted chestnuts, and gluhwein!
My favorite thing in Basel and the thing that most made it feel like a cozy home was Nachtmarkt. This is the Christmas market that is setup in the old part of the city for a few weeks before Christmas. At any given time you can go enjoy some fresh-baked treats, grilled sausages, gluhwein (hot, mulled wine) and browse through various tents filled with hand-made arts and crafts. I also tried roasted chestnuts for the first time which you can buy from street vendors all over the city. These little comforts with the fresh snowflakes coming down made Basel a picturesque, fairy-tale place to be in the winter time. There is even mistletoe in the trees! Christmas as a whole was much different than how we see it celebrated in the U.S. To me it seemed much less commercial and more rooted in tradition. Although I’m not religious Christmas was a tradition I grew up with and I appreciated it being celebrated in this way much more.
