Eating Along the Rhine

I've been to the European Christmas markets many times over the years and the memory that most stands out is the food. Roasted chesnuts in cinnamon, mulled wine simmering and a wide variety of local specialties unique to each town provide a feast for all the senses. Though we had phenomenal gourmet food available onboard the AmaLucia, we gave ourselves permission to skip a few meals and enjoy the local fare. Too many times in the past I've felt captive to eat what was 'included', but a big part of experiencing these markets is eating and drinking with  with the locals.

Though not strictly a Christmas market, in the fairytale town of Riquewihr, France, we stopped into a local patisserie for fresh chocolate croissants and cake. Cafe culture is a mainstay of European life and locals don't stop in cafes purely for the food, but rather as a daily place to socialize together. Unlike the US, a server will typically not bring your bill until you request it as that would be considered rude, as if they were hurrying you out when you should be able to relax and enjoy the ambiance. In this little French cafe, we sat by the window to people watch the holiday shoppers traipsing up and down main street while warming up with hot chocolate and tea.

The next day, in Strasbourg, we took this strategy a step further and opted to eat lunch in town. The Amalucia had given us the choice to return to the ship or take a later afternoon shuttle and eat locally so we perused the Christmas market for options. Here we found one market dedicated specifically to nonprofits. I ordered a Gluh Wein (hot spiced wine) from the Kiwanis chapter our local chapter gave my eldest a scholarship so it seemed only right to return the favor). Next door my daughter was excited to see Curry Wurst. She ordered her with a side of spaetzle (a mild pasta dish with cheese) and I opted for lovely potatoes frying in a giant pan. Best of all, everything was piping hot!

In Heidelberg, we continued the tradition. I must admit that I was perhaps a little overly excited to see some familiar German favorites so we really went overboard. Heidelberg is known for their Schnapps so I had a hot raspberry Schnapps and my daughter has a similar non alcoholic hot raspberry drink, stronger than typical tea and with real raspberries floating in it. 
From there, we saw a stand with chocolate covered fruit and Samantha talked me into a kebab of dark chocolate raspberries. Knowing we better start following up with some 'real lunch', we went in search of bratwurst and also found the most delicious potato pancakes with garlic sauce along the way! We indulged so much this day that we barely needed dinner onboard either!

One of the other really fun treats in the European Christmas markets are the porcelain mugs, unique to each town and often to each market within a town. They have the name of the town and the year on them to make perfect collectibles. When you order a hot beverage, rather than serve it in disposable cups, you pay a small added deposit (usually 3 euros or so) for a porcelain mug. You can choose to keep the mug or return it to any of the beverage stands and get a refund. They are all so beautiful that we couldn't part with them, despite having plenty of mugs at home.