January 2020 – Meg in Moscow

Back in September I began researching flights home for the Christmas holiday. With no direct flights from Moscow to Boston, I generally avoid crazy busy airports like Heathrow and Charles de Galle. I’ve been impressed with Lufthansa lately and noticed the chance to have a long layover in Frankfurt on my way to Boston.

After calling the airline (something I’ve only recently realized merits great results), I was able to extend my layover to two nights at a minimal fee. My plan was hatched and I started researching Frankfurt’s Christmas markets.

I’ve visited a few Christmas markets during my time in Russia. Red Square itself boasts a small market next to GUM, the department store dripping in white lights.

Last year I took a long weekend in Riga, Latvia, and wandered around its multiple markets. The year before I stopped in Zurich for a night to enjoy the markets there.

Frankfurt proved the best of the lot thus far. Essentially one huge market stretching from the waterfront of the River Main through Römerberg Square and up to Hauptwache Plaza, the market spanned nearly a half kilometer.

While some markets tend to be weighed down by products brought in from China, I’m always keen to find arts and crafts created in a style or technique unique to that region.

Food vendors sold treats (the Berlin jelly donut of JFK fame, for one), carousels turned in the squares, and crafts from all over the world dotted the stalls (Peru the farthest spot).

Rained out on the Friday evening I arrived, I made a plan to arrive first thing Saturday morning. As December 22 marked the last day of the Frankfurt Market, crowds were even larger than normal.

The Frankfurt waterfront proved far more charming than expected. Perhaps it was the first sun I had seen in weeks or it’s similarity to Boston’s Charles River but I absolutely loved walking the bike path from my hotel to the market. Wood ducks played in puddles left from the storm and the locals were out in droves – running, biking, enjoying the unusually warm December weather.