Going away for Christmas

There was a time when it was de rigeur to spend Christmas at home, much of the time spent slaving away over meal preparations. However recent years have seen an increase in people going away for Christmas, with sometimes whole extended families taking off together for Christmas in the sun, free from the worries of catering. Forget spending most of Christmas Day cooking a three or four course meal, and tearing your hair out over the one important item that you forgot to buy. Forget all the worry about stocking up with food and drinks as if you are going to be under siege for a couple of weeks. Go away and let the hotel worry about the catering.

But are you put off by the fact that going away will just add even more to the stupendous expense that Christmas is anyway? Well, you might actually be pleasantly surprised. You will save the money that you would have spent catering for Christmas, and some parents have an agreement with their children that the holiday is the present. Likewise couples.

Add to all this the fact that hotels really know how to do Christmas a treat with fantastic food, plenty of champagne, fancy dress parties, quizzes, and lots of activities. And isn’t nice to have lots of new people to talk to at Christmas, instead of family and friends spending the day hermetically sealed from the outside world with nothing to do but eat and play charades?

So if you feel like breaking with tradition, stick around, because in my next post I will offer some suggestions on where to go for Christmas.


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European Christmas markets offer shopping and Christmas cheer

Christmas is upon us once again, and with it the thought of marathon shopping for Christmas presents. Unfortunately this year the Credit Crunch is upon us too, and a lot of people may be trimming their Christmas budgets. But if you want to have a bit of fun, and find some novel presents as well, then the many European Christmas markets offer great gifts, beautiful decorations, mulled wine, tasty sausage and potato, and a number of other attractions besides.

Cologne has a number of Christmas markets, with its oldest Christmas market being held on the Neumarkt, usually to the accompaniment of carol singers.

Vienna's Christkindlmarkt is one of Europe's oldest Christmas markets, and made especially beautiful by decorated trees.

In Leeds there is the Christkindelmarkt, a traditional German Christmas market right in this English town centre, on the beautiful Millennium Square, where stallholders from Frankfurt have been coming for a number of years.

In Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens you will also find a Christmas market.

With Christmas markets becoming ever more popular, Tallinn in Estonia has been holding one since 1991.

If Prague is your favourite place for a break, then here you will find a number of Christmas markets, with the biggest being held on the Old Town Square. Prague also has a number of cultural events in the run up to Christmas, including folk displays, concerts and theatre.

So if you want to combine the inevitable Christmas shopping expedition with a pleasant break that is guaranteed to get you in the mood for Christmas, then a visit to one of Europe's Christmas markets could be just the ticket.

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The Most Wonderful Time...

Phew! My posting's been on-and-off lately, and it's all because of Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, have you noticed how stressed everyone gets at this time of year? And travelers are no exception. Every airport is crowded with angry, flustered people trying to make their ways home -- or wherever. Better still, most of them have children in tow, and the kids are angry and flustered too. What a joy!

Honestly, if you're going to travel at Christmas, do yourself a favor and leave yourself a buffer. I'll never forget the time I was coming home from Japan on Christmas eve and our flight broke down. We were stranded in Osaka, and what would have been an annoying experience at any time became a nightmare as we all began to panic we would miss Christmas with our families. If I had to do it again, I'd definitely leave a few days earlier.

Or take a couple years ago, when I came down from my apartment on December 23rd to find someone had heaved a rock through my windshield.

There are a couple rules about Christmas traveling:

1. Assume everyone's in a bad mood

2. Don't engage in an argument, ever, with anyone, if you can avoid it. It won't be a short one.

3. Leave yourself extra time when possible.

4. Try to have fun. No matter what happens it won't be a total disaster. Try to look on it as an adventure.

Of course, that's easier said than done when you're spending your tenth straight hour in an airport, but nonetheless....